.............................................
Sharp was stuck in contemplation. He looked fixedly at Cheesy, and then his eyes served back to me. Shrugging his shoulders, he shook his head, deciding to give up.
"Yes Burrs. That's what we agreed on" he muttered hesitantly.
"Good. Now" I whirled around to Cheesy, holding his shoulders and directing him to face me.
''Listen Cheesy, cats climb everything. Trees, cupboards, roof tops, everything. They have claws like us, so they can go just about anywhere. You'll need to know how to do that to get food as food is sometimes in the highest places."
"Bu-but-"
"But nothing. Suppose there is a piece of cheese in the tree to the top. Would you not climb up there to go get it???'' I asked brashly.
Cheesy looked down, stirring for an answer.
'' Well...I suppose I wouldn't just leave it there....''
'' Right. You wouldn't because you love it with all your heart. The rules are the same. I'll be waiting for you at the top of the counter with your reward, and you'll climb up this broad cupboard door to get what you want. Deal?" I held out my hand for him to shake it. Cheesy looked down at my paw curiously, his face filled with uncertainty. He stretched out his paw to shake mine, but paused, faltering in his decision.
Seeing his indecision, I widened my eyes, hurriedly gesturing for him to make up his mind. He glanced up at the sight of the sky-high cupboard; and then looking behind me to Sharp, peering at the Cheese attached to the stick in his hand. He huffed and rubbed his temples, grabbing my hand and shaking it firmly. A slow smile crept across the corners of my face.
"Good. So, we climb then.'''
..................................
"I'm ready!!" Sharp climbed to the top of the counter, giving the signal for Cheesy to commence. He laid flat on the edge of the counter and drew himself back, one hand with the Cheese oscillating off of the stick into mid-air.
Cheesy started. He turned to the wooden board, interlacing his fingers and stretching out his paws, stretching to the sky and closing his eyes.
"God help me..." he breathed. I tapped my feet impatiently, waiting for him to begin. He sprung his claws out of their sockets and rose his left hand above his head, hooking his claws to the wall. Then he looked down and did the same thing with his feet, and his other hand.
Taking his time he hooked one hand into the wall, and then the other, steadily ascending his way up. He crawled up a little, moving his hands and positioning his feet to advance his body up, inch by inch. A few moments later he was up 18 inches by the 36 inched cupboard. He was at the Knob of the door, with only half more of the distance left to go.
"Yeaahhh Cheesemiser!! Your almost there, keep focusing on your food. It's right here waiting for you!!" Sharp's words of encouragement echoed from up above. Cheesy lifted his head up to take a glimpse of his asset, just paces before him.
Foolishly, he also decided to look down at me. With hemmed in eyebrows, and a tensed lip, his eyes were enlarged with worry, and fear. He had been so focused on taking his time to gradually climb up that he hadn't realized just how much further he ventured, looking down from where he was everything seemed so far away. He opened his mouth and gasped. In the process of doing this he moved his head too fast and knocked it against the cupboard.
"Ouch!!!" he bawled out. Something inside me jumped, and as I opened my mouth to warn him not to take his hands off the wood, he did exactly what I thought his stupid self would do.
"Cheesy no don't!!!" with no thought he unhooked both of his hands to rub his head injury, he fell back into midair, only his feet claw still anchoring him to the wall. The cupboard began to open wide. I rushed forward, extending my palms and pushing it back into its door frame.
"Cheesy grab the wall!! Grab the wall!!!" Sharp and I warned. He was falling back, his arms frailing about as he panicked. Before he could fall back any further, he flung his right arm out, pegging his nail back into the wooden surface.
"Ahhhhh thata boy" I sighed in relief, raising my hands up in the air. Sharp closed his eyes, releasing his grip from the edge he was holding on to, glad that they didn't have to carry Cheesy back and explain to Mother how they nearly killed him. One claw reattached, he swung the other hand forward and sunk in the rest, straightening up and continuing his ascent. Extending one hand in front of the next, pushing his feet and sinking its claws to elevate himself forward, he continued up inch by inch; his trembling, aching, red paws gripping the smooth wooden top of the counter. He pushed himself up, going on top of the wooden counter along with Sharp, who was bouncing up and down from excitement.
"Cheesy!!! Loook at you, you rascal, you've done it!!! I was worried about you for a second but here you are!!! " Sharp exclaimed, running over to Cheesy and patting him on the back. Cheesy turned over completely on his back, chest heaving up and down as he stared at the ceiling. Sharp came over him with the block of Cheese floating over his face.
Admittedly, we used the same method with Cheese as his motivation. Now that I reflect back on it, that was one of the most grievous mistakes we made. Of course, he was becoming more agile, quicker, and fiercer, but all we were doing was amplifying his weakness.
Going forward, climbing was now a part of the routine. Each day Cheesy came and endured it all, our criticisms, the six laps, the twenty push-ups, and the climb. Through sweat and turmoil, he bore it all, and we had no mercy with him. We doubled everything; six laps turned into twelve, twenty push-ups turned into forty, one climb turned into three.
Within 2 weeks we took the tape and measured, and Cheesy had come down two sizes.
"Good" I smiled. Everything was falling into place.
Sharp tied a piece of Cheese to the stick as usual and stood at the top of the counter where the cupboard ended, Cheesy made his three climbs, curling up into a ball of sweat and hogging his precious Cheese. He finished his twelve laps, and there we were at the end of the finish line, gearing him on with his prize. He did his push-ups; while I was fiddling the food over his head.
He lost a little more weight, climbing faster and running quicker. Two more weeks went by, and he came down another size, he was almost as slim as me or Sharp, it was just a bit more of the chubbiness in his mid-area and his chin that we were scraping to get off.
.........................
Month three. Cheesy had accumulated massive advancement, but now, it was time for one last thing.
We had to get him over his obsession with Cheese.
On a day when the Giant was home, we sat down all three of us while he napped and made a plan.
''We have to get him to stop focusing so much on Cheese mother.'' I voiced, Mother and Sharp nodding their heads in agreement.
''I agree. I'm amazed at how small you boys have managed to get him down to, but, that is something we really need to be rid him of. I won't give him anymore Cheese for dinner, breakfast or lunch. I will banish it completely from his diet. He shall have no Cheese from me I swear. He shall only have veggies and fruits from now on strictly.'' she affirmed.
''Right. It's great we knocked him into shape but, that cheese miser needs to forget about that fat, greasy stuff. On a positive note, he's grown up so much don't you think?" Sharp smiled, clapping his hands together in excitement.
"Yes! My baby's a big rodent now. I'm so proud of him. Soon we'll be able to venture outside, and he'll be able to keep up with us!" I was relieved and delighted to hear those words come out of Mother's mouth, and now, having to face our last lap with Cheesy, I was more motivated than ever.
When the Giant began going back out again, we got up that same morning, with a different plan. We couldn't drag the Cheese out of the equation suddenly like that, it would be too much for him to handle all at once.
So we went about our day as usual. I held the Cheese stick and stood at the finish line as usual, I couldn't run with it dangling in front of him no longer because he was moving at a much faster pace now. When he did his push-ups, I stood over him, fiddling it above his head as usual.
He climbed and Sharp stood at the top of the counter with it, but when he finished his climb, Sharp snuck down with the Cheese, leaving him up there by himself.
"Guys?...where..where are you? Where is my Cheese?" A confused, sweat covered Cheese looked around on the wooden counter, seeing no one there but himself. He walked up to the edge of the counter and looked north, seeing me and Sharp cruelly running to the holdings with the Cheese in our hands.
When he got to the holdings, he seemed a bit agitated, hurt at out betrayal.
"There I was standing waiting for my surprise and the two of you left without me! Gone. Therefore, I was standing there all by myself. Where is my reward? I mean it I want my reward."
"Ohh hold your horses my love. Here is your Cheese alongside your dinner, now sit and let's all eat" Mother rubbed his arm, calming down as she saw that he was upset.
She gave him his serving with a bit of Cheese in it, half the portion that he was used to getting cut off, sided with chicken, beans and carrots.
"Huuh??What is this?? Mother where's the rest of it" Cheesy jumped up from his seat, teary eyed, his voice high and weakened, as if he was about to die. Mother turned around and looked at him, taking in the sorrowful expression on his face. She breathed in slowly, visibly hesitant. Her feet began moving towards the cupboard where she kept the Cheese, but then she stopped. Her eyes swerved to where she had hidden the rest of the Cheese, and then at Cheesy, and then at us.
She was about to break. She couldn't handle it, she was about to give in.
Peering at us sitting at the table, with a worrisome look on her face. Her pupils kept moving from Cheesy to us, and when it came back to us I held her gaze. Eyebrows crouched down, through squinted eyes I pierced her soul with a threatening aura, wordlessly communicating my pronounced displeasure with the decision she was about to make.
"But- just give him a little Cheese. Just a little bit he's worked so hard today."
"Mother, you promised. You promised that you wouldn't. No"
"Just this last time"
"No. You've spoilt him all this time. No"
Mother, having fully understood what I said just by looking at me, turned around, sitting herself at the table and eating her food.
'Mo-mother. Where's the rest of the Cheese?" Cheesy continued to whine. Mother said nothing, sitting down at the table and holding out her hands for prayer.
"Sit down Cheesy, there's no more. It's time for us to pray"