Embedded Files
The visitor had been at Catville for approximately seven minutes when she began to suspect she had not been adequately briefed.
“What's upstairs?” she asked.
“The Loftlands.”
She waited.
I did not elaborate.
“And...what are The Loftlands?”
“The cats' activity room. I'm the Activity Director.”
“Of course.”
I wasn't sure why she said it that way.
At that moment, something black shot across the upstairs hallway, followed immediately by something smaller and equally black.
“PiP and Loki,” I explained. “They're playing.”
There was a crash.
“They're very active.”
Another crash.
“We're adding more activities tomorrow.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“More?”
“Yes. Kristine is coming.”
Apparently this did not reassure her.
We continued through the house.
A robot vacuum approached the stairs and stopped.
“That's Bob,” I said.
She looked down at him.
“Bob?”
“The upstairs robot vacuum. He has some navigation issues.”
Bob turned in a circle.
“He gets confused by the cat tunnel. We call it Bob's Bewildered.”
She looked at me.
I smiled.
Bob turned in another circle.
“Come on,” I said. “You haven't met Sir Stilts.”
She stopped walking.
“Who is Sir Stilts?”
“The spider.”
There was a surprisingly long silence.
I decided this might be a good time to tell her about Chi Chi.
“She brought me a mouse the other morning.”
“Who did?”
“Chi Chi.”
“The spider?”
“No, Chi Chi is a cat. Sir Stilts hasn't brought me anything.”
“Oh. Good.”
“Although an opossum did come through a catio window into the office.”
She stared at me.
“He left.”
The visitor was now standing unusually close to the front door.
I couldn't imagine why.
“Oh!” I said. “I almost forgot. Tomorrow my butterfly arrives.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your...butterfly.”
“Yes. It goes in my hair.”
This seemed to relax her.
“The wings move.”
She opened her eyes again.
“It keeps my hair away from the camera on my Meta glasses.”
“You have camera glasses?”
“Of course. How else am I supposed to film the cats?”
From somewhere upstairs came another crash.
“That's probably Loki.”
Bob turned in another circle.
Sir Stilts remained on the ceiling.
Commander Oliver watched all of us with the weary expression of the only responsible adult in the building.
The visitor reached for the doorknob.
“Leaving already?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Well, come back tomorrow.”
She hesitated.
“Why?”
I smiled.
“Kristine and I are upgrading The Loftlands.”
She left rather quickly.
I still don't know why.
It had been a perfectly normal day at Catville.
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