A Short Tail

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Sounds of the extremely loud television permeate the room. Mike and his best friend, Rudy, are sitting on the couch. Rudy is cramming food into his mouth as fast as he can while watching the football game. Mike seems to have to wait on the crumbs and pieces to fall away from Rudy’s hands…and mouth. It’s almost half time but Rudy’s team is about to score.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! Whadda ya think, Mike?” Mike gives a growl and a woof in response as he gobbles down the latest bites to fall next to him on the couch. “Wait till half time, Mike. We can get the baseball game on the sports channel.” Mike growls again. “Just wait yer turn! This is my game. Ya can see yers in a minute. Man, yer gettin’ pretty bossy.”

Rudy crams more food into his mouth as the next play is executed. “YA!!!! That’ll show ‘em, won’t it, Mike?” By this time, there’s a rain of food scraps that Mike is totally engrossed in so does not answer. Rudy doesn’t notice so intent on his game.

In the background, there are several noises, just out of reach of those listening to the television. Scrapes and bangs could have been heard coming from the kitchen if only someone was listening. Unnoticed by the two on the couch, more sounds, some quite mysterious, come from the kitchen door.

“Hey, Mike. Get yer paws out of that bag of chips. Those are mine. You got yer doggie biscuits ta eat. Leave my stuff alone.” Once more, Mike gives a growl which is conveniently ignored by Rudy who suddenly switches the channel to another football game still in progress. Mike gets up and sits staring at Rudy for a few moments before pawing him on the arm. Rudy shrugs it off but Mike continues to paw until he gets aggravated with Rudy and slams his paw straight into the huge sub sandwich Rudy is holding making him drop it on the floor. Mike scrambles to grab it before Rudy can get there himself. Contentedly, Mike chomps down on the part that was left over.

“Aww, now cut that out, Mike. Yer gonna get yer turn in a minute. I wanna see the score on this here game first, got it?” Rudy looks back at the game and totally forgot that Mike had eaten his sandwich. He stares into the tv almost mesmerized by it.

After watching for a moment more, Rudy grabs the bag of chips from the table that Mike had been pawing and starts to scarf it down, cramming whole hands of chips in and crunching. That sound could be heard by both television watchers. Yet, the noises from the kitchen which are now getting louder and louder are not noticed by the pair on the sofa.

At the door to the kitchen, a black and white cat appears. With his mouth holding a string, he pulls and pulls till he gets the string and the tray attached to the string out of the kitchen without the two on the sofa noticing anything at all. They are oblivious to all things except the food and the television. The cat comes closer and finally stops right at Rudy’s feet.

“Bout time. Took ya long enuff.” Absentmindedly, Rudy picks up the tray and grabs the new sandwiches, chomping into it without so much as looking at what he has in his hands. He hands the doggie treats to Mike who also munches on them without looking at either the cat, Rudy or the treats. The cat sits patiently waiting.

It doesn’t take long for the pair on the couch to start to snore. When the cat hears that, he jumps up onto the sofa and curls up close to the remote. He paws it and the sound goes down. He paws again and the channels change until he comes to Animal Planet. A show is just starting featuring the lives of a number of cats. It’s obviously a series that he has been watching before. The cat begins to purr contentedly and smiles in catlike fashion.

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