Meet Mustache...Finally (Patreon)

    Hello, all. Well, it's been a weird week. It started when my wife and I took in a stray cat (named Mustache, despite the fact that he clearly has a black nose on a white face, not a mustache-like mark under his nose) last Monday or Tuesday. Now, we've been feeding this cat for years, and trying to bring him in for just as long. Unfortunately, he's feral, and after all this time, the furthest we could get was petting him on the head. It's been very frustrating, as this little guy has been through the wringer. (A year or so ago he turned up one night MISSING AN EYE. You read that correctly. Just a pink, recessed cavity where his eye used to be. I can't even express how distressing that was...and still we couldn't get him inside where we could help him.)       

    A couple of weeks ago, he showed up with a massive abscess on his cheek. I thought that was it for him; this thing was massive. Then it burst and drained, and seemed to be healing. The only problem was, he couldn't eat. And then...he disappeared. Days went by, and I found myself trying to come to grips with the possibility that we might never see him again. I think even my wife was losing hope, when suddenly, one day, he was just there again. But this was a diminished Mustache; he was obviously exhausted, in pain, and on his last legs. He clearly wanted help, but still couldn't bring himself to make that leap of trust. So I grabbed him off the window ledge, plopped him on the bed,   and slammed the window shut.     

    I've been in here more or less ever since. We had a horrible visit with the vet (we're now looking for a new one), got him some antibiotics and pain killers, but basically, it's just been him and me. I did this once before, stayed for two weeks with a badly wounded feral cat in a very small space while he convalesced, but that cat (who lives with us now) is a quiet, gentle cat by nature—Mustache is taking more work. The point is to bond and build trust...but when he sits at the window and cries to go out, to return to a life that would kill him, it's tough to stay in here.      

   Something else that was different the last time: I had not yet started the Patreon page. I did work, crammed into that little space in what was intended to be-- but likely never will be--a studio, but I could work when I wanted, and devote my time to Cricket (our previous rescue kitty) when appropriate. Now I have deadlines. Add to all that the fact that the same day that we got Mustache inside I came down with some sort of intestinal thing, as well as what is either a bladder infection or kidney stone, and currently find myself randomly hit with pain that lays me out flat with an ice pack strapped to my side. What does all of this mean? Basically, I'm working even more slowly that usual right now, hence the unfinished pieces in this week's posts. All I can ask is that you bear with me...and Mustache. We'd both really appreciate it. The next few Boneyard shorts are already written and story-boarded, and I've got some new Beauties and Beasts coming up that I think you'll really like, plus some new merch images. Stay tuned!