And On the Way Home..



During the drive to our next destination, our ears were still ringing from Hester's shrill chirping. That was one angry bird! Obviously, family life among the eagles is not always filled with joy and laughter! Clarence and I meowed a bit about eagle family life and then fell asleep in the back of the automobile. We awakened some time later and we were surprised to find that we were parked in a lot next door to a plant store. I peered out of the window. It was a large store with a big glass house attached to it. Clarence squinted at the sign nailed above the doorway. "Perennial Harmony", he meowed. "I wonder what that means?" Clarence's person opened the back door of the vehicle and we jumped out onto the graveled parking lot. Clarence pointed at the building and we walked toward the doorway hoping we would be allowed into this strange place. As the door was opened, we slipped in, unnoticed by the individual who was standing there. It was a female person with a really nice face. "She likes cats, Henri. I can tell," meowed Clarence smuggly, brushing up against a potted plant.
Since Clarence was in his "brush up against" mode, I decided to check out the place. Quietly, I walked around, inspecting every shelf and corner. I peered into pots, sniffed arrangements of dried flowers and rubbed my whiskers against chair and desk legs. There was one area that I had not checked. It was a dark space behind a mound of fabrics. I was about to complete my appraisal when I heard a soft meow. "May I help you sir?"

How should I discribe such beauty? That fur! Those eyes! That melodeous voice! I was meowless! I stammered. I stuttered! Finally I found my voice and meowed, "I'm just looking..I intend to put in a few hedge roses this spring...."

"Then sir, you have come to the right place," she meowed sweetly. "In a few months, our hedge roses will arrive. I am proud to say, we have a large selection of those beautiful roses. May I have your name sir?"

I could hardly find my voice. "My name is Henri, Henri of Twin Brook," I purred.

"And my name is Aretha, Aretha Mau-Mau. I am so happy that you stopped by to see our wonderful store, Henri," she meowed. "Do you have a favorite color for your roses?"

"Well," I stammered. "I love yellow roses. It's my very favorite color in flowers. Perhaps you will have some rose bushes with yellow flowers.....?"

Aretha demurely washed her paws. "I've been so busy supervising the unpacking of merchandise that I hardly had time for a proper grooming this morning. If I had known you were coming to visit, Henri, I would have....."

"You look lovely!" I meowed. "I have never met a lovelier queen!" Slowly I approached her, leaned forward and stoked her supple whiskers with my paw.

"Oh, Henri," she cooed. "You are such a flirt! You naughty tom!" Gently, her paw touched my ear. She gazed into my eyes. "I think your friend is waiting for you Henri. "What's his name, by the way....?"

"Oh, that's just Clarence. I've known him for awhile. Nice cat if you like that kind of kitty. Sort of rough and unpolished." I did not know that Clarence was sitting on the other side of the stacked carpets.

"Okay, Romeo! It's time to call it a day! Say 'goodbye' to the queen. Let's pack it in and head for home," he growled, smacking me on my nose. As we walked out to the automobile, he taunted me with his raspy meows. "You look lovely! I just love yellow roses! Oh my, your eyes are deep pools of beauty and love! Your meows are a melody to my ears!" He kept that up for the entire drive home. I was ready to kill him! Finally Clarence's person must have tired of hearing his constant and raucous meows because he told him to shut up! I was happy to hear that, but Clarence altered his voice and continued to torment me in a lower key...Bad Clarence! Bad kitty!

Aretha sent me this picture of herself. Isn't she lovely!



Jane, the feline security guard at Dava and I continue to see each other but our friendship is platonic.
The End

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Perennial Harmony