The Cream Soup Spoon

 That is the working title of my second attempt at a novel.

The first was called A Curious Confluence.

I am quite a way into Spoon - over 400 pages.

And, as I always do, I wrote the end of this book before I ever started the rest of it.

And then I got crackin' and a lot of story came out of the Ouija.

But there is a chunk that has been sitting undone for a year or more.

I know in general what needs to be written.

But, for some reason, I can't get to writing it.

I think tonight I might have put a rocket up the posterior of writing that chunk.

Because I added two or three hundred words to the end of the book that, for me, focusses the whole thing.

I would like to share them here with you.

********************************************************************

Alfie, Rose and Cinq were gathered by the counter where Peter had prepared their breakfasts for so many years.

They all had that same hopeful look they always had had; but Peter was gone; and they knew it; but they had gathered anyway. 

It was rather like a wake.

Karen appeared just as they were about to disperse.

“I’m sorry Peter isn’t here; I’ll feed you; just give me a minute”.

She started to move toward the cabinet with the cat merry-go-round and the cases of Fussy Cat.

But she stopped abruptly.

On the counter where the cat bowls would soon be placed was one of the basket weave hand towels. 

 On it was a single shiny cream soup spoon.

The cats heard Karen suppress a sob.

Cinq turned toward the direction that Karen was looking and saw what she saw and kept it to himself.

“Do you think humans have souls”?  He asked.

Alfie snuggled over to Cinq and gave him a few licks of brotherly cleansing.

“Why did you ask that”?

“Because Peter is over in the corner.

“He’s over there by the window that looks out on Bert’s grave.

“That’s where we last saw him, when he jumped into that thing that was over there.”

Rose chirped.

“I haven’t been brushed yet today”.

Peter walked over and said “let’s get brushed, Rosie”.

And they both went to the cat tree that doubled as a brushing station.

Rose jumped up through the access portal to the top.

That's the brushing station.

When the brushing was finished Rose jumped down and went back looking hopeful about Karen dispensing the morning’s ration.

But Alfie ran over to Peter.

He jumped up into the top of the cat tree.

The brushing station.

He sat and put his paws on Peter’s shoulders.

“That’s great writing, Peter”.