Flashes of Panic

If you did not, when you were quite young, have some or all of the Just So Stories read aloud to you, you missed out on some lovely writing. In addition to my personal favorite, “The Elephant’s Child,” phrases from “The Cat That Walked By Himself” have always stuck in my mind.

While the theme of the story seems to be that the Cat made a better collective-bargaining agreement than the other domestic-animal unions, and therefore earned some significant resentment, some nights I think that Iz is angling for a different deal. I think he’s bored with walking by himself.

He’s not a very talkative cat, except maybe during the Festival of the Full Moon, but last night we had eight or nine people in the apartment, and he clearly enjoyed the attention. After everyone had gone home, and the lights were out, I started to hear the protest songs. “Maooow. Where did all my playmates go? Maoaoaow. It’s lonely in here with nobody to play with. Maow.”

I wonder what he’s planning on putting on the bargaining table?