Hide and Seek with Polly

The plan for today was to write a whole lot early this morning, bundle Polly off to the vet (see adjacent photo of said unhappy cat’s swollen face -it's an old injury that has taken to flaring up regularly) then come home and write a whole lot more to justify taking another day off from the Arvo Job (the opportunity for 4 days off in a row was just too good to pass). But Polly had other ideas, and she is, unfortunately, a terrific hider. Also, a wiry black cat in a darkish country house has a decided advantage over a near-sighted human even when she’s wearing her glasses and shining a torch into every nook and cranny.

So, I cancelled the vet visit, and my day went thus: write for an hour, look for Polly, write for an hour, look for Polly, write... You get the picture. Around 2pm, whilst tapping away at my keyboard, I detected the slightest sound from somewhere near the floor. The little ratbag was wedged between the desk’s back plate and the wall, tucked in behind my ergonomic foot rest, gleaming eyes turned to the wall. I’m sure I looked there earlier... I dragged her out, cleaned her up (the swelling had punctured and was oozing) called the vet, got another appointment, and off we went. It was 35 degrees outside, and I’d barely walked fifty meters when a lovely lady who said she was an animal lover insisted on giving me a lift right to the vet’s door in her cool car. That’s what I love about this town - people are just so sweet and helpful. Anyway, I had to fork out $96.30 for the little ratbag, so maybe I should have gone to the Arvo Job after all to top up my funds. Now comes the best part - I’ll have to torture her twice a day for the next week cleaning out smelly pus and giving her antibiotics. Nice!

I did also do 7 solid hours of writing in between it all. The SF werewolf story is done and polished (I'll submit it on Sunday), and I fiddled with a few other pieces. I also checked out a few markets. There's a steampunk Cthulhu anthology that looks like an interesting challenge, and the deadline is many months away. Something to ponder.