Library Cat: The Observations of a Thinking Cat

Noel

A fortnight later, Christmas had well and truly arrived. The square was empty save for the odd car that growled across the cobbles. A few days earlier had been Library Cat’s birthday. He had been given a balloon by his Human with the number 9 on it and the words “Happy Birthday!!!” along the top, clearly with little concern for his globophobia.

He eyed it with suspicion as it glided disconcertingly from one room to the next, neither on the floor nor the ceiling, a big red cushion of evil, its every detail, from its alarming turgidity to its thoughtless smattering of exclamation marks, rending him tense and uncomfortable.

On the plus side, he’d been given some cream, a catnip ball and copious amounts of tickles and scratches. But then the Humans had started to run mad. One had uprooted a tree and brought it in the house and dressed it with tiny lights, while another constructed a minute barn in the hallway and started singing to a minute ceramic figurine baby. Then there were cards with a picture of the baby; pictures of the baby on the television, and people talking about the baby in hushed revered words, while televisions, radios and stereos blared music with the words “Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel. Born is the King of Israel!”

Library Cat could therefore only assume this important baby was called “Noel”. He researched in the Towsery to find the reason behind this Noel’s importance, but could find very few leads. The closest he came to an answer was a man called “Noel Edmonds” who was on television and presented a programme in which other Humans guessed what number was contained inside a box.

This Noel is definitely making the Humans jolly, that’s for sure, thought Library Cat. Fancy being the King of Israel.

He ventured out into the square to let his Christmas dinner digest. He gazed over at the library. It was completely empty, the doors locked and the lights off. It seemed strange. He thought of it during term time, of its many lighted floors, stacked like buttered bread, its basement technical, its staff hierarchical, its computers layered with secret password-protected stories… And minds everywhere so deep in thought that the very act of standing up would be like unplugging a great lake.

Where are they all now?

But in spite of the silence, Library Cat felt a strange “lift”. In the chaplaincy, he’d been tickled. Twice. Thrice even. He’d been given a handsome red collar which, admittedly, he’d gnawed off immediately, but he appreciated the sentiment. He’d sat on laps, chased paper around a strange interior tree and slept beside a fire. And the turkey, and the gifts of Whiskas and catnip toys from well-wishers had all been very pleasant. And merrily offered.

Yes, merriness, thought Library Cat. He felt it. And, even more surprisingly, he felt himself wishing it upon others too – other Humans, and other cats, but above all the students. He missed them.

He sat. He purred. He dozed blissfully, his tummy still full. Yes, Merry Christmas everyone, Merry Christmas indeed! he thought dreamily as he wended his way back to the chaplaincy to remind himself of the fate of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Recommended Reading

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Food consumed

Cream.

Mood

Merry (but on edge around balloon).

Discovery about Humans

They can be most generous of spirit.