It was a lovely evening in North Carolina. We had been invited out for supper at a local bar and grill. This establishment sits nestled behind the end of a small strip mall. The owners have converted part of the parking lot into an outdoor cooking area along with outdoor seating. It had been a hot and steamy day, but with the sun tucked neatly behind the horizon, the evening air was cool enough to warrant sitting outside.
There is a lone, black feral cat that has taken up residence at this place. She has an endless food supply and the cooks and waiters even give her small cans of cat food on occasion. There is a small wooded area right behind the cooking pit and I imagine that is where she calls home. She is a sad looking mess, and kind of mangie but, she keeps a wary distance from the diners and patiently waits for a morsel or two to hit the ground. When that happens, she uses her stealthy cat moves, retrieves the tidbit and slinks off, usually none the wiser to the customer.
As we sat enjoying the encroaching coolness of night and good conversation, we noticed a young woman getting very close to the cat. She had set herself in a chair, right next to a small can of cat food. As the cat made its way to the can and began to eat, she ever so gently reached down to touch it. The cat must have been pretty hungry because she did not bolt, but hunched down a little closer to the can and continued to eat.
We were watching this scene play out and wondered what the girl was up to. We did not have to wait long. On about the second attempt to pet the cat, the girl seized it by the scruff of the neck. She then stood up, with the cat curled into a fetal position dangling from her hand, turned towards us and uttered these three words....."THIS is skill!"
She then proceeded to go back to her table where she had a pet carrier waiting. This was not one of those hard plastic carriers, but rather something that resembled a book bag, with open mesh windows for air circulation.
Most cat owners know, that even the most mild mannered cat in the world can turn into a whirling mass of fur and claws when it comes to putting them in something they do not wish to be put in to. It soon became obvious that this young lady missed that class when she was learning her cat skills.
She placed the cat, still hanging in the fetal position, into the bag. When she released her grip from the cats' neck.....the bag became a writhing, jumping, heaving, living creature of which there are few words left to describe. The girl frantically tried to zip the top of the bag shut, but she was out maneuvered by this feline who had survived quite well without anyone's assistance. That cat shot out of the bag like a ball out of a cannon. The young lady was lucky the cat did not climb right up the front of her shirt and launch off the top of her head. That indeed, would have been an encore presentation and had it happened, we would have been rolling on the floor as we were already having a hard time stifling our laughter.
Some times the best entertainment is free and this was no exception to the rule.
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