The old people stand in the kitchen, arms around one
another, side by side, and regard the tiger cat. He sits erect, tail neatly curled
around his tiger legs. They stand on the yellow linoleum beside the fridge. The
cat is at rest now, but he has been swirling. and, with a nasal meow, asking for something which remains undefined.
The old people are stymied.
The cat’s lamp eyes have exclamation points standing at
attention in the center of each round green pupil. His eyes are a laser,
lightly glazed with disdain for the poor mental capacity
of the old people.
The woman addresses him.
“We, your
self-assigned caretakers and healthcare providers, continue, every day, to strive
to serve you better. How may we help you today?”
“Yeah, cat. What do you want?” The man, annoyed because both treats
and a lick of cream have been rejected, gets straight to the point.
The cat continues to stare. He’s unimpressed by monkey
noises, all those different vocalizations they make.
He would like to see some action. As usual, Meow #24, though clearly enunciated, means nothing to them. Even after all these years.
Sourly, the cat thinks that the human species is, very nearly,
untrainable.
Juliet Waldron
http://www.julietwaldron.com
