Stillness…

…That stillness that creeps over a house when the children are tucked into bed, the laptops are opened and there’s the quiet thunk of the keys remunerating great, quiet thoughts.

An old, comfortable quiet that gets interrupted with the request for a cuppa tea and brief exchange of news as the lull of the radio starts to over take the conversation and the house settles into itself for the night. The stillness creaks as the children shift in their beds and the stray jingle of the cats’ bell as he makes his nightly patrol of the house.

Our cat likes to make sure that we are all in our proper places before he heads out for the night. He’s a funny cat who likes to drink his water with his paw, never quite trusting his eyes to see where that old translucent water actually starts and stops.

It was just such a night when the stillness was shattered.

SNAP!

My husband and I jerked to attention. Our eyes locked over the table and in unison we levitated from the table saying “THE TRAP” in a harmony that can only be found in years of familiarity.

What we were both worried about was that our cat had stuck his paw in our…

mouse trap.

Yes, we have a cat, but as far as we can make out he’s mostly ornamental. The previous night I spotted a mouse scuttling across my floor, and while I can not be ABSOLUTELY sure of this; I’d swear he gave me a cheerful wave, doffed his tiny hat, hiked some stale bread into his backpack and drifted off again while whistling “Sweet Home Alabama”. He was clearly moving in.  While I am tender-hearted in many respects, I get a bit strict about mice and ants setting up house in MY home. So as a brave woman of the 21st century, I made my husband set a trap. It was this very trap that now levitated us out of our chairs.

But our cat was quicker.

Turns out our cat is slightly less ornamental than he is managerial. He was aware of the problem but opted to wait for the plebs to sort it out.

The quiet of the house had emboldened the mouse, who went for the trap, that made a loud snap, which delighted the cat which lead to a merry dance around our house.

Cat with mouse… Mouse with trap… Husband after cat… Children catapulting down the stairs chasing after husband, each other and cat…while good self…

Orchestrating the whole gang at a very high pitch from the top of a chair.  Admittedly not one of my braver stances, but then again I had the best view of the whole parade.

Mouse and trap retrieved from cat and taken far far away. Children whisked back to bed laughing at the cat’s mousing ability and my bravery…. and slowly slowly the house quieted down again… but somehow still felt on alert for the next chapter.

Which didn’t come… at least not that night anyway.

Not all cats are Ornamental