You may have read in a previous tale, about Shylock announcing that he is going mountaineering and announcing this with a rather distinctive meow, followed by some scrabbling noises and a muffled thump. Paul was eating his breakfast watching TV the other day, when he hears this meow coming from the kitchen. I'd gone to work, so he's on his own with the cats, and being a good owner, he decides he'd better check up on Shylock. Paul enters the kitchen and can't see Shylock on the floor or on the worktops. He walks into the dining room and checks the top of the piano, still no Shylock. Then he hears the bell on Shylock's collar somewhere behind him. As he re-enters the kitchen, Shylock sticks his head over the edge of the very top of the kitchen cupboards and looks down at Paul.

Paul decides he'd better get Shylock down from there, since he's worried that Shylock won't be able to get down on his own. The only problem is how? the cupboards are so close to the ceiling that the cat can't stand upright. Paul got a dining chair and stands on it to try to reach the cat. Every time he manages to grab hold of Shylock, Shylock growls, so Paul lets go. He then climbs off the chair and holds the chair up to the cupboards for Shylock to climb onto. Unfortunately, every time Shylock puts a paw onto the chair, it dips a little, so he retreats. Paul then props the legs of the chair on a cupboard door handle to stop it moving down, but Shylock has decided that this is not satisfactory, and stays put. Paul tries holding up the plastic washing basket, in case Shylock will jump into this instead. But Shylock stays put. Paul's just about running out of ideas, when Shylock decides he's had enough of this game, and jumps down himself, dislodging loads of dust in the process.

Unfortunately, Paul ended up 20 minutes late for work, because he was trying to rescue the cat. Luckily he has a very understanding boss, since where he works they are supposed to fill out a form explaining why they were late for work, which usually gets sent to the Managing Director!

Copyright © Rachel Craddock
May 20, 2005