A gift... or a warning?

(Please skip this post if you're squeamish or an animal lover)

So, my allergies have been worse this summer than ever before. Part of it is the fresh outdoors of Geneva - which isn't so common in pollution-congested Paris. Part of it was the feather pillow and feather duvet (comforter, couette), which I traded for a sheepskin duvet and an orange blanket. Part of it is living with a cat. The last time I lived with a cat was way back in the punk rock days with the 8 kids in a 3-story house in Minneapolis: Mika and Mico, Emily's cats. I guess my allergies got used to them over time. So, for the situation in Geneva, I've been taking some homeopathic drops 3 times a day and it seems to be fine.

My flatmate's cat, Lion (pronounced in a French way as lee-OH), is actually a scaredy cat and is spooked easily. I can wave my hands when he comes creeping into my bedroom and he bolts back out. I can walk slowly down the hallway to the bathroom and he'll turn and run the other way. So, I'm not afraid of him making any relaxation imprints on my bed at all, or rubbing up all over me as I'm seated in the kitchen.

Well, my flatmate went out of town to a festival in France and told me how to scoop the poop out of the cat box and into the -plop!- toilet. How to feed him by putting a bit of hard cat food in the bowl and then dump a packet of wet food on top (he prefers the latter). There's a small jar of water in the bathroom for him to drink - not for keeping the room humid, as I'd wondered oddly. And basically that's it. He sleeps up in the loft where my flatmate sleeps. Instead of using the ladder from the loft the ground level of our apartment, he crawls out on the roof and into the apartment through the window of the bathroom, scaring the crap out of me - as I'm actually doing said act. I guess there's not enough room around the ladder for him to run down it without running into the wall so the jump from the bathroom window to the sink to the floor is easier. I'm used to this now and when I hear him meow from the bathroom window or see his shadow on the floor, I can warn him if it's a good time to come in or not. I mean, after all, a girl needs her privacy.

So, last night, I came home and heard him meowing a bit sadly, missing my flatmate, and decided I'd give him a bit of lovin' attention. I squatted in the hallway and put my hand out lazily for him to pet himself and let me kind of pet him a bit. He circled around my body purring and petting me back with his tail. And then he was off to do whatever. (Of course, I immediately washed my hands, apologizing to him from the bathroom: "It's not you, Lion, it's me. Really. Sorry.")

I usually shut my bedroom door when I go to sleep just to be sure Lion won't come in, and to get a bit of privacy. As I went to bed last night, I decided to leave my bedroom door open for breeze but also so he wouldn't feel so alone (or is it so I wouldn't feel so alone?). I didn't hear the ghosts, I didn't feel afraid, I slept well until early in the morning when I heard a sound of paper hitting something. Maybe the breeze caught a poster in the hall or something. I slept fine.

In the beautiful Sunday morning of sleeping in, I got up slowly and felt so good (a 13km = 8.077mi hike on Saturday helped).


The places where dreams are made.. waking up slowly on Sunday.










Sunny Sunday morning - lovely!












go out the bedroom - loft ladder












hallway to bathroom - whoops! the poster fell off the wall (that's what that sound was)













such a pretty poster of a brown-haired girl













she has people and birds












what's that weird thing at the end of the rug? (sleepy eyes)












Oh.. it's a bird head.












Here's the email I sent to my flatmate:
Subject: the weird question of the day
Message:
So, I woke up today and the poster in the hall next to the bathroom with the woman and the people and the birds - it had fallen off the wall in the night. At the end of the rug toward the front door was a dead (but not too bloody) bird head. I understand that it's a gift from Leon - I spent some time last night petting him a bit since he was missing you - but is it also because he's hungry?

Or he doesn't like me?
As my imagination is very dark sometimes.. this is immediately what I thought: the scene from the Godfather (scary movie clip) and the meaning (words).

Anyway. I'm not sure how to tell him that I appreciate it, but don't want more. And I'm not sure how the hell I'm going to be able to pick it up. I might have to ask the downstairs neighbor guy to do it. :\ eek!

How is France?

L.

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I was brave. I used the dustpan and a piece of hard paper, a plastic bag and the garbage is going downstairs today. I haven't seen the culprit aka admirer. I've heard the birds outside squawking a bit from time to time so I know he's around. He'll get a nice thank you and then a good scolding. Maybe it'll make sense.. considering I have to do this in French (I don't think he knows any English yet).














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PS. I won't share all the images because they're gory and not appropriate for mixed audiences. If you're interested you can certainly view them on my flickr sets as "Lion brings me a gift."


Gift or warning?
You decide.