Pets

They have to have a down side somewhere.

Now I have to tell the Story of Ratlo the Cat.

Hot summer night in a house in a SoCal arroyo having a party, mid 1970s. Ratlo was a feral who had taken to a couple of the residents and was allowed in the house since the windows were almost always open.

In the corner of one of the sitting rooms there is a table and a widow on each wall, a large lamp on the table. The partyers are all doing their thing, and people are sitting near the table in the corner when suddenly Ratlo appears. Nobody saw him come in but he was suddenly sitting directly under the lamp with some gawdawful looking, giant bug! It was laughable how large it was, some kind of beetle. Ratlo just sat there with is prey until everyone acknowledged then slipped out one of the windows. He had made his statement and that's all he needed.

It was the conversation piece of the night along with the fodder for many jokes. Ratlo was cool.