Lucy Fur

In the late 90's my ex and I lived in northern Japan. We were young lovers all alone in that strange and wonderful part of the world. She didn't have a job and was left to herself in the house we had in downtown Misawa-shi near the train station. After a few months of all the solitude we both agreed that something warm and fuzzy needed to be added to our lives while I was toiling away at the bomb dump.
I mentioned to a friend of mine what we had decided and that a cat was our goal. He said that another bomb guy's wife ran the animal shelter on base and that I should talk to him about getting a good cat. So, I went over to this guy's office to see what he could do. As soon as I mentioned that we wanted a cat he picked up the phone and called his wife. After a short but animated discussion he said that tomorrow his wife would have something for us.
The next day we went to the shelter and met the lady who already had the cat with her in the main area. And oh what a cat. Such a colorization! Whites blending into browns and blacks that seemed almost painted on. A siamese cat. More precisely a Snowshoe Siamese.
The cat warmed right up to us and begged for attention. With her natural beauty and immediate interest in us we took her without much discussion. Homeward we went. Once there Lucy, so we had named her during the drive, took off through the apartment exploring and claiming her new territory. Meowing around corners and running up and down stairs.
After a day or two Lucy started to show her true colors.
One afternoon I was sitting downstairs watching TV and the ex was out shopping. I heard Lucy crying upstairs. I thought maybe she had gotten shut in a room or something and so up I went and walked around the corner to the staircase. As soon as I rounded the corner and put my foot on the staircase I saw Lucy flattened against a step about halfway up the flight looking right at me. The second I made eye contact she leaped from her spot right at my face. I screamed and flailed my arms simultaneously tripping backwards. The corner of the door frame caught me square on my spine and I bumped my head. Lucy barely missed me and hit the floor running. For a second or two I was still scared and then I was pissed. I wanted to kill her. Then I thought about what just happened and I laughed my ass off. When the ex came home shortly after I told her what Lucy did and warned about walking around the corner without peeking first to make sure she wasn't positioned for attack on a step.
A few more days went by and new personality traits started appearing along with the ambush technique.
Our living room was japanese style with a low, low table and pillows surrounding. When we would sit at the table our legs would stretch out underneath and were usually covered with a blanket in the traditional style. And like most people you move your feet here and there or adjust your position regularly. Lucy could not resist the temptation to creep into the room and underneath the table. Then with the energy usually reserved for capturing prey she would latch onto our feet with claws extended and begin the biting and hissing. The pain would be fierce and seemingly coming from all directions. The claws...the fangs...the knees banging the table.
Soon we had to start taking swings at her to keep her from coming close to our feet and legs when we sat at the table.
After ten days of living with the new hell beast we decided that our home was not the right place for Lucy Fur (our new moniker for her).
We returned to the animal shelter to tell the lady what Lucy had done and why we couldnt keep her only to be rebutted by the shelter manager. The lady said that we had Lucy over the time limit and that we couldnt return her now. There was a nine day trial period for owners and their pets! Yeah, I didn't know there was even a trial period. Come on...this is an animal not a VCR.
Oh well. We retreated to our abode to begin life anew with the evil one.