05.01.09

The Curious Incident of the Cats in the Night-Time

Posted in 2009 Medley at 6:33 pm by Miracle ♪♫

It could have been a ludicrous scene authored by Isabel Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but it was not.

As some of you already know, I live in an old house – a very old house. So old that it can be traced back to bayanihan days. In fact, this very same house had a different address more than 50 years ago. Only in the recent decades were the tin roof and concrete portions added and constructed to support the wooden structure.

Due to an architectural barrio characteristic common to that era, there is that space between the ceiling and the roof where birds are free to nest, and if one has neighbouring roofs, cats are offered the opportunity to make that particular space their playground, motel, or delivery room.

And it was last night when I heard the lovers’ mating call. Meowww… Meowowww… but as someone had tipped before, if you listen closely, it is the male cat saying “Nowwww!!!” and the female cat answering, “Tomorrowww!!!”
Now!!!
Tomorrowww!!!
Now!!!
Tomorroww!!!
And so on…
But it would always end up with the female consenting and approximately two months later, voilà! Kittens!

I fell asleep while the exchange persisted. It was at dawn when I woke up to what seemed like part of a novel by Gabo or Allende, for right above my bed was the lower half of a cat’s body struggling not to fall through a hole in the ceiling! I jumped out of bed hoping that by doing so, I would be jumping out from that bizarre dream. Yet, the cat continued to struggle and unidentifiable pieces of debris were already falling on my bed. Disgusted, shocked, and half asleep, I stood there aghast. Then I remembered what they were up to before I fell asleep. What a passionate night they must have had! How else would they have caused that gaping hole in the ceiling?

Fortunately, the worst did not happen. The frightened cat did not fall in my room and scratch its way through me or my things, but still, damage had been done. I knew I needed to have the ceiling fixed and have the whole room disinfected at once.

When morning came, the repairing and cleaning took place, but I was still dazed and my parents knew I was not in the happiest of moods. At breakfast, Mama put on the stereo and out came Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites for Cello. Note by note, it tore off my awry feelings and by the last swig of my breakfast espresso, I was already laughing about the whole incident.

Papa, with an apologetic smile felt sorry for me, and I reassured him that I still loved to live in this house no matter what. Yes, I might dream of villas in Tuscany or cottages in England, but I am content with the house, the very old house, that I’m blessed with. There is no place like home – with or without copulating cats in the ceiling.

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