The Cat :: 03 :: A Walk
The third story ...
The cat went for a walk.
The rain had stopped but the sky was still grey. The cat walked through the old industrial districts, quiet now as all the workshops had moved out of town or shut down altogether as the contracts were awarded overseas. The rusty fronts of storage units were shut and locked, there was no rattle of machinery, and even though is was still only the middle of the afternoon, there was no traffic on the once busy road.
Did this walking help him to think? Or did it simply give him an excuse not to think, to avoid facing some difficult questions? He wasn't sure, but either way it was good to get out. He walked carefully past the puddles on the road and his spirits started to lift. The streets he walked reflected his moods: he headed to the old town centre, small streets that a few years ago had seemed destined for a long slow undignified decay, streets that had seemed of no use in the age of the car. But times had changed and now coffee shops and boutiques flourished, and the cars were banned.
As the afternoon light in the sky faded into night, the cat sat at a small corner table sipping his cappuccino. The little shop was not busy and he wondered how it ever made a profit. But then he was glad there were few customers. It was warm and peaceful and he could daydream the evening away listening to the soft jazz. Later he would have to go home, but that was another problem.
Here are the first two:
https://steemit.com/writing/@richardjuckes/the-cat-01-the-purple-umbrella-by-richard-juckes
https://steemit.com/story/@richardjuckes/the-cat-02-catfood-by-richard-juckes
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