Here, Kitty, Kitty

At night, once the kids are in bed, do you ever pour yourself a glass of wine and bring your wineglass and a piece of chocolate and an excellent book to your sofa, and then you get yourself all snuggly under a blanket? So that it’s just exactly perfect?

And, then, when it’s so quiet and so peaceful and you’re reading, do you ever notice that your cat is acting a little bit weird? Just like, instead of climbing up and cuddling with you, you realize that she’s standing, strangely alert, in the middle of the living room? And then once you’ve noticed the cat, do you ever start to wonder, is that a tail hanging out of her mouth? And then, just as you confirm that there is a tail hanging out of her mouth, does she drop the mouse onto your carpet? And then it takes you about 45 seconds to process the information, while you’re holding your wineglass tight and the cat is pouncing, and grabbing, and dropping, and pouncing again, and missing?

And, if that’s ever happened, surely you’d jump up and set aside your wine and your chocolate and your book and you’d catch that mouse immediately, right? Because it’s unsanitary and creepy to have a rodent scurrying around in your living space. I mean, there’s no way that you could just sit there and watch the mouse disappear beyond your range of view, presumably hiding under the very sofa in which you’re nestled. I mean, can you imagine someone just taking in this scene and weighing the options and just deciding to pretend she hadn’t seen any of it? Like, who would do that? Just, you know, do a cost/benefit analysis and decide to expunge the last 90 seconds from her memory so that she can remain right where she is, drinking a glass of wine and reading, cozy under the blanket? I’m sure that no one would do that. If that were to happen.

But that’s never happened to me, either.