It didn't work out quite the way that Henri had thought it would. I arrived at the house on Twin Brook Road, shortly after Helen had meowed her call of distress throughout the neighborhood. From its pitch, I knew that something terrible had happened and a large group of cats had already gathered just within the boundaries of the garden gate. "Raymond! Raymond Hazelwitz, rodent activist!" meowed a cat hiding in the shadows cast by the street lamp. It was Rumsfeld, still smelling of this night's adventure in a garbage can. "I think something bad happened to dear Henri!" I rushed across the deck and scratched at the back door. Helen pried it open just enough for me to slip through into the kitchen.

"I'm so glad you came, Raymond! Henri tried to flush himself down the toilet!" growled Helen. "That hussy cat Jane broke up with him! She returned his Valentine Day's card! She told him she liked 'store bought' cards better than his! He was crushed! Totally destroyed! He must have howled all the way home because he was hoarse and couldn't even utter one meow! And he has pulled out some fur on his left side!" Helen shook her head. "Please, Raymond. Will you speak with him?"

I did not only speak with the poor, unhappy cat but I stayed up all night with him, rubbing his paws, chattering softly in his ears. Carlyle from the Evergreen Lake Colony brought a chorus of tomcats with him to seranade Henri with ribald meows and excerpts from the opera "Don Carlo". It seems that Carlyle and Clarence of Belden had organized a group of singing tom cats at the Colony. They are trying to bring culture to the feline residents.

Helen and Stella brought their toys to the distraught kitty and Sidney found the box of kitty treats in the kitchen cupboard and brought them into the living room where Henri lay on the couch, a cold compress soothing his brow.

What can I tell you? The next day I paid a visit to the object of Henri's affections and had a long talk with her. She listened attentively and thought that perhaps they could see each other occasionally. Well,the fracture in Henri's heart will mend. Spring will come again and the birds will sing, the roses will send out sprouts and the worms will poke their heads above ground and take a deep breath.

Henri will still go to see her in the evenings when she is not working and the street lights have polished the sidewalks with a golden wash. They will listen to music together in the back room of the establishment and share a few morsels of catnip. She will claim she doesn't want to get serious about their relationship but the passage of time might alter her feelings and she will, once again, become the queen of Henri's dreams.(Or like most pussycats, he will find another kitty to chase up a tree and for whom to save his catnip treats. That's life even for an old tomcat!)
Raymond Hazelwitz, rodent activist

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