Wandering One

Leta woke me up this morning with a big “miaow”. She was perched with her head just over my face. Giving a big purr and nudging my face with her damp nose I couldn’t resist but wake up even if it was 15 minutes before I was due to wake up. I gave the big wet cat a cuddle and found her some breakfast in my small, neat kitchen. I rummaged for some strawberries in the fridge, some yoghurt, the muesli in the cupboard. Poured the muesli into a large bowl, carefully chopped the strawberries into slices and arranged them on top, with a generous helping of yoghurt. Yum!

She and I ate together, the wet sound of her eating and me listening to the sounds of the city outside while I contemplated the muesli and the newspaper. I smiled to myself- an extra bit of time meant I could have a nice cup of tea too- and I picked out a fragrant black tea with dried peaches in it, inhaled its smell deeply, put a tablespoon of it into my funnel-shaped tea strainer and put the kettle on.

I wondered where that cat had gotten to to get so wet. Where do cats go? They must slip out and take the multiple secret ways through various gardens, laneways. One of my friends had a cat stolen… inexplicably the cat turned up 4 months later on the doorstep much plumper and with a new collar. So far no such thing had happened to my cat, thankfully. Whenever my friends want to scare me though, they always refer to “The Wind Up Bird Chronicle” as what happens to you when you get mixed up in bad stuff. I think they mean that you might have bizarre phone calls from creepy women in the night and disturbing politicians out to get you… but I always sort of assume they mean your cat will run away!

After my tea I rinsed the dishes quickly and put them away. Hmmm. How was I going to get to work today?

I decided to wander past the garden shop on Brunswick Street. I must have been the first person there, there was that empty sort of sound of tinny music playing in the space. I sort of thought twice about it and walked back out again. Whew. I got to work 5 minutes early and started setting up.

Later that day we had a new customer… I’ll tell you about her next time!