Peno's present

Sorry for the brief silence - the computer's been on the fritz and Dave just finally got it back to normal.

I have been knitting (what else do you do when your computer isn't working, right?) But it's secret knitting, so I can't show you yet.

So instead, I'll share a cat story. I've mentioned before that Peno is our "good cat". All that really means is she's the least bad.

She's also the quietest. Mopar is half Siamese and takes no pains to hide it. Rocky isn't, but you'd think he is with all his caterwauling. Tux isn't quite as bad, but he's very vocal when he wants something - like food or lovin'.

Peno however, barely makes a peep. The most we get out of her are little merps and chirps (unless Rocky is bothering her - then it's full-on, knock-down, drag-out, she-cat hissing and screaming). The only time I've ever heard an actual meow out of her is in a very odd circumstance.

It usually happens anywhere between 2 and 4 a.m. I will be awoken by a very loud, but oddly low "Mroooowow."

None of the other cats sound like that, so I always know it's Peno. I wake up and say "Peno, what's wrong?" and  from the darkness comes the unmistakable "thwack" of one of her toy mice hitting the floor. Apparently she wants to play... or so I thought.

Last night, I woke up to the same sound  - only she meowed three times, not one. When I asked her what was wrong, I didn't hear the mouse drop. Instead, she meowed again. And again.

Something wasn't right, so I got out of bed (and yes, Dave is totally snoring through the whole thing). I get close to her and she just sits there (usually she runs if you're standing too close). I ask her again what's wrong and she runs to the top of the stairs. My first thought was  "Oh no, Mopar has passed and she's letting me know!"

She runs down the stairs and I follow. Into the kitchen we go. Mopar looks up from his bed. "What? Oh wait - are you going to feed me?"

My next thought was something is wrong with Tux (Rocky was in the bed on Dave's pillow, so I knew he was fine). I peek into the living room. Tux looks up from the couch. "What? Oh wait - are you going to feed me?"

So then I start thinking, maybe she's alerting me to another emergency. Dave was fine, I could still hear him snoring. I couldn't smell smoke. My CO detector still seemed to be working. Nothing was flooded. There was no prowler lurking. The was no well for Timmy to fall down.

I ask Peno once again what is wrong, but I just get that enigmatic cat face.

So, I head back up stairs. All of a sudden, I step in something squishy. Right where Peno was standing when she first woke me up. I hop out of the bedroom on one foot and turn on the hall light. I turn up the bottom of my foot expecting to see a furball or something of the like...

Nope.. it's was a dead soggy giant moth.... yay...

Peno of course is sitting in the hall looking all smug and pleased. And I'm pretty sure she was thinking "Stoopid human... took you long enough to find my present."

I scraped the poor moth off and went blearily-eyed back to bed. I fell asleep to the sounds of her eating her catch.