The Husband Hunters

[todayiamadaisy]

In a whimsical moment a few months ago, I bought a little pack of cat toys. It contained five foil balls. These balls, honestly. The day I bought them, I put one on the floor in front of Percy, turned away to put the rest on the table, then turned back in time to see Percy swat it behind a bookshelf. Just one swipe. These things are so light they make him look like SuperCat. I gave him a second one. Pat, pat, swipe. Under the piano. Third one, under the sofa. So that's become a chore over the last few months: every couple of days I get the torch and a long ruler, and check under all the furniture for foil balls. The first ball is still behind the bookshelf where it landed the day I bought them; one of the others is permanently missing; and the other three… well. I picked them up last night and put them on the ottoman. This morning, one was under the ottoman, one was under the piano and the other was in the kitchen. I'm home from work and one of them has now moved into the living room. I think they're alive. Either that or my house is full of tiny portals, just the right size for foil balls to fall through and into another dimension. Or both, even.

I've been on leave for the past few weeks. I had the strangest feeling on Sunday night, thinking that I had forgotten what to do at work. That happened once when I was very little. I went back to school after the summer holidays and panicked that I might not be able to remember the alphabet. But I did, and so too did I remember how to work once I got to the office. Phew.