Alfie in the Snow

‘No, we can’t because Connie is going to meet him in the garden shed.’ I was so agitated. I suddenly wanted to knock the heads of a number of my humans together. Sylvie, for being so ridiculous about keeping these two apart, them for this silly plot, and well the mood I was in, I could probably find a reason for all of them. Happiness was so precious, so fleeting, why couldn’t they see that?

‘Um, I see.’ Dustbin licked his other paw and glared angrily at a mouse who was trying to approach. The mouse took one look at him and scurried away. ‘I almost feel bad not letting them in in this weather, but you know, a job’s a job.’ He raised his tail.

‘Dustbin, back to the matter at hand,’ I snapped.

‘Oh yes, so what do you think we should do?’ he asked. He looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and I knew I was being unfair, snapping at him, so I tried to calm down.

‘Well, I was thinking there is only one thing to do, and that is for me to somehow get Jonathan and Claire to discover them tonight, so the morning isn’t ruined.’

‘Good thinking. So what can I do to help?’

Now I could see us being able to foil this plan, I was beginning to feel calmer.

‘It’s a big ask but I wondered if you could follow Aleksy, you know, make sure he’s OK. He shouldn’t be wandering the streets at night, even if it’s only to our house.’

‘Right, that’s good, yes that’ll work. And then when I get to your place I’ll bang on the cat flap to let you know they are in the shed, so you can alert the humans straight away.’

‘Perfect. You really are such a good friend, Dustbin.’ I felt emotional, probably because I was so tired, angry, missing Tiger, and the idea that Christmas might be ruined, it was all getting on top of me.

‘No, you are. And you take care of these families so well. Right, so I’ll let you know when they are there. You will have to really make a fuss to get Jonathan and Claire out though.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I seem to have had a lot of experience doing that lately.’ I really had. And although they sometimes could be a bit slow on the uptake, they seemed to get what I was telling them in the end. After all, that was how I had saved Harold. I just hoped I could stay awake long enough, I was so cat-tired (Yes, I know the expression is dog-tired but I would never compare myself to a dog.)

‘Right you are. We’ll sort this out and, you never know, the shock of them actually running away, albeit to a garden shed, might even make her mother see sense. I hope so, Aleksy is such a good lad.’

I nodded, I did understand. Love wasn’t always easy; I had learnt that the hard way.

My house was once again a hive of activity when I returned home, brushing the snow off my fur and warming my bones by the radiator.

‘Oh there you are, Alfie. I was wondering where you’d been. I can’t believe you went out in this weather,’ Claire said.

‘Meow.’ It wasn’t my choice.

‘Never mind, it’s so Christmassy, isn’t it? The first white Christmas in goodness knows how many years. The kids were so excited at the concert and getting them into bed was a mission. Thankfully they know that Santa only visits sleeping children, so they seem to have gone off now. And George is tucked up with Toby, in case you were wondering.’

I was, but I’d assumed that was where he’d be. When I was dry and warm I was going to go and say goodnight to him.

‘And Jonathan and I have quite a lot to do before we’re ready for tomorrow. But I’m so excited. The snow, the big lunch with all our friends. It’s going to be wonderful,’ she gushed, she was so full of Christmas cheer. I hoped it was contagious.

As I thought about Aleksy and Connie, I wondered what would happen when they were discovered. Either all the parents would be so angry the teenagers would be grounded forever, or they would see how much the two of them meant to each other and Sylvie would relent and maybe we’d all spend a wonderful Christmas together. I knew which one I wanted it to be. I also knew which one I thought it would be.