Midnight the middle hitter

I looked through Marilyn’s previous book Bits of Splashes of Rainbows and Feathers to see if she had stories that should also be told in the one we’re working on, Splashes of Rainbows and Feathers.

In previous book, she said that her son’s kitty Scooter liked to chase images on the TV screen.

Our previous cat Midnight was a very sedate, rather prim cat. Her main source of exercise was to flee to the top of the refrigerator any time I touched the vacuum. I had caught her tail in it once when she was hiding underneath the couch. She wanted to be well clear of that wicked, cat-sucking machine. I lived in a tiny house at this time and the vacuum was stored in the bathroom. Nearly every time I went into the bathroom, I touched the vacuum’s handle. Midnight instantly ran for the fridge top.

My TV was perched on an old two-drawer file cabinet on one end of my battered couch. I propped up my head on the couch arm on the other end to watch my little $35 black-and-white TV.

I was hardly ever home, so the TV was rarely on. When I did watch the tube, Midnight usually sat right on my chest, just below my chin. That night, I was very tired and had only enough energy to flop onto the couch to watch the tube. Nebraska volleyball came on. As we watched the action, Midnight’s tail started twitching. She crept toward the TV. I realized that she was stalking it. She inched her way down toward my feet and the TV screen until she was right in front of it. Every time the ball was set, Midnight swatted at the ball. She had a near-perfect hitting percentage. I couldn’t see the game, but I didn’t care. What was happening live was much funnier than what was on screen.

I wanted to roll off the couch with laughter, but I didn’t dare. If I laughed, I feared I’d break the spell. After a hard day, I needed all the entertainment I could find. I was choking on laughter. When I did expel a laugh, I had suppressed it so hard that it sounded more like a sob. Midnight kept turning to see what was wrong with Mistress. Was Mistress distressed? I smiled at her and she turned back to stalking volleyballs.

Finally, I could suppress the guffaws no longer. I started howling with laughter, rolling onto my side and doubling up. Midnight looked back at me reproachfully. I had disturbed her stalking pattern! At this, I laughed so hard I fell off the couch and started rolling on the floor.

Midnight walked over to me, stuck her nose in my face and mewed loudly, as if to say, “Mistress, how am I supposed to catch anything when you make such a commotion!” I howled even louder and she stalked away in disgust. I could just hear her thoughts: “Humans are SO WEIRD!”