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That family was back. The mother and daughter were okay, but the boy was a terror. He could be kept under control if the father was with them, but all John saw coming through the door were the mother, the daughter, and the boy. Trouble, for sure. John walked up to greet the family. "Welcome to PetLand," he said. "Is there anything I can help you find?" Please be here to buy fish food or something else quick. "No thanks," the mother said. "We're just here so my daughter can look at the cats." John knew there would be no painless way out of this. "Let me know if you need any help." She turned toward the cat cages, reaching for her daughter's hand, but catching only air. Both kids were already in the cat section, and the boy was perched atop the bottom cage trying to climb higher. His mother and John raced over, but by the time they got to him, he was already standing on the middle cage and having a conversation with the cat in the top one. "What are you doing up there?" his mother scolded as she placed him, kicking and screaming, back on the floor. "I had to tell the cat something," the boy said. John offered a suggestion to try to keep the boy’s feet on the ground. "Why don't you talk with the cats on the bottom row?" The boy's answer was surprising. "The cats on the bottom can only talk to other cats on the bottom." That was true. Due to the solid bottoms of the cages, the cats could only see other cats on the same level, but what possible difference could that make to a six-year-old boy? Curiosity got the better of him. "What did you tell the cat?" John asked. The boy seemed to be surprised by that question, as if nobody had ever taken an interest in his motives before. He looked up with big eyes and said, "The cats have a plan." John didn't know what to make of that. "What kind of a plan?" “It’s a secret,” the boy said. His sister answered before John could say anything. "He thinks cats are planning to take over the world, and if he helps them, the cats will let him live." The boy responded to his sister with a snide voice. "I don't think it, I know it." The girl looked up at John. "He saw the cat at his friend's house knock the phone off the hook and start purring. He thinks the cat was reporting in." John waited for the boy's response, but he was gone. "Where did he go?" This was bad. Last time this boy disappeared in the store, he opened twenty-seven dog food bags, and scattered the contents all over the floor. What was he going to do this time? Worse yet, where was his mother? Had she left her kids here to go next door for a latte? John's first instinct was to check the dog food aisle. He walked down the aisle, checking all the shelves on each side, up and down, looking for either open bags or a boy. He found nothing, but he heard something rumple up ahead. John took several steps, and then stopped to listen. He heard a soft sound from behind. Was that the sound of a cat?
He spun around and froze, trying to hear the sound once more.
After a moment, he heard it again. It was a cat. He reached between
the top bag of dog food on the bottom shelf and the bottom of
the next shelf, and pulled out a white and grey tabby he recognized
as a new arrival to the store. |