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Happy - I was talking with Happy, an eight-year-old orange and white cat. His people, Nadine and Phil, wanted to know about his health and how he was feeling. Happy was being very cooperative, showing me a few details of his physical condition and, as I was interpreting those feelings and putting them into words for his people, I thought I heard in my mind,

“Tell them about the turtle”.

This statement was so far from anything we were discussing and so out of context that I thought I must have been mistaken and continued with my description of Happy’s physical health. Suddenly, I heard it again, only this time a bit more forcefully,

“Tell them about the TURTLE!”

OK, I really heard it this time, so I made a mental note to say something about this turtle thing—whatever it was—as soon as I was finished with the physical information. Apparently this was not good enough for Happy. I now heard, loud and clear,

“WOULD YOU TELL THEM ABOUT THE TURTLE?!?!?”

Happy was not happy with me. So I took a deep breath, thinking they are probably going to think I am crazy, but after hearing it three times, I had to say it... I began,

“I am not sure what this means...” I hesitated, “he wants me to tell you about the turtle...”

I waited for their response. Almost in unison, Nadine and Phil replied,

“Oh yes, his turtle! What about his turtle?” Nadine went on to explain... “We have a large wooden turtle, it is a chain-saw sculpture, and Happy just loves it. He stands on its back and uses the turtle’s head as his scratching post. He really loves his turtle! What does he want to tell us about his turtle?”

Amazed—and a bit relieved—that there really was a turtle, I asked Happy to show me more about his turtle. I felt there was a shadow around the turtle and noticed the feeling of wanting it to be back the way it was, though I was not quite sure what that meant. I described this feeling, and Nadine explained,

“Oh, I think I know what the problem is, we have been temporarily storing a few boxes in that room and they are stacked around the turtle. I think that the turtle has gotten pushed back against the wall, making it harder for Happy to get to it.”

Well, this information pretty much clarified the situation, Happy wanted those boxes moved away from his turtle. Of course, Nadine and Phil took care of this right away, and Happy was once again happy with his turtle!

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