a most unusual house

         When Sam Adams was a young man, his best friend, Robert, lived in a house with numerous animals as his family were big animal lovers, and had an unusual pet, two monkeys. They also had cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, mice, roosters, and goldfish in a pond out front, and a snake and turtles as well. They also had numerous birds attracted to the bird feeders throughout their house, and wild cats attracted by the free food Robert’s mother, a woman named Alice, provided daily to all the animals of their household. Deer, raccoons, and skunks were frequently seen lurking in the lush jungle-like backyard filled with fruit trees and bamboo, an old oak tree, and a redwood tree that towered over the purple house.

         It seemed to Sam that all the animals in the city were attracted to his friend’s house, which gave off a welcoming, friendly vibe to all visitors, human and animal alike. Robert and his two siblings were assigned daily chores taking care of the numerous animals that hung out at their parents' large house.

         Robert’s father was a communist real estate agent, and his mother was a veterinarian and Buddhist nun. Her favorite book was the color purple as their house was painted in bright colors reflecting Alice’s Caribbean origins.

         Being leftists, they named all their animals after famous communists and leftists. The cats were named Castro, Che, Lenin, and Mao. Mao was a black cat and was a real cutie. Lenin was a bit more aloof.

         The dogs were named Stalin, and Trotsky. Stalin was a real tyrant ruling the other animals in the house.

         The rhesus monkeys were named after the three stooges. The four monkeys, Shemp, Joe, Curly Joe, and Moe, hung out in the trees that covered the nearby Indian Rock pathway that linked their house on Mendocino Avenue to Solano Avenue and a few blacks down the hill in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood of the Berkeley Hills.

         For some reason, all the animals loved Sam except the monkeys. The monkeys were free-ranging as were the cats. The dogs had access to the backyard only. But all the animals came and went through pet doors in the front of the house.

         The monkeys hated Sam for some reason and were always throwing things as they saw him coming up the path to Robert’s house. Moe was usually the monkey that made the most noise. Alice told him that the monkeys had a problem with humans, as they were rescued from an abusive family, were very particular, had trust issues with people, and hated almost everyone they met. But if Sam gave them time, they would eventually accept him. Which they did in the end.

The end

Based loosely on a true story.
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         The Berkeley and Oakland Hills have lots of pedestrian paths linking streets that date back to the early 20s when most of the Hill neighborhoods were built. The houses on the west side of the street opened on the top floor, while houses on the east side of the street opened on the bottom floor. All are part of the unique features of the Berkeley-Oakland Hills neighborhoods. The Thousand Oaks neighborhood was called Thousand Oaks because the developers kept as many of the old Oak Tree as they could when they built the neighborhood in an early example of ecologically friendly development which the Bay Area is known for. Indian Rock is a city park on the site of old cave dwellings that the Ohlone Indians used to live in.


Write a story or poem inspired by and include the following prompt:

an unusual pet a woman named Alice a veterinarian the color purple