Another true story, though it might not seem that way. This one happened to my friend Jeff while he was still alive. Jeff had a friend named Carl, and it was one of those tedious time-wasting friendships that are just so great. Jeff would go over to Carl's house at least once a week to throw back a couple of cold ones after work, and just talk until there was nothing more to talk about. They'd debate politics, talk about movies and music, discuss assholes that had pissed them off that week. Whatever. Those kinds of friendships are just the best.

Anyway, Carl had a cat. A fluffy ginger tabby that was kind of big. And something really strange would happen each time Jeff would go over to the house. As always, at one point during the evening, the cat would poke it's head out from around the corner. Carl would see the cat, then jump up like he was possessed. He would chase the cat all over the place. Though the bedroom. Around the kitchen. Corner it in the bathroom a moment before it found an opening and slipped out. But eventually, the cat scrambled into the living room and dodged under the sofa where it stayed for the rest of the night. Carl would then go back, sit down on the sofa, and resume talking like nothing had happened at all.

Jeff figured this was odd, but didn't want to say anything. This went on for a long time, and happened just about every time Jeff visited. He wondered if this happened every time that Carl saw the cat. Or maybe it happened once Carl had a few beers in him. Jeff wasn't sure, but no big deal. It's not like it was truly a bad thing. No one was being hurt, and after all it was Carl's cat. He could do what he wanted with it.

But one evening everything changed. Sure, the night started the same way, but after the beers and some talking, sure enough the cat poked it's head into the living room. Carl, once again, jumped up like a madman. He chased the cat through the bedroom, the kitchen, and around the table in the dining room. The cat dodged him, but Carl kept on running after him. Finally, as before, the cat jumped under the sofa.

But this time Carl didn't stop. He ran over and shook the sofa violently to try and scare the cat out. It didn't work. So Carl jumped down onto his knees and began grabbing under the couch, sticking his whole arm under there. Finally Carl apparently found the cat.

He pulled the poor orange cat out by it's tail and before Jeff could say anything Carl was swinging the cat over his head in circles. With a loud yell, Carl let go of the cat's tail in mid-swing and the cat flew through the air, hit a wall, then slid down to lay on the floor in a heap.

Carl was panting from the effort. Jeff was horrified. He just had no idea how to deal with what Carl had done. Jeff's eyes were huge. His pulse was throbbing and his knuckles were white from grabbing the arms of the chair he was in. He just kept darting looks between the cat twisted up on the floor and Carl standing there in the center of the room and grinning like he was a maniac.

Three seconds later, Jeff realized that the cat on the floor was a toy. A plush doll that looked almost exactly the same as Carl's cat. He realized this, and he realized the fact that he had been set up for this prank for months.