 |
| THE NEIGHBOUR'S BACK GARDEN |
My daughter's flat is in a quiet street about 150 yards long in the south of the city and has a surprising amount of disabled parking places over its short length. Even more surprising is the number of cars in the street, mostly new or nearly new, especially in the disabled parking bays. I've yet to see anyone with a zimmer, a stick or even a limp.
In the short time I've been here, I've noticed another peculiar phenomenon; the number of cats in the street. They seem to be all over the place. One ginger tom called Ben, a real bully, spends most of the time when it's not sleeping, threatening the other cats in the area. Leave your door open for a few minutes and he seems to appear from nowhere, sniffing around the stoop and staring at you disdainfully if you try to chase him away. I recently read that they can carry a virus which can turn deadly. The virus is closely related to the Mers and Sars coronaviruses which can be fatal. Now that my daughter is expecting her first child, she will have to be careful with the cats.
 |
| DORA |
 |
| FRED
Next door the neighbour has five cats. She lives with her 40-year old son and they don't seem to do much except add to the collection of statues and ornaments in the garden. The son's job is to change the garden around according to the mother's whim, which seems to be on a weekly basis when you can see him hefting heavy rocks around and placing them in various places not too far from where he took them.
|
 |
| ORNAMENTS IN THE FRONT GARDEN |
She tells me she's allergic to cats. I ask, What are you dong with so many cats, them?
Ah, she says, I stay away from them but there's one cat, Dora, who's threatened by Ben in the living room at night so I have to keep her in my bedroom. She stays in the corner but when I'm asleep she crawls on to my bed. I wake up in the morning with a bad cough.
The logic behind this I can't really fathom. They're all a bit strange around here. Watchful eyes and lots of secrets, I would guess.
