Lord of the Flame

Cats are said to have 9 lives. They need them, because the old saying is true: "Curiosity killed the cat." Or almost killed the cat in our case!
Pixie, our 9-month-old kitten, decided she was cold this morning. Or maybe she was being her regular, curious, nosy self, and decided to explore the fireplace. Whatever her reason for climing into the fireplace, it almost cost her all 9 lives at once. We have gas logs in our fireplace. They are on a thermostat, and turn on and off as the temperature of the living room fluxuates. Pixie's exploration obviously began when the gas logs were off. But they fired up while Pixie was still in the fireplace. Lucky for her, she has cat-like (ha ha) reflexes, and is an excellent jummper. She escaped the fireplace alive, but the end of her tail was on fire! The fire burned out quickly, leaving the tip of her tail looking pathetically singed, and smelling horrific. Umm, UMM! Nothing like the smell of burned hair on a frigid, winter morning! Yes, frigid. The wind chill this morning was 8 degrees below zero. Freakin! Cold! Anyhoo, other than that, Pixie suffered no damage. We are thankful she is okay.
Right after this incident happened, a quote from Ice Age instantly popped into my head:
"Hey, Lord of the Flame, your tail's on fire!"
Pixie has a new name--Lord of the Flame!
I certainly hope she learned her lesson, and that the remaining 8 lives stay fully intact for a long time.