Connected or Disconnected

Due to tropical storms this month, I have been without my internet connection a couple of times this month. You may think that it is an easy thing to hook up again, it certainly is but apparently in a developing country there is a lot of red tape for that to take place.

It took the company over a week to finally come by and visit. First there was the hassle of calling them up, dialing different numbers until finally you got some to talk to. You tell them that the problem is that the modem has burned out due to the storm and them ask you nicely to please disconnect it and then reconnect it, assuming that thought had never crossed you mind. You inform them that you have already done it and they kindly ask you to do it again while they wait on line. You go and do it and still nothing, not even a blink of the modem light. Then finally they check their availability and you check yours and the visit has been scheduled for the following Friday afternoon, of course for that to take place you are the one who needs to cancel all your appointment and be there for them from noon to six.

At first being without the internet was not so bad. Day one I read a book and watched some TV. But the fact that my friends on Facebook were not going to receive a birthday wish or an answer to a message started getting to me.

On the second day, I decided to use my cell phone just to take a peek if there were any messages and birthdays. The cell phone is not the best option in my case for I do not have a phone plan that gives me the benefits of using the 3G. However, the agony of not knowing what was going on was starting to eat me up inside, so the cell phone was the only way to go.

On the third day, I started writing on my Facebook wall that the internet was down at home and as a result I started receiving kind messages and that was driving me up a wall because I couldn’t thank my friends for their support.

On day four, that was madness. Once again I posted that the internet was down and this time the messages were like “still”, “haven’t you called the company yet”. These remarks kind of ticked me off, but I guess that the people who wrote them have never had this problem. Or I´d rather just think that to keep the peace.

Finally day five has arrived and it is the day of the visit. I think I have never been so relieved to receive this visit in my home. I do everything I need to do in the morning to make sure that I would be home by noon. On this particular day I waited at the doctor´s office for half an hour before she was ready to see me. I started to get excited about the fact that finally I was going to be reconnected to the world. It is funny how some years ago we did not even have the internet and lived perfectly well without it. And nowadays when we do not have us it drives us mad. Lucky for me the appointment had been scheduled for 10:30 and the visit was quick. I walk in the door and the phone rings.
  - Could I speak to so and so?
  -    It is I.

  -  The technician is at the door of your apartment and the doorman says there is no one home.

  -   Well, why doesn’t he come up? I am here.

  -   The doorman said there was no one. I´ll let him know. Thank you.

By now the blood starts boiling. Didn´t they say it was from noon onward?  It´s 11:45. You try to calm yourself down, after all you notice that there is lack of communication in the company and what matters is that you are going to be hooked up again to the world.

Twenty minutes has gone by and nothing. I call the doorman and he informs me that no one has come for me. Strange! Did he leave? Did he decide to go to another house and then come to mine later on during the day? While you brain is fighting with your heart, the doorman rings. Yahoo the solution to all my problems is here.

A young technician walks in and asks for a glass of water. It is a hot day in this tropical country and he is going to help out, so I gladly and quickly hand him a glass of cold water. I lead him to the office and tell him that the modem burned out during Monday´s storm, five days ago. He notices that I am desperate for the service to get done. He looks at the modem. Disconnects it and reconnects and then turns to me and says “I have to go down to the car and get a modem because your modem has burned out.” I immediately try to get a hold over the bitch that lives in me and hates to be taken as an imbecile and keep her under control, for isn´t that what I had told the woman who attended me in the first place, and simply say, “Oh OK.”

After a few minutes, which seem like an eternity, he comes back with a modem. Yahoo! He quickly hooks it up and I am thrilled to see the lights blinking at full speed. He tests a website and voila we are connected.

I spend the whole afternoon catching up with the news and working on the PC. Two days go by and we are hit by another tropical storm and yes the modem burned out once again. Here we go again.

Google Images 

(Written February 27, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

You Should Stop Complaining So Much

Funny how people say things off the top of their heads. The other day a friend asked me how my weekend was. I was pretty straight forward and answered that I had had another bone marrow spell and ended spending Friday and Saturday in bed, but thank God that on Sunday I was able to get up and meet the family for lunch.

Out of the blue she asked me if I had ever heard of …( I really don´t recall the guy´s name) who was a pretty active guy and then he had some kind of accident and was only able to communicate by blinking. My friend also added that he had even written a book by blinking each letter. What came out of my friend's mouth next stung me like a bee. She said, “You know, I think you should read his book so that you will stop complaining so much.”

Once again I had to take hold of the bitch that lives inside me. I took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes and said “I am sorry if you did not like what I said, but I was just answering your question. If you did not want an answer, you shouldn´t have asked. Besides, I do not complain all the time although in my opinion I have the right to. I feel pain 24/7 and you do not hear me complaining about it. By law I can retire and stay home taking morphine to ease my pain, that´s just how bad it is. But I am a well-mannered person and when someone asks me a question I tend to answer it.” I left her with her jaw hanging.

Come to think of it now. I did not do such a good job in controlling the bitch that lives in me. But hey, I am only human. You should not judge people until you have walked in their shoes. I do realize that perhaps she was going through her own rough time. Nonetheless, I have nothing to do with that and I have my own battle to fight but I do not go off just throwing things up in people´s faces. Lucky for me there was a third person in the room who later on turned to me and said “She´s going through a rough time. Cut her some slack.” Once again, I have to forgive and forget.

I try real hard to forgive and forget. Most of the times I manage to do so. However, sometimes it is easier to forgive than to forget. Since then when anyone asks me how I am, I simply answer: fine, just fine.

Google Images

(Written February 27, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Surprise Surprise!

While waiting for our table number to be called at a somewhat expensive restaurant in São Paulo on a Sunday, you walked in the door.

My heart skipped a beat for it had been six months since we had last spoken.

After a year and a half of sharing, caring, worrying, laughter, tears and love making an abrupt breakup ended it all.

To see you there just a few steps away was a mixture of feelings: surprise, joy, sadness and madness. I had always thought that this would eventually happen for we do live in the same part of town; however, I thought that I would drop dead at the sight of you. Guess I did pretty well.

Although I tried with all my might to make you look my way, you didn’t. But I know for a fact that you are a brilliant observer, which is part of your profession, and deep down inside I believe that you did catch a glimpse of me. This feeling is reinforced simply because you did not take a number and decided to go somewhere else.

When I saw you it seemed as if the world had stopped. Time was standing still. My heart had skipped a beat and the clock was hanging there waiting for an intake of oxygen. I was standing still once again not hitting the floor hard.

After a few seconds I realized why you did not turn my way and greet me. You were there with someone new. That someone you did not have the courage enough to tell me about when we broke up.

At the time I questioned this attitude that you had of not telling me you had found someone new, for when we are in love we want the world to know and that didn’t seem to be the case. Just like when we started and were happy to tell everyone about our relationship.

However, on that Sunday afternoon, all I could see were the really skinny legs and high tacky heels matching the color of the pants that she was wearing. But there was no hugging, no hand holding, and no form of affection between you.

Jealous? Not a bit. What I felt was sadness because you have aged and your face is not shining any longer. It hurts when you see that the one you love is not happy. That is the message that I got from the sight of you: you are unhappy.

Google Images

(Written: February 17, 2013- The day I saw you)

copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Today´s Super Hero

He was walking down the street wearing his blanket around his neck as if he were Superman; better yet: Today´s Super hero. The wind blew the blanket off his shoulders and he was annoyed by it. It seemed as if his powers had been taken away from him. He gracefully picked it up and placed it back where it belonged; around his neck and on his shoulders.

He was a homeless person; his blanket was quite filthy. Had he just woken up? Where was he headed? By the look on his face it really didn´t make any difference whatsoever. He was walking with his head up high and quite proud to be who he was. It didn´t matter to him whether or not he had a place to live, family, money or even food to eat. All that mattered at that moment was that he was walking down the street of his kingdom and there were several eyes just looking at him and perhaps noticing that his self-esteem was sky high. Some eyes even envying how proud he was of just being himself and not having to deal with the hustle bustle of today´s world. Not having to be a slave to the rules set up by society. He happily walked along the street as if to prove to everyone else that he was the master. He was a super hero, breaking all the ties with this world of consumption and falseness.

Drawing by Victor Peluso 

(Written February 20, 2013) Thank you Victor Peluso for drawing this awesome portrait of Today’s Super Hero!!!!

copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Hit by the Storm

The sun was shining nice and bright, she left her job real quickly for she knew that the weather forecaster had predicted rain for that afternoon. In fact, it was not really necessary to hear the weather forecast for every summer was the same in her country; hot and sunny all day long and heavy rainstorms at the end of the afternoon. She had been used to it.

She got in her car and drove as fast as she was allowed to and noticed that there were dark clouds over her part of town; however, in the rest of the city the sun was still shining brightly. It was a pretty smooth ride right about 10 kilometers of the way when all of a sudden, as she was driving up the main road that would take her to her part of town the heavy drop of rain started to fall.

Not only were there raindrops but along with them, heavy hail boulders. They were hitting her car hard, so hard that with every bang, she literally jumped in her seat. The wind was blowing strong, so strong that the trees were having a hard time holding on to their roots. She did not dare stop under a tree to wait for the traffic light to turn green.

By the time she reached the main street, she noticed that there was no electricity, the lights were out. She was very gutsy and decided that she would go along with the flow and stop the oncoming traffic otherwise, she´d never be able to get across and getting home was her main objective.

Just as she was on the other side a bus driver shoved a huge bus right at her. All she could do was step on the breaks. After the bus had passed, she stepped on the gas and made it across, at this point not being able to see very well. The rain was coming down faster and heavier than the wipers could clean the windshield. Besides the rain that was pouring down, the roads were starting to flood also. It was just too much to pay attention to. She had to watch out for the rain and hail coming down, the cars, and the floods.

She decided that it was just too stressful. She saw a gas station and noticed that several other cars had stopped there for shelter; however, it was just too crowded. She kept on going and realized that she was visually impaired and stopped the car in front of an apartment building, but far from any of the nearby trees. Nonetheless when a tree branch flew by her windshield, she decided that she just had to do her best and get home. After all she was just a couple of blocks away at this point.

She drove on trying not to hit any of the garage bags that were floating around in the puddles. The noise the hail made was getting louder and louder. It meant that the hail stones were getting bigger and bigger. She tried to remain calm and said a little prayer.

To get to her apartment building she needed to go down a very steep street and she was certain that it would be full of water at the bottom because she had seen it before and almost got caught there once. As she drove down the street she realized that the level of the water was passable, so she stepped on the gas and made it across. Up she went to her street. There were tree branches everywhere and there were cars parked with their lights on, she only became aware of the reason why they were there and had their lights on when she finally turned into her street and saw a gigantic street lying smack in the middle reaching the gate to her garage.

What was she to do? Naturally the cars that were behind her stopped as she stopped and she had to maneuver to get out for going forward was impossible. Carefully and slowly she managed to get out and go back up to a safer spot where there were no trees.

As she waited she watched as the other cars turned into the street and had to back out due to the felled tree. She decided to call the doorman of her building to find out if the authorities had been called to remove the tree so the dwellers of the building could get in. He said that he knew nothing of the sort and that we´d have to wait for the storm to die down before doing anything about it. She told him that there was some space between the tree and the gate and that perhaps she could get in, but she was afraid of the electrical wires that were hanging and she was not sure whether or not they were alive. Therefore, he told her that it was best she waited a while and not take the risk.

So she did just that. She turned up her radio to block out the banging of the hail and sat in her car for an hour before she noticed that a taxi had gone down the street and did not turn around. The driver managed to get passed the tree by going onto the side walk in front of the garage. That driver had been courageous enough to drive through the electrical wires and nothing happened.

Realizing this, she called the doorman again and he said he had seen the taxi drive by; therefore it would be safe for her to drive into the garage. So she did just that. She turned the car around and headed for the garage gate. As the gate went up she turned into the garage taking the wires with her; they got tangled onto her side mirror. She couldn´t stop now. As she drove down the garage ramp, the wires stretched and came loose. She was relieved for she had made it into the garage.

In the garage she noticed that the generator was running, which meant that there was a power shortage in the building. As she was locking up her car, the intercom in the garage rang. It was the doorman telling her that the only elevator that was running was the one that led up to her apartment. Thank God she thought. She was starting to wonder how she would carry her stuff up sixteen flights of stairs.

As she unlocked the door to her apartment, she was greeted by her cat, who was terrified of the thunder and lightning and the sound of the hail on the windows. Finally she felt safe although in the dark.

Monday, February 18, 2013 around 4pm
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

All of a sudden it started to pour.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

Then there was nothing left to do but stop for a while. One of the many stops before reaching my building.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

At one of the many stop signs on the way home.
 Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

After talking to the doorman, all that was left to do was park the car and wait.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

The rain was falling much faster than the windshield wipers could do their job.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

The hail stones melted quite fast as they hit the car.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

While park in the car, watching the chaos the other cars were causing.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

The tree was cut up and stack along the opposite side of the street the morning after.
Photo taken by Meire Marion via cell phone.

(Written February 19, 2013- based on my experience during  a storm that hit Sao Paulo the day before)

copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Lost on the Beach

The family hadn’t realized how serious her condition was until one day they decided to take their eighty-seven-year old mom on a trip. The mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s just a couple of weeks prior to this event.

On a bright and sunny day the younger of the two sons’ decide to take his kids down for a week at the beach. They lived in the city and getting away for a week seemed like a perfect idea and since his divorce he hadn’t spent so much time with them. The weather forecast for the coming week would be hot and sunny days.

Therefore, the son asked his mother whether she would like to go and since she didn’t have anything planned for that week, she agreed. So off they went: the mother, the son and his two kids. The trip wasn’t that long, just a couple of hours and they had arrived at the hotel on the coast. It was a beautiful hotel just two blocks from the beach, very easy to find.

 On the following day they headed for the beach right after breakfast. The kids were aged seven and ten, a boy and a girl. They sat on the beach under the umbrella and played with their toys and the sand.  After a couple of hours in the sun, the mother decided that it was too hot, she was a bit tired and wanted to go back to the hotel.

The son was at loss for he couldn’t walk his mother back to the hotel and leave his kids alone on the beach while he did that. However, the hotel was just two blocks for the beach, all she had to do was walk two blocks and the hotel was right on the corner.

He explained it to his mother and made her repeat what he had said. He double checked whether she would be ok walking to the hotel by herself and she agreed.

Off she went. She was wearing a green bathing suit and a light blue hat on her head. She crossed the main street and started walking up the street to the hotel but then instead of walking two blocks straight ahead, she turned right at the first block and walked and walked until she realized that she was lost. All she could do was cry and she did just that.

She sat down on the sidewalk and cried and cried and cried. A woman in her near fifties stopped and asked her if she needed any help.

-         - Are you ok? Do you need any help?

-        - I am lost. I was heading back to the hotel from the beach and I took a wrong turn. I don’t know what to do.

-         - Well, first thing first, let’s try and calm down. Do you like tea?

They were standing in front of a coffee shop and tea would be the perfect drink to calm down this poor old lady. So they did just that. They had a cup of tea and got to know each other a bit. The woman’s name was Irene and she lived in the city also. Her daughter was a medical student at the Federal University in the city coincidentally the same place where the mother’s son taught, for he was a doctor and taught some classes at the Federal University. Time went by and Irene noticed that it was lunch time and she had to go home, but she couldn’t simply leave that poor old lady at the coffee shop.

-      -   Are you hungry? How about coming to my house for lunch? It is just a block away.

-       -  I guess that would be alright. I am hungry.

So off they went. The house was really very close to the coffee shop. It was a huge house and there was a butler and all. The mother had never been in such a lovely house before, well at least not that she could remember.

The two new friends had a lovely lunch together along with a couple of Irene’s grandchildren. After lunch Irene asked the mother whether she usually took a nap in the afternoon and she said that she was a bit tired. So the butler escorted her to the guest room where she took a short nap.

Irene thought about the fact that she needed to find this woman’s son. She thought about it and decided that the best thing to do would be to go for a walk on the beach and perhaps someone would recognize her or know about her disappearance.

Meanwhile the son was desperate. He had already gone to the police and filed a report about his missing mother. He also walked around the neighborhood asking people whether they had seen a little old lady wearing a green bathing suit and a blue hat. Nobody had seen her. He also told some people at the hotel. All she had to do was walk two blocks and she’d end up at the hotel. Where could she have gone?

After a two-hour nap, the mother woke up and Irene suggested that they go for a walk on the beach. She agreed for she still needed to find her son. As they were walking on the beach, a young couple approached them and asked her if she was so and so and if she was staying at a hotel with her son and his two children. She was happy because it was her and the couple was staying at the same hotel.

The couple offered to take her back to the hotel where she could find her son and she agreed. She and Irene said their goodbyes. In no time she was at the hotel telling her son this story.

Unfortunately, she and Irene did not exchange telephone numbers for the son to call and thank. Perhaps one day they will meet again. For the moment, the mother believes that she was taken care of by an angel.

Google Images

(Written February 6, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

He Dropped the Knife and Cried

She was late; the service at church was going to start in ten minutes. Since the traffic was bad, she parked the car and decided to walk the rest of the way. She was not alone; she was being accompanied by a friend who needed crutches to walk but also thought that the best thing to do at that moment was walk.

They tried to walk down the street as quickly as they could. All of a sudden she felt some one pull on her purse. She instinctively pulled it back closer to her. Then she was grabbed by the arm. And a shrilling voice said in her ear, “Give me your purse or I will cut you up into a million pieces.”

She didn’t bother to look at the person that voice belonged to. She shut her eyes tightly and in a loud voice she said, “Dear Lord. Help me. Touch this person’s heart. In Jesus’ name I pray.”

She repeated this over and over again. Her friend tried to convince her to let go of the purse. But she just stood there with her eyes closed repeating the same lines.

Meanwhile the people walking by saw what was happening but no one dared to help her.

The young boy repeated once again but a tone louder, “Give me your purse. I will use my knife.”

She continued her prayers. But this time she spoke a bit louder.

All of a sudden she heard the metal hit the ground. She opened her eyes and noticed that the boy had dropped his knife: a simple kitchen knife. She looked at him and said, “God bless you.”

Hearing this, the boy fell to his knees and started to cry. Instead of running away she asked him why he was crying.

“I am sorry lady. I am disparate. I haven’t eaten anything all day and there is nothing to eat at home.” They boy looked as if he were around fourteen years old. His clothes were dirty. She looked at him and saw that his tears were sincere. She opened her purse, took out her wallet and handed him some money. “Here, take this and buy some food for your family.”

He dried his tears and hugged her tightly and said, “Thank you. God is blessing me already.”

With this he ran off. He was all alone. As she and her friend watched him go, her friend looked at her and said, “Your prayers were answered. His heart was touched.”

Happily they continued their walk to church and when they got there the service had just begun. Had time stopped? She was very grateful for what had just happened. God works in mysterious ways.

Google Images

(Written February 10, 2013- based on a dream)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Out of Order

Five months have gone by since you last touched, kissed, hugged. Around a hundred and fifty days without daily phone calls. No sharing, no caring, no worries; only pain. To know what is going on hurts, especially knowing that he is not happy. If he were, then your heart would rest, however, that is not what you see or feel.

What is love? To see the one you love happy, worry-free, enjoying life that’s how I would answer this question. When you love someone you do everything you can to make sure that this happens. You do your best at work. Do not bring problems home. Make plans. Then all of a sudden one day it is all over. Perhaps you were better off doing just the opposite; not caring, not sharing and not worrying.

They say that of you can’t sleep at night thinking about someone it is because that someone is thinking about you. This person should have his head examined. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Did the person who said this call up the person he was thinking about and who he was losing sleep over to ask: Hey, are you thinking about me? I doubt it. Who in their right mind who let go of their ego and do this? Let alone want to hear on the other side of the receiver: No, not at all.

Face it. The truth is you are in love with someone who is in love with someone else who is with the one you love to get over another person who is in love with another. Complicated? Maybe it is. But it sure does make sense.

Yeah. Sure pretty soon someone else will come along and sweep your feet away, but until that moment comes, you lose sleep and hope that the one you are thinking about is losing sleep over you too.

Google Images

(Written February 3, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Sitting in the Library

As I sit in the library facing the Windows with bars on them,

I notice the rain falling.

It seems like the drops form perfect lines.

The lines reach the ground with great force,

Even so producing soothing musical sounds.

As I hear the noise in the hallway increase,

I know that the bell is about to ring.

Time to stop doing whatever it is that I supposed to be doing

And head towards the cafeteria for lunch;

For the morning has gone by,

And the rain is stilling pouring.

Photo by Meire Marion

(Written February 7, 2013)
copyright ©2013 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Another Cat Died in the Vila

The Vila, that is what the place was called by its dwellers, was situated in a calm part of town. There was a very narrow street that led you in. It was the only way in and out; one car at a time. There were trees and flowers planted along the entrance; quite a beautiful sight during the spring and the summer. As you passed the entrance, it opened up to thirteen houses lined up in a near circle all painted in different bright colors. To the right the houses were burgundy, orange, green and purple; to the left they were blue, yellow, beige, and green and somewhat in front of you they were white, pink, red, brown, and one covered in tiles. The dwellers of the Vila parked in front of their houses leaving enough space for the drivers to maneuver the cars.

The people that lived in that Vila came from different social backgrounds and classes; some had more money than others and also more culture. Nonetheless, they all lived there in harmony. Right up until the present moment.

One thing that was noticeable when you walked into the Vila was the cats. There were many of them and they were lovely; black, orange, gray, mixed wonderful tabby cats. Some of them were very friendly and came up to you for affection while others ran off as soon as you approached them. All the people that lived in the Vila took care of the cats although a few of them belonged to the people who lived in the brown house smack in the middle of the Vila.

All was well, however, during this summer the cats started dying. Each day one of the cats would be found dead in the middle of the Vila. It was a mystery. How could this be happening? What was causing their deaths? There were no signs of cuts, blood or wounds. The cats would just be lying there motionless. Unfortunately, it was always the owner who would find them. It seemed like they were on their way home to die.

The owner of the cats was intrigued and when he found the third dead cat, he decided to take it to the vet and have it examined. He had already buried the previous two in the backyard. He wanted to find out what had killed the cat. At first he didn´t give it much thought, for the first cat to be found dead was his oldest and he thought it had died because of old age. But when he saw the third one, he wrapped the corpse in a blanket and took it to the vet and left it there to be analyzed.

Three days had gone by when he got a phone call from the vet informing him that the cat had been poisoned. Someone had fed it poison not that he had eaten something that made him sick and killed him, but actual chemical poison. It had been murdered. Intrigued the owner dug up the other two cats and took their decomposing bodies to the vet also. Three more days went by and it was confirmed that those two had also been poisoned by the same substance.

The people in the Vila were shocked at the findings and they decided to have a meeting that night to talk about the issue. Everyone showed up except for an old couple, who didn´t care much for the cats and went to bed early due to their old age. They lived in the white house.

At the meeting, the people in the Vila came up with a way of watching for signs of who could be poisoning the cats. However, first they decided that it would be important to save the remaining cats. Those who could take the cats in and keep them safe indoors did while the other cats were taken to shelters and other people´s homes. It would be just a temporary measure for the cats did belong to that family in the Vila and they were sure to be missed.

The second thing they did was decide to keep an eye out for anything or anyone that could be suspicious. They knew it would not be easy to solve the mystery for the cats liked to roam around and about and they could have been fed the poison in any other part of town. However, the owner had a gut feeling that it was someone in the Vila.

Two weeks had gone by and the cats that were being kept indoors were driving the people crazy. They were used to going out at night and they meowed and scratched the doors to try to free themselves. So the people in the Vila decided to let them out. It was painful to see those little animals cooped up indoors. Besides, the cats brought life into the Vila. It was heartwarming to see them just lying around in the sun.

One evening the man who lived in the brown house was arriving from work and noticed that his favorite cat – the black one – was walking strangely. He managed to pick it up and immediately he took it to the vet. The vet examined the cat and due to the suspicion of the previous poisonings, he gave the cat some medication and left him in the clinic for observation.

The man who lived in the brown house went home and started asking the neighbors whether they had noticed anything strange. A boy who lived in the green house said he had seen the black cat eat from a bowl that was placed near the white house where the old couple lived. As fast as he could, the man who lived in the brown house ran out and managed to get a hold of the bowl. He took it to the vet and they had it checked.

Three days later the vet called the man who lived in the brown house and told him that the same substance that had been found in the dead cats had been found in the bowl. The man who lived in the brown house knew who the bowl belonged to.

Enraged he walked over to the old couple´s house, knocked on the door. He waited for a long time before the old man came to the door.

-       Is this your bowl?

-       Young man, I was in bed already and you have come over to disturb my sleep and ask me whether that belongs to me. Couldn´t you have done that in the morning?

-       Answer me old man! Is this your bowl?

-       Yes, I think it is. I´ll have to check with my wife but I am almost sure that it is. Where did you find it?

-       You have been killing my cats.

-       Hold on there! There is a law against falsely accusing someone, isn´t there?

-       I really don´t give a shit if there is or not!

By then most of the neighbors had gone outside to see why the man who lived in the brown house was yelling at the old man.

-       Young man, I do not know what you are talking about. I will have to ask my wife about this, but I am not going to do that right now. She is asleep.

-       I just want to know why. That´s all. Why did your wife kill my cats?

-       Young man, I have already told you that false accusation is a crime.

One of the neighbors decided that he should butt in and calm the man who lived in the brown house down.

-       He is right. It is late. Tomorrow we can all meet and hear what they have to say and work this out in a civilized manner.

-       Civilized? My cats were killed by these old monsters and you want me to be civilized?

Having said this, the police arrived and tried to settle the situation.

Apparently the old woman had been tired of cleaning the cat poop in front of her house and decided that getting rid of the cats would be the best solution.

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( Written February 5, 2013- based on real facts)  
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