Tales from the Walauwa:

Best way to get intoxicated

by Cat O' Logge

The whole family came back today late at night after having visited some Colombo International Book Fair or other.

Daughter of the house of course already has a very large collection of books in her room. Rudolphus and I realized that they really mean quite a lot to her the day he was caught red handed munching away on a book daughter had left on the floor where she had been watching TV.

Peculiar ways

I myself don't have anything against books, but it must be said that I shall never see what people find so exciting about this activity where you sit and stare at something for hours. It's quite beyond me, but apparently reading is another of the practices which are so highly regarded by humans, yet not very popular with cats (sort of like singing loudly in the bath).

However, there they were all seated in the living room with all their new purchases in hand and to tell you the truth daughter of the house even had her nose buried in a book, quite literally. She inhaled loudly and theatrically and went on to say that the smell of new books are really quite intoxicating (hmmm? maybe smelling new books is what Pala does most nights before he comes back raving and ranting to the walauwa).

Elder son had found a few books he had been looking for all this time and there he was passing them around to the others as if they were some sort of trophies he had won at some competition. All this while I was watching daughter and there she was fingering lovingly her new acquisitions and saying out loud that these new books really do have funny summery cartoony covers.

Father of the house had found a snake poster and he unrolled it for all to see. Urgh?. I have a feeling I could have done without that. Hope he doesn't hang that awful thing in the kitchen, the dining room or on any of my other favourite haunts.

Younger son was the only member of the family who just wouldn't raise his head to look up from the book he had bought. It was one about all those awful loud and wobbly cars that people drive.

Then we got to the gossip of how everyone walking in front of you always does so with the air of someone in the woods stopping to smell flowers every now and then, and goodness what an awful lot of time had been wasted by having to walk behind awfully slow people.

Next year

Mother of the house had found some of her favourite novels in a second hand bookshop and there she was happily content with what she had bought. I chose to stay close by her because she had also bought a lovely little book of recipes for chicken lovers. Hey, that's right up my street. Then they all discussed this account of having seen a book thief being caught red handed.

Then they got to the part where they had had ice-cream and snacks. I decided then and there that cats had better be allowed entrance at the next fair.