Cali / Callie
Age 12. Oldest of 26 siblings. Traditional cat girl — stands on two legs, can walk on four, tail, cat face, paws, human-style hair, can talk.
Appearance: Fur looks like a calico cat. Hair matches her calico fur pattern — hairs stay grouped so they form spots of black, white, and orange/yellow rather than mixing. In a braid the colors overlap in layers of black, white, and orange/yellow. Large black spot over one eye connecting to one ear, with a small orange spot on the back of that ear. Some of her black and yellow markings are square- and triangle-shaped — not hard-cornered, but with visible outlines of squares, triangles, and circles.
Clothing: Made herself a calico-patterned dress that matches her fur. Painted old red sneakers to match her calico pattern. Made calico pants, shorts, and an entire calico wardrobe with her mom’s help.
Skills/personality: Very good tree climber — can hang from a branch with one arm and swing up to the branch above. Does gymnastics; practices in the family’s shared play cabin. Dedicated animal rescuer.
Cabin: Most decorated cabin in the compound. Decorated inside and out with paw prints in blue, gold, green, and multiple colors. Drawings and paintings of cats, dogs, and parakeets. Seashells with holes glued around the door with lights behind them — at night the light shines through the shells in the colors of the shells. Kittens helped by putting a paw print on each shell. Interior: raised bed (like a single-level bunk — raised but with nothing underneath). TV mounted on an extendable/pivoting arm that can swing to any part of the room. Private bathroom branching off her room. Very tall nightstand to reach the raised bed.
Pets: A calico mother cat (also a calico) rescued from a tree along with her kittens; Callie adopted them after putting up flyers with no owner response — the animal shelter confirmed the cat had been theirs but escaped, and happily permitted the adoption. The mother cat has since had three more kittens (originally had four in the tree). Also has a golden retriever puppy whose previous owner released it in the forest.
Animal rescue stories:
- Saved a calico mother cat and four kittens stuck in a tree when the climbing branches broke off; used a basket with a blanket to carry the kittens down.
- Rescued a fallen bird nest: found the spot in the tree where it had come from (identified by twigs from the nest still attached) and re-anchored it one-handed.
- Rescued a bird egg that had fallen from a nest, replacing it with gloves to avoid leaving her scent; hid in the tree to watch the chick hatch.
- Freed a baby crocodile tangled in a fishing net in a swamp while the mother was away; hid in a nearby willow tree to watch mother and baby reunite.
Siblings (26 total; Callie is oldest):
- Mel: Boy, age 2
- Pine: Girl, age 3
- Oak: Boy, age 4; one of triplets
- Gray: Boy, age 4; one of triplets
- Stream: Boy, age 4; one of triplets
- Clay: Boy, age 4½ (slightly older than the triplets)
- Blue Jay (“Jay”): Girl, age 5; one of triplets
- Bluebird: Girl, age 5; one of triplets
- Robin: Girl, age 5; one of triplets (stands out as she is not blue-colored)
- Fence: Boy, age 6; one of triplets
- Snake: Girl, age 6; one of triplets
- (Third member of Fence/Snake’s triplet set: mentioned but not named before recording ended)
- Extended family: 40 cousins from parents’ siblings, who also have large families.