The Wandering Bark

There are two white persian cats that live in the apartment directly across from mine. They sit in the casement of their apartment window and observe me, or the street below.

The other day one of them was stuck on the ledge just outside of their fire escape awaiting imminent death as he precariously perched; the alternative being a five story fall to the street below. His feline counterpart, who was trying to force itself through the bars of the fire escape, was clearly desperate to save him.

I leapt out onto my fire escape and waved my arms frantically, as one does when one sees a cat committing suicide. I think when my neighbor finally saw me, she thought I was the one in need of being rescued.

Needless to say, the cats were saved.

But now when I see them in the window, they look different. Almost sad.

I watch them and wonder if, instead of saving them, I thwarted some major escape plan they had spent months negotiating. I am responsible for shattering their hope of shedding their roles as domestic house cats for fuller lives with their majestic relatives in Africa, relearning their true identities...That's all I can see when I look at them now.

I mean, look at the guy above. He had to leash his.