Cat

Mick sat on the covered porch at the side of his house with a book, a sandwich, and a glass. The book was Hemingway, the sandwich was turkey, and the glass was milk. On the opposite side of the driveway that ran past the side of his home the very old wood fence gave birth to a cat. It's fur matched the color of the dark worn wood. The cat noticed Mick and stopped to stare at him. He noticed that the man seemed to be as old as the fence he had just crawled under. Mick stared back. After a few moments Mick put down Hemingway and leaned forward, extended his arm and rubbed his thumb against his fingers while making swishing noises with his mouth to try and entice the cat to his side of the driveway. The cat startled at the movement and thought about retreating back through the fence, but stopped and looked again at the man.

Mick took a bit of meat from his sandwich and tossed it in the cat's direction, who didn't notice it until it hit the grass in front of him. He sniffed at it a few times and then ate it. The cat looked back at the old man and shamelessly asked for more. Mick got up and retrieved two more slices from the refrigerator and returned to the porch. He dangled a slice of turkey from his hand.

"Come on. Come eat." The cat slowly made it's way over to the old man and quickly ate the first slice without chewing, and then the second in the same way, and again asked for more.

"That's it, cat. I guess there is some milk here if you want it." He put the glass in front of the cat who looked inside and then immersed his head in to get what was left of the milk.

"Okay, cat. I am going inside now. Behave yourself."

###

Mick was standing over the kitchen sink looking out the window. His wife came in the side door. "There is a cat just sitting on the porch," she said

"He came to visit me when I was reading," Mick said.

"You didn't feed him did you?"

"No."

"Then we'd never get rid of it."

"We're out of turkey."