Thursday, Apr. 05, 2007 - 9:59 p.m.
Snatched from the lap of Luxury
********************************
Came home this evening from a day
at the paper cutter to a series of
phone messages'
" h
Hello? is this where the little red cat lives ? "
Seems Jinky followed a nice lady home
who was picking up her mail
at the community mail box
across the highway
and then he darted inside her house
when she opened the door
She tells me she " coaxed him into the house " because it was such a cold day
..........Clarification:
( _inviting Jinky into your home-
what could be easier
in this whole world? )
and then she telephoned me'
However i wasn;t home
I had an appointment
in yonder evil city
so nice lady person was able to play with a refugee kitten
all day long-
" he never bites or scratches "
she told me when I went over
to their place tonight
and added that
" he is the best natured cat
she has ever met
friendly, easy to be with
curious, but very well behaved "
( ya? I have 20 fresh puncture marks
that say otherwise
but I didn't spoil her story )
When her husband came home
this evening
they hurried through dinner
so they could become better aquainted
with their mysterious red kitten visitor
who seemed interested in every detail
of their lovely house
Seems that very curious Jinky
inspected every corner of every room
and examined every piece of furniture
They took great delight
in anything Jinky showed any interest in
They have no children
or if they did-
they have long grown up
married and moved away
Their home was like a museum
full of symetrical breakable things
It seemed a little stiff design wise
I noticed that the only other example
of life in their home was a sniffy
arthritic little Scottie dog
very aloof and cold
who barked at me
as I approached their house
But Mr & Mrs there were warm and gracious
and they sure loved Jinky
it seemed as if getting animated and excited
was a very foreign concept there
It seemed as if
theyhave not had so much fun
in what felt like ....forever
I am sure Jinky did his best
being charming and affectionate
after all, he _is very charming
and _is very affectionate
and he is not afraid to shine
The disclosure I got from these nice people was as follows:
they locked him in their heated garage at 7 pm
and went to the city shopping
they came back with groceries,
but also
1) catfood in three flavours
2) a box of scented litter
3) and some plastic cat toys
in case I. the voice on the answering machine
never called back to claim
this wonderful red kitten
These good people were totally prepared to adopt him
and possibly set him up
with his own room
and probably arrange for his own TV
complete with cable so he could watch nature shows
French Door access to the rose garden
the best of Vetrinary care
and a crabby Scottie dog as a companion
Their house was a stunner....
carved marble fireplaces
and Matchinmg Georgian period furnature
I stood on a two inch thick
19th C hand woven Chinese carpet to wait for Jinky
These people were well off and then some
I was a Cockney savage from some Charles Dickens novel
but the one thing we all had in common
was we all loved Jinky
The lady was very sad to give him up
and mentioned that " if I ever tire of him
she would love to have him"
or failing that-
" does he have any brothers or sisters?
I mentioned as a joke I was thinking of Well they were lovely people' I am getting more comfortable On the bike ride home The lady was kind enough She muttered, wringing her hands in low anxiety But she was good to surrender him I am sure she and her husband
delaying his neutering appointment
so he could father a batch of wonder kittens
and they pressed me
" Oh ? when would this all be transpiring? "
as if I was a native in Borneo
blabbing the discovery of a gold mine< to the Bwannas on the porch
a little dull perhaps
but very well meaning
kind and they played fair-
calling me up to surrender my rightful Jinky
when they so deeply wanted him
for themselves
and I would nevr have known if they had kept him there in those posh surroundings
with access to their walled garden
up a street I had no other business being on
except to claim my wandering kitten
on a cold night in April
that was very decent of them
with the idea of Jinky always doing Gods work out there
spreading his love
and awakening the sleeping affections people just weren't using anymore
I noticed he
he smelled of roast beef
and perfumed cat litter
to give me the tins of catfood
she had bought for Jinky
and the half bag of scented cat litter.
I told her to keep the toys< in case a more deserving kitten appears
The nice lady was hurt that inj the final round
I had Jinky
and she didn't
but she was noble and put on a brave front
that when
she was little girl in England
she had had a red Tom kitten
but this had been..
as she stared at the ceiling
many years ago
and Jinky was sooo like that cat
so very much like that magic cat
<...playful
...loving
...so wonderful..
Her dream cat sought her out
at the roarside postbox
and followed her home
...as if he selected her special
...as if he remembered her
...from long ago
and was returning from dreamland
...to re-claim their friendship
...and take her back to
..the fun and happiness
...they had shared together
even though he was precious to her
from a magical era of her life
her long lost girlhood
...far away in another time
...in another nation
...long long ago
...far far away
this little red tom kitten
seemed to be worth
a lot more to her
than anything else right then
I saw her bravely wipe her eyes
off to one side with a kleenex
greatly disappointed
as she fussed with the catfood and litter
" Here " she said
" He will be needing these. "
and handed over his rations
i accepted the little white bag
as if it was surrender flag
and thanked her for her kindness
then waved Jinkys paw goodbye to her
from inside my coat
as we prepared to leave
she beamed a huge smile
if she was five years old
all over again
and as a full measure of delight
raced over her < she whisperd a little
"thank you" to Jinky < br>
Then Jinky and me went off into the night
and home to the familiar chaos of the studio
* * * *
I will drop by in the warm weather and visit the nice lady
and bring her news of Jinky
I am sure she would
want to know news
of his many adventures
S he seemed so worried
that he crossed the big highway alone
to linger at the lonely post box
during a snow fall
....and with all the coyotes out there these days..
one has to be careful
didn't get where they are today
by not being careful
