TGIF

Last night I woke up to shrieking sound of a cat fight at the end of the driveway.

I didn’t even bother to get up.

The cat across the street had attempted to walk up my driveway and partake of the food we leave out for strays.

This cat is not a stray, he is fat and pompous…and Miss Kitty whacked him severely about the whiskers and shoulders until he left.

This happens about once a week.

Miss Kitty is the gatekeeper.

This is her place and she only allows those who she deigns acceptable to enter…but they always must enter knowing who owns the place.

The sweet spirited yellow coon cat comes every day.

Miss Kitty allows him to pass, sometimes offering a perfunctory swat on his backside.

Some days she allows him to eat in peace, other days she stands about a foot away as if to remind him of her authority.

Occasionally, she will walk to his dish with him…and greedily eat his meal in front of him.

She will then come in the house and announce that she’s starving.

Now and then I will go out and pet him and she observes and takes notes…he will pay for this attention later.

The other strays are treated more or less the same, depending on the gatekeepers mood.

The one rule they must always be mindful of…they may eat outside, but they may never enter the inside of the home.

The inside, where the food comes from and where the master dwells…is hers alone.

Attempts to enter in are dealt with swiftly and fiercely.

Miss Kitty the gatekeeper doesn’t remember that once she was a stray herself.

She no longer acknowledges that all she has, she’s been given.

She wasn’t born into the family, she was adopted.

She doesn’t recognize that it’s my house and my food and I share with who I will.

She has forgotten grace.

The gatekeepers always do.

The other night I was awakened by the sound of Miss Kitty crunching away on her middle of the night meal.

The door to the outside was open and she strolled in for a snack before bed.

Then, I noted that Miss Kitty the gatekeeper was sound asleep next to me…and the crunching continued.

The truly hungry will always find a way around the gatekeepers…

Make your own application…