Fun fact: Veterinarian and author James Herriot once said, “Cats are the connoisseurs of comfort.”
Arriving home from work one day,
I thought I’d find my cats at play.
Instead, I found a quiet house,
A house as silent as a mouse.
Dear Pete was sleeping, safe and sound,
but brother Twink was not around.
I checked in all his usual spots,
but did I see him? I did not.
I found him, finally, asleep on a boot
in the back of a closet. Oh, what a hoot!
His wide body straddled the boot on each side
with his head in the hole as if trying to hide.
My laughter awoke him. He looked up and yawned,
then raced to the kitchen as dinner-thoughts dawned.
I started to follow but heard a strange squeak,
an odd little sound… in a strange little speak!
I picked up the boot, and deep down I spied
a poor frightened mouse cowering inside.
My Twinkie had done what a good cat would do.
He’d chased that wee mouse straight into a shoe!
Unable to reach the mouse deep in the toe,
Twink opted to catnap on top of his foe.
I carried the boot to some shrubs in my yard
and set the mouse free, scared but unscarred.
Gone in a second, it never returned,
and from my cat, Twinkie, that day I learned:
If you can’t catch a mouse, then you must guard its trap.
But don’t let the hunt interfere with your nap!
~Wendy Hobday Haugh
