Stair Ball

I live in a split level house. It’s a bit of a weird house, but I love it. One of its unique features is that it has two staircases going from the first to the second floor, and they’re both only six steps tall. They are also carpeted.

We aren’t a huge gaming family, but we enjoy to play every now and again. Perhaps the most popular, and certainly the longest lived, is a game called Stair Ball. It consists of four small, rubber balls that you throw at the stairs, and try to get them to stay on a step. The higher the step, the more points. And you have to have your back against the facing wall, so you don’t get too close.

Action shot!

My dad and I have been playing this game for as long as I can remember. There have always been cats in my house, but when I was younger, the cats we had, Molly and Emma, weren’t quite as energetic as our current cats. Molly has since passed on, and Emma has gotten old enough that she doesn’t really play with anything.

However.

There are three new cats; my two, Susie and Walnut Daphne, and my parents’, Jenny. They like to play. With everything. All the time. If it moves, they have caught it. Sometimes, even if it hasn’t moved, they have caught it.

Walnut Daphne looking innocent, and not at all like she was trying to steal our ball.

It turns out, they really like Stair Ball. Especially Susie, followed by Walnut Daphne, and then Jenny. The balls, flying through the air, hitting the stairs with a resounding thud and dribbling down to the floor before rolling off is just too much for them. Susie will be sitting on the sidelines, watching, and suddenly she’ll crouch down, tail waiving ominously, before sprinting over and pouncing. A chase will inevitably ensue, and my dad and I will watch, paralyzed with laughter, before retrieving the ball and continuing with our game.

Susie getting ready to pounce.

"I have you, Stair!!"

Taking a break to be dignified.

"ROAR!!!!!!!!!"

"Who, me? Why no, I wasn't attacking this stair. Why on earth would you think that?"

"See? Not me at all."

"I can't...hold off...any longer...must...attack...stairs...DIE!!!"