The old man held the cat in his lap. It was curled into a white spotted ball in his lap purring. He stroked it gently and smiled. This was a good thing.
He lay back in his chair and sighed. It had been a long time since there had been anything else in this place at night but him. He looked down again at the cat.
It needed a little cleaning up, but it looked healthy. He shook his head and smiled.
“A barn cat.” She scrunched up her nose, suddenly there. “That’s the last thing we need is a mangy old barn cat.”
“I thought it might keep you company.”
“I just need you to keep me company.” She sighed. She looked down at the four-legged creature rubbing itself against his legs. “Where did you get that thing anyway?”
“It was by the side of the road. I passed it this morning and it was still there when I came back tonight. So I brought it home. I thought you’d like it.”
She put her hands of her hips. “You thought I’d like trash someone didn’t care enough about to even put in the can?”
“It’s not trash, sweetheart.” He told her. “It’s a cat.”
She looked at it again. It looked back and took a smooth feline step toward her. “Ugh! Don’t let that thing near me. This is Chinese silk. It’ll ruin it.”
David reached down and picked up the stray, cradling it in one hand and rubbing it’s head with the other. “It won’t hurt your dress. See how gentle it is?”
“Get rid of it!” She whined. “Take back out to the road and dump it where you found it.”
“That’s cruel.”
She balled up her fists at her side and puffed. “Get…rid…of…it!”
David nodded. “There’s a farm down the road. I’ll take it there in the morning.”
Before he could turn away, she reached out and snatched the cat from his arms. She grabbed it by the head and cracked it like a whip. David heard the snap and saw the cat go limp. Hiking up her blue Chinese silk, she stomped over to the trash and slammed the body in.
She brushed her hands and looked down. “Oh, look what you’ve done! She stared up at him. “I have that nasty cat hair all over my dress.” She stomped up stairs and left him standing there.
David shivered until he was old again. He looked down in his lap, making sure it was just a dream. The little thing raised its head and looked at him.
“Patches.” He smiled and stroked the fur contented. “I’ll call you Patches.”
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