* * * * *
The One Pounce Rule
I knew I was in trouble the moment my feet left the earth.
I was close. So very close to catching him. I had rounded the corner of the
Facility in the Middle of Nowhere in persuit when something happened; the
ground dropped out from beneath me, my foot forgot to hit the ground and
started flying, something happened and I found my self bereft of ground
support.
Things got worse when my face bounced off the ground. Normally people see
stars when such a thing happens, but oddly enough, it looked more like
lightening before things went black.
Fortunately, I did not go unconscious.
* * * * *
“Oh honey!” said Spring. [1] “What happened? Did you get run over?”
My glasses didn't fit quite right on my face. My eyebrow was bleeding. I had
dirt up my nose and down my mouth. My normally khaki pants were well on their
way to being black. “No,” I said. “Spodie is outside.” Mr. Spodie O'Dodie
being her cat who had slipped his bonds of the outside court yard and was
free on the other side of the wall.
“Oh dear,” said Spring. She came over to hug me, dirt and all. “What did you
do?”
“I found Spodie outside and I tried catching him. Bastard took off and I was
chasing him around the building.”
“You've never lived with cats before. I can tell.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Have you heard of the One Pounce Rule?” she said.
“One Pounce Rule?”
“Yes. If on the first pounce you don't catch the cat, you might as well give
up chasing it.”
“One Pounce Rule.”
“Yes.”
“Now I know.”
Fortunately, my glasses are metal, not plastic and that's probably the only
thing that kept them from breaking entirely. I was able to work them more or
less back into shape and they seem fine.
[1]
http://www.springdew.com/
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