Thomas Tomovich, Bad Cat
Part 1.
A cat sat under a grey car outside the big house gates watching passers-by. It was a fine June evening, just the start of the Dog’s hour when Dog owners come home from work to rush their poor creatures out on the leash for a little wee. The worse was ahead right after eight o’clock when they take them out without leash for a walk and run. The Cat had learnt of that recently when on a warm spring morning he rushed out of the flat the moment the door was opened to let out someone else.
The Cat was fed up with the tenants he had to share the flat with. True, they used to say they had bought a funny little Siamese kitten just to have Him grown into a demanding semi-Siamese with a loud brisk voice and scratchy claws that would leave wall-paper torn in the corridor. True, He was sick and tired of their attempts to play with him at the wrong hour, not when he fancied it most. It was also true that with spring coming and Him having turned into a three year old handsome moggy. He felt a desire to get out of that stuffy flat and join a sweet-voiced darling on the roof top, whoever She was. Even now He could hear her bellying:
What I want is a room somewhere,
Far away from the cold night air…
But that had happened about two weeks ago, and now, after all sorts of adventures to be told later, with Dog’s bites on his back and ear, very thin and hungry, The Cat was seeking for some Softy to stay with. He sat there under a car parked on the pavement as it is a custom in Moscow. He watched students and young employees hurrying by - not the kind He would fancy. A lady with a pram or an elderly babushka would be a choice. He followed each approaching person with His bright blue eyes appreciating the chances of a happier life in his/her flat.
There! There is coming a dreaming fool of a woman! She looks purring at the fine summer evening. She looks at passers-by and buildings, so if I start meowing in a very thin voice The Fool, no doubt, will stop to look at me. Then I’ll show her what a cuddly puss I am. Old Fools like cuddly cats with blue eyes.