Saturday, 6 June 2020

'Cats and Dogs' by Sonya Oldwin

“Aw, look at this one.”

Marie points at a bunny rabbit. Their twitchy noses are kind of sweet, but I don’t want a bunny rabbit. What do they do all day? Eat leaves. Don’t vocalise. Don’t particularly care about their humans. They’re happy munching away at the greenery. We need something a bit more involved

“Boring,” I say.

Marie shoots me a look.

“Not.”

“Too.”

“Not.”

“Ah, will you two quit it now,” says Da. He’s hoping to talk us into choosing a dog. I know who’ll be left walking the pooch and cleaning up after it, though. I’ve enough on my plate playing mammy to Marie and Da, I don’t fancy adding dog poo duties to that.

Still, Da tries. Marie can barely hide her fear, and for once, I’m glad she’s such a wuss. I point out the really scary looking ones, just to make her yelp in fear.

No dog, so.

I’ve, of course, done my research. I called ahead and asked them to show a particular pair to us. I know what I want and I know how to get Da and Marie on board. Like Mam..

Oh my god, the kittens are so adorable I’ve to keep a tight hold on myself not to give away how much I want to take them home. If I show too much enthusiasm, Marie will veto them as a matter of principle. Da always sides with her.

“Aw, they’re cute,” she says. I knew she’d topple like a domino. Da’ll be the real test – He isn’t much of a cat person, or so he claims.

“Well, they are a bit,” I say, putting on my best unconvinced voice. I give her half a centimetre with my index finger and thumb to indicate how a bit cute I find them.

“Ah, don’t be silly now, Ciara. They’re perfect dotes,” Da says, rubbing the black and white kitten’s head. I let the ginger one sniff my fingers. It gives me a tiny lick and I feel the warmth from its tongue fill me.

“Does that mean we’ll get them?” squees Marie.

“Ah, I wouldn’t mind them now,” says Da.

“You know,” I say, quietly, “I think Mam would have loved them.”

Marie sob-hiccups and Da makes the usual noise when Mam comes up out of the blue. I mean it, she would have loved them. Still, I’ve landed a precision blow.

“Okay then,” I say, keeping the triumph out of my words.

1 comment:

  1. Today is Mother's Day where I live. This one brings a lump to my throat.

    ReplyDelete

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