All in a day’s
work
It was a Wednesday evening- 7 O’ Clock. Margaret, Andrew,
Elizabeth and Joanna were tucking into their chicken and rice while Joanna
casually asked Andrew, “Dad, did anything life-changing happen in your day
today?” It was said with not much expectation so when Andrew’s reply was,
“Well... Actually...” Joanna- and the rest of the family- were caught by
surprise. The room was silent, except for the beeping of the washing machine-
but that doesn’t really count. All eyes were on Andrew as he began his story...
The little black car was trundling along the busy street,
a window open to let some cool air in. If that’s what it could be called; it
was a very humid day. Little did Andrew know that if he hadn’t opened that
window, he wouldn’t have been late for work. Very late.
If the window hadn’t been open, Andrew wouldn’t have
heard the cat.
“Good morning.” It said in fluent English before
continuing on its way. Still staring at the grey cat, Andrew parked his car at
the side of the road and got out. “You can talk.” He muttered in disbelief.
The cat looked shocked, “You can understand me?” When the
human nodded, she continued, “I must be dreaming.” Andrew just happened to be
thinking the same thing.
But the cat got over her shock before the man and said
sharply, “All cats can talk; just no humans listen. That’s why they- well you-
haven’t discovered our superior intellect; you only understand human
languages.” There came no reply, so the cat continued, “I’m Storm.”
“I-er- I’m Andrew.”
“I know your
name. I’ve spent years watching your garden and have learnt a lot more than
just your name.”
If this is a dream Andrew
thought, then I should just keep dreaming
and if this is actually happening, I should be polite and reply. And so he
replied, “If you’re so clever then why are you hanging around talking to a mere
human?”
“Well... actually, you happen to be the first human to
understand me.” Storm looked up at him with her bright amber eyes.
“...How can I
understand you?” Andrew was beginning to see that his daughters were right to
be so interested in these fluffy four-legged animals.
“How am I supposed
to know? I was just being friendly and saying ‘good morning’ to every creature
that passed, as I do every morning.” She said matter-of-factly then paused. “The
rabbits that have taken up accommodation in your garden are a lot friendlier
than you.” Storm frowned, “And just so you know, we’ve had many interesting
conversations interrupted by you telling me to go away. I think it’s rather
rude.”
“Um- sorry. I-er thought you might attack them.”
The cat looked horrified, “Me? Attack a rabbit? I’m a
vegan. I strictly eat ‘Ami cat food’. It’s approved by the UK Vegetarian
Society.”
Andrew didn’t think his day could get any weirder. He was
wrong.
A slight breeze wove in between the branches of a tall
slender Silver birch, making the leaves flutter like tiny emerald wings. All
except one leaf. The more Andrew stared up at it the surer he was that it wasn’t
a leaf. “It’s blue,” He murmured. Well,
if I can talk to a cat, then anything’s possible. When Andrew looked back
down at the cat, something caught his eye. Something blue. The blue leaf had
fallen down from the tree, stolen by the wind, and had landed on Andrew’s
wrist, just above his watch. He tried to pick it up, but it wouldn’t move.
“Oww!”
Did that leaf just talk? Andrew couldn’t believe it.
Suddenly, the eyes of the leaf opened and tiny legs grew
out of its sides as it started to crawl up the human’s arm.
Andrew looked down at the space where the leaf thing had
just been.
I’m going to be late
for work! “Oh crumbs!” He groaned and was so occupied in thinking about being
late that he didn’t notice the blue leaf disappear. All Andrew saw when he
looked at his arm again were some bread crumbs. There are crumbs everywhere! “Oh rats!” Andrew cried. Suddenly the
little crumbs began to grow. They grew legs and ears and tails and... They were
rats!
It was like a nightmare; there were rats all over Andrew
and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get them off. There was nothing he
could do so, instead of stressing out even more; Andrew tried to think of his
happiest thought to distract him from this horror scene. He shut his eyes and
said the word, “Solitaire... Spider-“ Before Andrew could finish his sentence,
the pack of cards that had appeared on Andrew’s jumper immediately grew eight
spindly legs. They crawled all over him and suddenly Andrew realised what was
happening. How did I not realise? It
turns into anything I say. As fast as possible, he tried to think of
something small and harmless, “Peacock butterfly!” Andrew almost shouted, so
relieved to have those rodents off him. He- and the cat- watched in silence as
the paper-thin, beautiful butterfly sprinted away through the sky.
Andrew gazed at the cat in disbelief, “What was that thing?”
“Oh, just one of the many things humans never notice.”
As Andrew thought about what Storm had just said, the cat
said, “And by the way, you’re going to be very late for work.”
Andrew sighed, “Could I have told that ‘Shape shifting
thing’ to turn into an aeroplane or something? So I could get there sooner.”
Storm winked, “You probably could have, but it’s too late
now; maybe next time.” And with a flick of her tail, she sank away into the
bushes.
“Next time?” Andrew asked silently to who-ever might be
listening.
