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After the event of the little possum eating the popcorn
and the gold cat corraling it until I came out to see...
and me saying, "possum can eat the popcorn"...
resulting in complete silence in the yard...
... I did not see the cat for many, many days.
It was like... the cat was no longer my friend.
Perhaps a full month later... he appeared again...
sitting in his "bird-watching spot" in the yard...
crouched down... with his back to the sidewalk... and to me.
I gently called out, "there's that cat"...
and stopped to watch for a minute
to see if we were still friends... or not.
I said again, "there he is... there's that cat"...
and he turned his head to his left...
turning his body very little as he turned his head...
and showed me an expression... that...
looked almost human in its expressiveness...
very clearly looking at me... with an expression saying...
"how could you humiliate me like that...!"
"how COULD you...!"
His head... tilted...
his eyes... very wide...
and he seemed sad... so sad.
Then he got up and walked away into the bushes.
Honestly... the cat had a human expression on its face...!
I went on along with my day.
I spent a little time trying to figure it all out.
How long had the cat kept the possum in check that night...?
How brave did the cat have to be... to "arrest" the possum...?
Was he being a hero... protecting the popcorn...?
all to be humiliated by me...?
losing face in front of the possum...?
What exactly had transpired that would evoke... such pain...?
What had the cat done... that I had rejected...
that would mean SO MUCH to him...
so that he would disappear for weeks...
and show up... with his back to me...
which I have discerned... must mean... he's mad at me.
After this short interaction...
again he disappeared for weeks and weeks.
It was winter now... perhaps he was just in the house.
Just lately... I walked down the sidewalk
and the gold cat jumped across the walk in front of me...
startling me... making me stop...
and he went and crouched down with his back to me.
I figure... that this meant... "I'm still mad at you."
And so... I had to smooth this whole thing over.
I said, in the most simple language that I could muster...
"I like that cat... but possum can eat the popcorn.
I like the possum... but possum has BIG TEETH... oh oh...
I don't LIKE possum's big teeth... oh oh...
so... I like the cat... I like the cat."
He turned just his head... to look at me...
then he stood up...
and walked dignified and slowly... over to the bushes...
and as I kept watching... he sat on a box in the next yard...
and curled up... and made himself comfortable.
Before I walked on again
I said to the cat...
"I LIKE that cat. I like that cat."
And now, I'm wondering... is it just THIS cat...?
is THIS cat more expressive than other cats...?
able to give human-like facial expressions...?
like a human who is stuck in a cat's body...?
or... do ALL cats do this...
and we just never pay any attention to them...
...?
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