Helpful Visitor

     Glenn’s car slid slowly down the hill. It was a dirt and gravel road that he had taken many times but the trouble with an ice storm, which was not a very strong one but passed by recently, was that it didn’t have to leave much ice on the road for it to be slippery and you really couldn’t see it very well. 

     So his car slid from one side of the road to the other but fortunately it was an old car and as it bumped off the berms on the sides of the road a bit, it would continue on down the road. He thought to himself in this long slow slide, “If there were cars parked here it would be a disaster but fortunately there isn’t any.” 

     Suddenly a cat jumped up on the hood of his car and stared at him. Then the cat slowly blinked at him and jumped off. Before Glenn had a chance to wonder where the cat came from his car slid onto a section of the road that didn’t have any ice and came to a complete stop. His brakes which he had been gently applying were now effective. 

     He breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and thought, “Whew! That was some slide. It got better when the passenger showed up though.” He wondered exactly how he was going to turn off at his friend Eida’s driveway. He could see it up ahead but there were some ups and downs on the icy road to come.

     He thought, “Practically nobody ever comes down this road so I’ll just wait.” He waited and as luck would have it the sun came out and warmed the road a bit. After about 20 minutes with nobody coming down that road since it was really like a long driveway that serviced a few old houses there, he slowly carefully proceeded to Eida’s driveway and turned off into her place. 

     He got out and Eida was there at the door smiling at him. He walked over and said, “You know I love living out in the country but this is not the particular type of day that I look forward to.” 

     She looked at him and said, “Well you know, what did I tell you. I told you when you moved out here to park that fancy car and get an old beater car and you did. Aren’t you happy?” He turned around and looked at his car all mud stained and scratched on the side by gravel and he said, “I sure am. It runs fine but it looks terrible.” 

     She smiled and responded, “Well, that’s the kind of vehicle you need at this time of year and you can drive the nice one in the spring or summer if you feel like it.” Glenn smiled and said, “Well, are you going to invite me in or are you going to keep me freezing out here?” “Oh!”, she said. “Excuse me.” They both laughed and went in the house. 

     “I hear, according to the news of the neighborhood, that you’ve got a bunch of new kittens, Glenn commented.” “It’s true,” she said, “and it was a complete surprise.” 

     “I didn’t even know you had a cat,” Glenn said. “I don’t have a cat,” she answered, “but I went out into the garage the other day and I heard this little mewing sound and I went over to where the hot water heater is and opened the door and there inside, and heaven knows how she managed to find her way in, was a momma cat and 4 baby kittens.” The momma cat looked up kinda of dreamy like and I said, ‘I don’t know how you got in but you’re welcome to stay.’” 

     Glenn said, “It’s not a gas flame thing is it?” Eida answered, “No, no, it’s electric and the walls that are surrounding the heater are really pretty well insulated but that’s because I’m trying to, you know, prevent heat loss.” 

     “Well it sounds like it makes a pretty good cat birthing place too but how did she get in there, you know? Show me how the door opens,” Glenn asked. “I don’t want to disturb her because she and the kittens sleep at this time of the day,” Eida responded. “Well, you don’t have to do that then,” Glenn answered. 

     They both went out to the garage and they looked at the water heater enclosure. It was just a plain handle on the door, the kind that you stick your fingers through and pull and he said, “What keeps it shut?” She said, “It’s a spring magnetic thing.” “Oh, I wonder if she just knows how to open it?” Glenn mused. 

     “Well if she knew how to open it she would have to jump up, put one paw on one side of the door frame and the other paw to pull on the door. You think she can do that?” Eida responded. “Well, you know, it’s possible,”Glenn answered. 

     “Anyway she’s doin okay and I think I’m going to leave her for another day or so but I’m going to start putting some kind of food in there because she’s going to get hungry. Food and maybe water. Oh, I hear her moving around a bit. Maybe just crack the door a little Glenn and have a look”, Eida said. 

     Glenn opened the door just a tiny bit but couldn’t see a thing for a moment. Suddenly there was a cat face right at the slight door opening. Glenn jumped back for a moment and the door closed. “I’ll be doggoned”, he said, That’s the cat that jumped up on my car hood.” Glenn explained to Eida about his unexpected passenger that joined him for a moment at the bottom of the hill. 

     Eida said, “Wow! She is a special cat alright.” 

They both bent down and opened the door a little. The moment they did cat was right there and touched Eida with one front paw and Glenn with the other and looked into their eyes. 

     Eida and Glenn both heard a voice at the same time. The voice said, “I am Samba. I have come to remind you that what you both have wished for can be yours now. It is the right time to be together.” 

     And from that day forward, even before they were married, Samba would talk to them that way when they each needed to know what the other was thinking so they could be together in happiness and make choices that they both wanted but sometimes couldn’t quite express in words.

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Sometimes we might need a little nudge to help us to communicate better. Happy Holidays to you all!

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Detail of photo: Photo is ©️B. Kim Barnes, used with permission and can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimbar/31263059798/in/album-72157664596107402/