A black cat with piercing yellow eyes leaped out the window of a suburban house, shattering glass in his wake.
"Great entrance, Midnight!" exclaimed a squirrel from a nearby tree.
"Oh, shut up, Nutty," muttered Midnight, rolling his eyes.
"What's going on?" asked a passing raccoon, intrigued by all the commotion.
Midnight recounted what happened.
“As Mr Jenkins and his wife sat down to dinner, I crept up on the dining table. With a swish of my tail, I knocked over the salt shaker and darted away.”
“Oh boy," chuckled the raccoon. "Someone’s getting bad luck tonight.”
Midnight continued.
“While the Jenkins slept, the new puppy began a rumpus of barking without letup.”
"Better watch your step puppy," snickered Nutty to the raccoon.
“Startled awake, Mr Jenkins stumbled out of bed, only to trip over a toy left out on the hall landing. Mrs Jenkins, awoken by the commotion, rushed to see what had happened. I pounced and startled her. She, too, fell down the stairs.”
"Ouch! That's got to hurt!" exclaimed Nutty.
"Never be perpendicular again after a tumble like that," added the raccoon.
“The puppy’s barks turned to whimpers as I approached him.”
Midnight stopped talking and there was a long silence.
"A new puppy! That’s brutal for the ego, Dude," said Nutty, shaking his head in disbelief.
Days later, milk bottles — the tops gnawed open by the cat, poor hungry creature, —littered the porch.
Midnight stared with indifference at the comings and goings of the white -suited humans. They seemed oddly fascinated with the shattered window, snapped photos and dusted it with tiny brushes.
"Well played, Midnight," said Nutty, giving him a sly smile when they met after dark.
" It worked," replied Midnight in a smug tone. “I’ll be top cat here once more.”