An eventful day in Misty's life
Written by Dr.Laxmi Iyer

What does a bored three year old cat cooped up all day in a house do? After having breakfast and playing with her toys, she rests for a while. And then...what? The building where she stays is a dog person. Every one has a dog. She is almost the only cat in the apartment complex that she stays in. Misty is too scared to venture out and besides it's freezing cold. In the beginning, she used to get bored being cooped up in the house but now Misty has got used to accepting her life - just the way it is.

Misty stays with the McMahons - Josephine and Jeremy a yuppie couple who firmly believe in the DINK ( Double Income No Kids) way of life.

The McMahons love travelling. When the sun is out - in good, pleasant weather, they travel.

Misty has been every where with them. From seeing the ruins of ancient Inca civilizations to visiting Disneyland and the Eiffel Tower of Paris, she has been to quite a few of the ' must see places ' of the world.

However, all this happens only during the sunny 6 months of the year. In winter, she has no choice but to stay bundled up all day in the house.

This new house unlike the earlier one is not on the ground floor. There are no gardens to stroll into nor large, open windows with sunshine streaming through.

In the earlier house, there used to be squirrels, rats, mice, moths, frogs and lizards that she could chase. This house is so antiseptically clean, there isn't even a single ant scurrying away.

The McMahons get down to doing the serious business of work for only 6 months each year. They earn well as consultants - giving sage investment advice to start-ups and corporates. For the rest of the year, they are busy travelling.

Actually, Misty is living an idyllic life - the kind of life that few cats get to live. No older cats to bully her. No younger kittens to tease her. A great deal of variety in food. Well, it's a really charmed life.

So, Misty keeps herself busy by grooming herself thrice - then having a double siesta in the afternoon, doing the grand tour of the spacious home at least three times. During such tours, she meticulously soaks up the fragrance of every little bit of interesting new perfume, deodorant or soap that the couple experiment with.

Then she does a couple of tummy rolls, air paw exercises, stretching and bending exercises on the couple's bed and then lazes about on the sofa for yet another short evening siesta.

She always wakes up at six in the evening and then spends the rest of the hour standing anxiously near the door - waiting for the couple to return home.

One day, Josephine had forgotten to carry her mobile with her...That was a day of discovery for Misty. It was in fact the most eventful day of Misty's life.

The mobile had a lovely cat voice saying Meeeow! Misty loved it. There were nearly 20 missed calls that day.

Every time the mobile rang, Misty ran eagerly to listen to the Meeow! Ring tones. She was delighted. Then accidentally, when the mobile rang for the 21st time that day, Misty pressed one of the buttons playfully...like she had always seen Josephine doing.

" Hello! " said a voice from the other end.

Meeeow! said Misty, delighted to know that she had learnt how to use this curious gadget.

" Hi! Misty " said, Josephine's voice from the other side.

" Meeeow! Meeeow! " said, Misty thrilled to be able to talk on the mobile to Josephine.