Do you, by any chance, have a cat?  If so, when you come home from school, is he lazily stretched out on the back of the couch with his eyes closed and his tail just barely twitching? He doesn’t complain at all when you pick him up from this comfortable perch and carry him into your room. He’s the family cat, after all!

Maybe you have had him for years. Maybe your mom got him from box of kittens one rainy Sunday afternoon.  He was pretty young when you got him… although, come to think of it, he wasn’t exactly a kitten.  Now that you do stop to think, you don’t really know his history at all.

For that matter, you’re not 100% sure what he does all day even now that he lives with you.  You leave for school at 7:30.  You get home at 3:15.  Where does he go, what does he see, during all of the hours when you’re not around?

What I am suggesting is:  your cat may be a mysterious character.

New idea:  Pets are great characters, and if you do not know a pet’s history, investigate.  See if anyone knows the story of the furry friend.

If no one knows the story, a history can be invented.  To accomplish this, we study the character closely—how he acts, what his temperament is like, what he likes and DOESN’T like.  We also need to account for nicks in his ears and any missing teeth.  The story then becomes based on the facts you know.

The truth is, your cat may have been King of the Alley Cats before you got him.  He may still be King of the Alley Cats when you are away at school!

This tip was inspired by Enny.