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Caturday Story: Demon in the Dining Room [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-12
Decades ago, we had a gray tabby named Graymalkin. He was a friendly cat and smart as a whip—smart enough to interpret “No jumping on the kitchen counter!” as “Don’t get caught on the counter.”
If he heard you approach the kitchen, you’d hear a “thud” as he jumped down just before you turned the corner, and there he would be, standing on the floor, tail up with the tip curled over, looking at you with an air of innocence. He was rarely caught.
Aside from countertop mischief, Graymalkin was a very well behaved cat—with one memorable exception.
One evening we were having fried chicken for dinner. Mom placed a platter of chicken in the center of the dining room table, with side dishes scattered around. We all sat down, ready to chow, but there was one open chair, and that’s where Graymalkin stationed himself.
We didn’t know he was there at first—not until a pair of ears began to slowly come into view at the edge of the table, like submarine masts rising out of the ocean. There was a pause… then it was up periscope. A pair of eyes appeared as the U-boat commander surveyed the lay of the table.
My sister spotted this stealthy activity. “Graymalkin!” she called out sternly.
Flash! Graymalkin was hidden from sight.
A minute or two passed, and the ears reappeared, followed by a pair of calculating eyes.
“Graymalkin!” my sister called a second time. Once again, he vanished. This time he stayed out of sight.
We all began to relax. This proved to be a mistake.
Graymalkin didn’t need a third look—he already had the table mapped out in his mind.
In a sudden blur of fur, he leapt from his hidden position and landed on the table at a run. Without hesitation he sped across, snagged a drumstick from the center platter without slowing down, continued across and down the opposite side, running full speed out of the dining room and down the hallway. In my imagination he had that drumstick slung across his shoulder as he carried it off.
His carefully crafted strike was so lightning fast none of us had any time to react. We all burst out laughing at this unexpected behavior before hunting him down to retrieve the bone.
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