no ordinary cat

For no particular reason, waiting on a second cup of coffee, I walked back into the darkened living room and, through the mini-blinds in the large front window, saw something rushing down the street. We are at the bottom of a downhill, and the rushing was down, left to right. I went to the side window to see more, and all there was was 4:30 dark. Yet, an urge to return out into the morning was strong, and I did, stepping out into the road – where I’d been much earlier, staring up at ‘Orion’s Belt’. There was a white SUV of some nature parked across the adjoining street, facing south, and I fixed my eyes there. The way a kingfisher fixes its eyes on the flowing river below. After 30, maybe 40, seconds, something rose up from under that vehicle. It looked in my direction. The face was cat-like, but not exactly. The body a bit bigger than an alley cat. Lastly the tail, which was rather huge. After a few moments it moved away, under the SUV and off into the world of the other side of Front Street. I did not see it again.

I’m wondering, a few hours later, how much time a kingfisher gives to a sight of something profoundly different. Something not exactly food. But, I don’t need to know. Because, now I’ve said everything.