Another in my series, "Little Known Cats Who Have Helped Humankind." I wrote these to relieve the darkness of writing my dark novel, Shadows Walking, about a Nazi doctor...
Recent research has confirmed that Byron Luckipaw, a long-whiskered young tomcat who lurked about parking lots in Las Vegas waiting for seagulls to be run over, established the first officially designated scenic over-look, an amenity which we have come to take for granted in our automobile-centered age. It happened this way.
Olaf, a worn-down, pale and rather feeble tom, was making his way from Madison, Wisconsin through Las Vegas to see the Pacific Ocean before he died. He met Byron Luckipaw in the parking lot of a famous hotel and gambling casino on the Strip. (The owners of the hotel/casino unfortunately have refused a request to reveal the name of their establishment, for fear of bad publicity.) After the two cats shared their life stories with each other, their conversation turned to the many seagulls overhead. Byron Luckipaw expressed his hope for an ample meal, while Olaf insisted on admiring the birds, believing they were an omen that he was near the end of his quest. Olaf soon saw that a seagulls’ white, clean-feathered look belied their greedy feeding habits, but he remained envious of their ease of travel.
Byron persuaded Olaf to hang out in the hotel’s parking lot until the dumpsters were emptied early Monday morning. He knew that hundreds of seagulls would fly in, hoping for a banquet among the trash bags and that together they might capture a feathered meal. Olaf agreed to stay, partly because he felt the birds would inspire and guide him to complete his journey, and partly because he admired his new friend’s determination. Hunger also had something to do with it.
It must have been Olaf’s idea, however, to urge Byron to get on the top of a garbage truck and ride it all the way to the dump at the edge of the city. There Olaf saw a mirage in the desert and imagined himself at the seashore. The gulls overhead completed the illusion and the old cat died, ecstatic and content. Byron was so touched that he dedicated the site as the “Olaf Memorial Ocean Scenic Over-Look” and buried him high upon a mound in the dump, facing westward. Seagulls then consecrated the modest monument that Byron erected to his departed friend. However, recent efforts to locate the site have been unsuccessful, due to the enlargement of the city dump.
The Wholly Book of Genesis is a humorous satire on the first book of the Old Testament where the Story of Creation, the building of Noah's Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah and the families of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are thoroughly spoofed and broadsided.
