patches
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Upon learning the answer to his question, his physical response would resemble something between shock and skepticism and would come together with a questioning sentence summarizing those emotions. "You knock on Sandy's and Mike's door--in the middle of the night--and tell them their cat is meowing more than usual? Are you nuts?"
Fortunately, Mike's response was a little more understanding though a good bit more drowsy.
I apologized and explained his cat's bizarre behavior, and he didn't seem to mind my intrusion. He simply opened the door for Patches' entry stating he "needed to get up anyway". He apparently had fallen asleep on the sofa.
I then returned home; end of story or so I thought.
The next morning, as I walked Magoo (my dog), Sandy (of Sandy and Mike), approached me. She seemed rather excited and I braced myself for what I thought might be criticism for the previous night's intrusion. Instead, she said "Thank you so much for waking up Michael last night". Perplexed with this statement and still dubious about the sincerity, I just smiled and began the dialogue on Patches' peculiar behavior the evening before. To be honest, I was less than anxious to question her as to why she would thank me "for waking up her husband"? I mean what was she telling me? Had the heavy lidded, drowsy-looking Mike transformed to a sensational Mike the Lover?
As we continued down the street, I became a little anxious because I was running out of words to describe the previous night's events, and, like I said, I didn't want to intrude on the activity occurring after my late-night wake-up call.
Then, I was right in front of Mike's and Sandy's house and I noticed the entire bay window of their house had been broken. "My God," I exclaimed, "what happened?"
Sandy explained that window was the reason for her thanking me. Mike had been sleeping on the sofa immediately below the window prior to my waking him up. Ten minutes later, a gunshot had come through that same window. Glass shards had covered and perforated the entire sofa. If Mike had still been sleeping there, he would have--if he was lucky--suffered serious injuries. More likely, she said, swallowing hard, he would have been killed.
Franny's Comments: People who have spent a lifetime observing and interacting with cats know that cats possess powers we can only dream of, whether you call them "supernatural," "paranormal," or simply "cats being cats." Who has never lost a cat to death, only weeks later to feel little ghost paws patting a cheek, or to suddenly hear purring when there is no cat in sight? One cannot read a story like "Patches" without feeling a chilling sense of belief, along with a renewed appreciation of the remarkably unique abilities of cats
Alice Thompson can be contacted at Alice.Thompson@rich.frb.org
Upon learning the answer to his question, his physical response would resemble something between shock and skepticism and would come together with a questioning sentence summarizing those emotions. "You knock on Sandy's and Mike's door--in the middle of the night--and tell them their cat is meowing more than usual? Are you nuts?"
Fortunately, Mike's response was a little more understanding though a good bit more drowsy.
I apologized and explained his cat's bizarre behavior, and he didn't seem to mind my intrusion. He simply opened the door for Patches' entry stating he "needed to get up anyway". He apparently had fallen asleep on the sofa.
I then returned home; end of story or so I thought.
The next morning, as I walked Magoo (my dog), Sandy (of Sandy and Mike), approached me. She seemed rather excited and I braced myself for what I thought might be criticism for the previous night's intrusion. Instead, she said "Thank you so much for waking up Michael last night". Perplexed with this statement and still dubious about the sincerity, I just smiled and began the dialogue on Patches' peculiar behavior the evening before. To be honest, I was less than anxious to question her as to why she would thank me "for waking up her husband"? I mean what was she telling me? Had the heavy lidded, drowsy-looking Mike transformed to a sensational Mike the Lover?
As we continued down the street, I became a little anxious because I was running out of words to describe the previous night's events, and, like I said, I didn't want to intrude on the activity occurring after my late-night wake-up call.
Then, I was right in front of Mike's and Sandy's house and I noticed the entire bay window of their house had been broken. "My God," I exclaimed, "what happened?"
Sandy explained that window was the reason for her thanking me. Mike had been sleeping on the sofa immediately below the window prior to my waking him up. Ten minutes later, a gunshot had come through that same window. Glass shards had covered and perforated the entire sofa. If Mike had still been sleeping there, he would have--if he was lucky--suffered serious injuries. More likely, she said, swallowing hard, he would have been killed.
Franny's Comments: People who have spent a lifetime observing and interacting with cats know that cats possess powers we can only dream of, whether you call them "supernatural," "paranormal," or simply "cats being cats." Who has never lost a cat to death, only weeks later to feel little ghost paws patting a cheek, or to suddenly hear purring when there is no cat in sight? One cannot read a story like "Patches" without feeling a chilling sense of belief, along with a renewed appreciation of the remarkably unique abilities of cats
Alice Thompson can be contacted at Alice.Thompson@rich.frb.org
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