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The Valentine Balloon

by Mark Edwards, Arlington, Texas, USA

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Presto has a new toy.

Last night, Senyah came home from church with one of those red foil helium balloons in the shape of a heart. It has a medium length string, so that it can't be reached from the ground by a lazy cat.

Presto sits up on his hind legs, bats ineffectually at the air, then meows his unhappy state of affairs at me.

Ever the obliging cat slave, I find some yarn (gee, I hope Senyah doesn't mind that I snipped it from the middle of an afghan - just kidding, y'all). I tied enough yarn to the end, and tasseled it so that the balloon just barely floats a half inch above the carpet.

The slightest breeze makes it float up, before it settles back down again. The tassel also acts just a little bit like velcro. If something, say a cat, walks close to it, the tassel attaches to the fur.

Presto, after experiencing this affect, decided to attack the offending tassel, which jumps up out of reach before settling down between his paws. This time, he jerks on the tassel, which jerks the balloon down to bonk him on the head.

Presto spins around, further tangling the string loosely around his paw, and the fight is on.

He runs, he jumps, he pounces. Each time the balloon comes within reach of his head, he jumps back, only to have the evil balloon leap in his direction yet again.

Finally, the oscillating fan catches the balloon, and it drifts away down the hallway. Presto cusses at it, then settles in for a really good cleaning.

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Editor's note:

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