I was reading the newspaper when I heard a "blam" and saw Moxie scurry from the direction of the laundry room. Moxie's a chubby calico, pretty mellow and generally stays off of high places and out of trouble, so I was wondering what she'd been up to.

When I got to the laundry room, I found a bewildered looking Rosie sitting on a pile of laundry on the chest freezer under the cupboard that opens to the laundry chute. The cupboard door was open. I knew that Rosie had been hanging out from time to time in the laundry cupboard in the upstairs bathroom. There is a shelf next to the chute, so she can lie there and glean whatever information she seeks. Hard to say if the trip was intentional or not.

Maybe she figured she could bypass the stairs, where Cinder, a miniature black panther, usually lies waiting in ambush. Or maybe it was a laundry chute gravity check.

However, Cinder, hearing the commotion, abandoned her post at the foot of the stairs and strolled up the hall to the laundry room. Rosie's tail puffed and she growled. Cinder answered with a warning mmrroow. Moxie moved out of the line of fire while I stood in the doorway, blocking the way and wishing I had a squirt bottle handy. So, I started saying in a cheerful voice what good girls they were and to be nice.

After muttering a couple of insults to Rosie, Cinder turned and walked ever so slowly into the kitchen. I went with her, praising her all the way as she strolled out the back door. I shut the door behind her and went back to tell Rosie that the path was clear.

Rosie thought about it a moment, and then hopped off the freezer and trotted down the hall, up the stairs, in the bathroom, and back into the laundry cupboard to wait for whatever prey or perhaps instructions from the mothership.

Copyright © Anne Wxill
November 26, 2001

Read Anne's other story: Ghost