A Cat Named Vinny

Paper-1

Sounds of fast footsteps on the floor.

He reached the door, pinched his chin, and thought for a second before knocking twice.

- Sir, we have a lead on the domestic terrorist.

His boss removed his sunglasses and looked at him intensely:

- Great. What is the source?

The guy mumbled something, and realized, a bit late, as his words traveled through the air towards his ears, that he got himself in trouble. It would have been better if he avoided that meeting. It would have been better if he called in sick that morning. he could have taken a long unplanned vacation and disappeared in Minnesota's fog. Or better, he should have gone for a hike with no water supply in the Nazca desert.

This meeting will not end well.

The boss asked:

- What? I can't hear you.

- The Cat Networking System, Sir.

- The What? What is that? The Russians?

- Em... no sir. Apparently, cats have established a network for...

The boss colors changed gradually to the reddest red he has ever seen in his lifetime. His head morphed into a giant bell pepper. He uncontrollably grabbed his sunglasses and crushed them with his big shovel-like right hand, before shouting:

- You are fired!

- Sir?!

- I said you are fired! Is this what passes for intelligence these days? get the hell out!

- But... sir!

- I said out!

Sound of a wooden door slowly being closed.

The boss whispered to himself: "What was that all about? Don meow meow ? Seriously?"

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Once upon a time. Actually, that was not a long time ago. Our hero has no patience for this fairy vocabulary. The chain of events is merely believable. To the extent that when the descendant of the hero of our story, heard about the epic his grandfather, Vinny, participated in, He opened his mouth in awe, amazement, and shock for three long seconds before getting back to his nap.

Vinny was a fat golden British shorthair cat who at the time was living in Pasadena. He lived with the Hansons. A family of three originally from Sweden.

They had a big lavish house with a large lawn where he used to cause mayhem by destroying the fancy flower pots. It was art. Made to be put in display for the sake of embarrassing the owners in front of their guests.

Such shameful behavior should have been condemned, yet never was. In reality, Vinny had no respect for anyone in that house, except for the kid, and Sam. Sam being the grasshopper he befriended upon his arrival. Sam offered spying services to the cat.

At first sight, Vinny seems to be a naughty cat. But, he has valid reasons for acting that way.

Vinny suffered from depression. He felt the eternal emptiness of that bowl in his soul. He had no purpose, no hopes, no tangible goal. Oh look! a butterfly! He would take the stance of his ancestors, the predatorial posture, by leaning on the ground, and wiggling the back part of his body. Then, with that cortex capable of analyzing seventy images per second, he would move his head mechanically once to the left, once to the right, his pupils would get dilated, and he would unleash the killing machine that is his body. Just in time to understand that his generation's time has passed, all those genetics and inherited technics went to waste, and they have no use with the weight he carries. The butterfly would fly away leaving him scratching his droppings cheeks, wondering how he could survive if it was not for the Hansons. He would remove the grass that got stuck in his belly and go back to his bean bag to resume the eternal nap he is having. A nap interrupted by few moments of daily activities.

Obviously, his life was not always like this.

The story is a bit ambiguous. Vinny had a past before joining the Hansons. A past during which he never planned to leave his previous neighborhood. But he had to think about it once his cousins decided to move, including Gene his favorite cousin who already got a job in Pasadena.

And like that, someone, somewhere, knew something about a couple who by coincidence planned to move to the same location the same weekend the cousins would move. And oddly enough, they found themselves on their last day in the city, enquiring about shelters to adopt a rescue cat. Unbeknownst to them, Vinny planted that idea in their minds all week, by sneaking into the wife's office and trapping it with cats' pictures.

And just two days before they get to the shelter, he bribed a veteran cat to trade places, and then proceeded to play the necessary drama act for him to get selected.

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