WILD LIFE
Nearing sundown yesterday under balmy turquoise skies, I wandered to the local fishing docks and favorite wharf side deck-bar at "The Top of the Inland Waterway" ~ as I strolled from the parking lot across the narrow side-street two grey squirrels suddenly raced past my ankles toward a gravel drive-way, hotly pursued by a young feral black cat. Finding themselves trapped in a fenced-in blind alley, the squirrels wildly zig-zagged, then leaped up a rickety old wooden stairway that ran along the side of a shuttered red-brick outbuilding, bounding up the twenty-odd steps to a dead-end landing, where they quickly realized there was no exit! ~ Freaking out, they chattered between themselves, rubbing noses, spinning in tight circles, then peered down at the carnivorous feline crouching patiently with a hungry grin on its bewhiskered face waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Realizing they had to do something to escape, the squirrels gingerly crept back down the steps until they were three or four feet from the motionless cat. ~ I stood transfixed on the sidewalk as I witnessed the horrific scene unfolding about five yards from me, unsure what to do, whether to intervene in the cosmic scheme of things, or run back to my car and grab my camera or continue on my mythic journey to visit Suzie Q, my favorite barmaid around the corner on the outside patio facing the tranquil blue river. ~ Finally I made an existential decision and, grabbing the only thing I could find, threw a quarter in the general direction of the cat, breaking his concentration as he glared back at me fiercely with a look of "Hey, what the FUCK are YOU doing?" ~ The tense stalemate resumed and, terribly thirsty and fearing the worst, I continued on my way to the bar where I ran into Kelly and Crystal, asked Suzie for a rum & coke with lime, lit a cigarette and told them about the wildlife drama happening out front. The girls freaked and, gulping our drinks, we all ran back to the scene of the crime ~ where we found the squirrels vanished and the flustered black cat sitting in the driveway looking very confused and pissed off....