Sarah's Mittens

Sarah held Mittens, a long-haired calico, cooing into his ear and stroking his neck. “No, you don’t have to fetch that nasty old rat, Mr. Mittens. No you don’t.” She was standing in front of the large window that looked out onto her front yard and driveway. She was expecting the exterminator soon. “Daddy says you have to catch the rat, but Mommy won’t let it. No she won’t, she won’t!”

A minute later, the exterminator finally arrived. She was opening the door before he exited his truck. Mittens tensed in her arms and she held the cat to her chest. The exterminator, a young, attractive man, stepped forward and paused before stepping onto the porch. “Mrs. Hoffman?” he called up and she nodded emphatically. Mittens stirred even more and Sarah knew she couldn’t let the cat down to wander around in the awful out-of-doors. “Uh, I’m allergic to cats. I’ll need a mask.”

Sarah nodded again and waited while the man retrieved his mask. With it, he looked like he was about to perform surgery and she thought it was appropriate: he was going to fix the rodent problem in her house. She also found irony in the fact that the exterminator was allergic to cats, a creature many considered being a natural exterminator. Sarah never assumed that Mittens was the designated rodent-killer of the family. “Rats carry too many diseases and bugs. Can’t have Mittens gettin’ infected!” she’d often say, with much conviction.

“Mrs. Hoffman, I’m Zach. I’m told you have a rodent problem.”

She nodded again and finally spoke. “Yes. A big rat keeps walking around in the kitchen. We hear it late at night, but I won’t let Mittens near it. My husband said to just let the cat at it, but I can’t let that happen. I love Mittens too much.” She pressed the cat to her face and kissed it. Mittens struggled further as Sarah tried wiping cat fur from her lips. She was unsuccessful.

“What I’ll do is inspect of your cabinets and then lay some traps.” She nodded once more and stepped back to let Zach inside.

“Just, whatever you do, don’t tell my husband. And hide the traps. I don’t want him finding them.”

“Are there any hiding spots you’d recommend, ma’am?”

“How ‘bout near the garbage can?” She then laughed in a throaty manner, almost releasing Mittens in the process. Zach didn’t laugh and she then felt her face heat up with embarrassment: there wasn’t any way he could know that her husband hated taking out the trash, often letting it overflow before taking it outside. She cleared her throat and stroked her cat. “Um, I have some suggestions, yes.”

After several minutes, Zach was through and had placed standard, wooden mouse traps that would snap when the rat touched them. Sarah held Mittens the entire time, but not without noticing that the cat still seemed to make Zach’s eyes water. She nervously asked him a question. “Uh, won’t my husband hear the snapping? Where will I say I got the traps? He has the car. There’s no way I could’ve gotten them.”

“Ma’am, the rat will most likely be caught soon, before your husband arrives.”

“And then?”

“Then you can throw the carcass away. But I’d leave the traps down, incase there are others.”

Sarah grew alarmed. She hadn’t considered that there might me more rats. But she also knew she could keep her husband occupied for the evening. She walked Zach to front door, stroking and restraining Mittens the entire time. She wondered how she’d deal with the bill that was set to come in the mail, but didn’t voice her concern. She watched as he loaded his truck up and noticed that one of the tires was flat.

Sarah’s level of alarm rocketed as, at the same time, she heard a loud snap in the kitchen. Surprised, she diverted attention from the ever-anxious Mittens and accidentally let him go. The cat darted for the garden to gently dig and squat. “Oooh, Mittens!” she whispered as she followed the cat down into the garden. As she approached the feline, he darted towards the man’s truck, jumping into the cab.

Zach, giving attention to his flat tire, didn’t notice Mitten’s intrusion. He got in the vehicle and picked up his cell phone. Sarah imagined it was to notify his supervisor of a possible delay. As he had removed his mask, Zach immediately began to sneeze, almost violently. Sarah came around the door to look into the cab and saw Zach having fits, covering his mouth. She saw Mittens inside, cowering underneath the glove compartment. He looked afraid for the noise Zach was making.

“Oh, Zach, I’m sorry,” was all she could proffer as she walked around the truck to open the passenger door and free Mittens from his new, terrorizing prison. She tried opening the door, but it was locked. Meanwhile, Zach exited the truck, holding his hands over his mouth while sneezing and crying. He stumbled into the yard and Sarah noticed that he was going to run into a large tree. She tried yelling a warning, but was too late. He hit the trunk, face first, and let out a violent curse.

When he pulled his hands away, all Sarah could see was blood pouring from his nose. As his sneezing waned, he saw the blood and fainted. Sarah could sympathize: her mother was the same way. She looked at Zach for a moment before stepping back toward the cab.

The cat was gone.

She looked around the yard and saw the feline racing after a leaf that was moving with the wind. Looking at her watch, she knew her husband would be home in about an hour. She had that much time to clean up the mess. Prioritizing, she raced after Mittens as she knew she didn’t know how to fix a flat tire.

Word Count: 988