Shylock was peacefully sat on the bed the other morning, having some fuss, when Falstaff came charging in, bounced on the bed, onto the window sill, shot straight out of the open window and disappeared.

Shylock did a double take and the expression on his face was complete disbelief. I'm convinced he was saying "Oh My God! Falstaff just threw himself out of the window". Shylock then quickly jumped onto the window sill, and peered out over the edge - "Where's he gone? is he okay?".

The whole event was very much like one of those TV shows where they set people up and video their reactions to bizarre situations. Shylock acted exactly like someone who has just seen a person jump out of a window in a sky-scraper.

By the way, Falstaff is perfectly fine. The lower floor of our house sticks out a bit, and outside the bedroom window is a short section of roof about 2 feet down from the window sill. Falstaff knows this and has been throwing himself out of the window for several weeks now. Shylock being the more cautious of the two cats (now 11 months old), hadn't discovered the roof outside the window - until now!

Copyright © Rachel Craddock
August 3, 2004