What A Day

The first surprise came that morning while Tina was sitting at a STOP sign, waiting to turn. The vehicle behind did not stop and ran into her. No one was hurt, and the only damage was to her vehicle’s rear bumper. The other vehicle was a large commercial truck and wasn’t even scratched. She and the other driver exchanged information, called their insurance companies, took photos with with their smart phones, wished each other a better rest of the day, and departed. The damage wasn’t serious but there was the trouble of getting it repaired, the upcoming inconvenience. Tina sighed. I’ll just have to make the best of a bad situation.

After picking up some photos, Tina shopped for groceries, and ate lunch at a deli. Getting into her car, she took the time to open the photo envelope only to find photos of people she didn’t know; people she hadn’t photographed.

“Cute kid,” Tina said, “but not what I was expecting.” She returned to the photo shop and explained her situation. Fortunately, the clerk was able to track down the other photography packet and found her photos inside. The clerk apologized.

“No harm done,” Tina replied. “I’m just glad I looked at them before I made it all the way home. And I got lucky that the other people hadn’t picked up their packet yet. See you next time.”

On her way home, Tina saw the flashing lights on an emergency vehicle coming from the opposite direction. She turned on her blinker and pulled over, yielding the right of way. She couldn’t see the emergency vehicle as she was at the bottom of a small hill.

“Uh oh,” Tina cried as she looked in her rear view mirror and saw the car behind her as it also started to pull over. Only it wasn’t slowing down. There’s nothing I can do in time to prevent that car from hitting me. She gripped the steering wheel, bracing for the impact. At the last second, the driver swerved back into traffic, barely missing Tina. The car continued on, picking up speed.

No one else was stopping and no emergency vehicle had reached her yet. That’s odd, Tina thought. It was just over the rise when I pulled over, why hasn’t it appeared on this side yet?

She waited a moment more, then eased back into traffic. She passed the firetruck at the bottom of the far side of the hill where the firefighters were attending to a fire hydrant with water gushing out of it. Well, I pulled over like I was supposed to, Tina told herself. It wasn’t my fault they stopped in a place where I couldn’t see them.

Almost home, she breathed a sigh of relief. Tina drove up to the community mail boxes and picked up her mail. Only it wasn’t hers. Again. It happened every once in a while that the mail carrier put her neighbor’s mail into her box. Tina always returned it to the rightful owner, but wondered if her mail was in someone else’s hands and how much of it went missing forever.

Good thing I pay my bills online, otherwise I might be in a world of hurt. She mentally patted herself on the back for preventing any late payments.

“What a day!” Tina declared as she came through her door, dropping her purse just inside. She plopped down on the couch, took off her shoes, and laid down.

In a few minutes, her kitten, Serenity, positioned herself on Tina’s shoulder, purring, gently kneading her paws, back and forth, back and forth. Tina relaxed, trying to let go of the day’s stress.

Then, as kittens are wont to do, she turned into a raging Tasmanian Devil. She nipped Tina’s shoulder – OUCH! — gathered her hindquarters and leapt off the couch, racing around the living room.

“Oh, Serenity,” Tina pleaded, “not now. I just need a few moments of peace.” Tina got up, approaching her kitten as it sat on the top of the kitchen counter, switching its tail back and forth, a predatory gleam in her eyes. As fast as the wind she sailed off the counter, zooming past Tina.

Tina thought she had Serenity cornered behind the recliner, but as she reached in, the kitten extended her claws, swiped left to right, slicing Tina’s forearm.

Now Tina was mewling, and bleeding. She ran into the bathroom and put her arm under the faucet, turning it on. Rose colored water circled the basin before it went down the drain.

This isn’t how I thought today was going to go, she thought, wrapping a washcloth around the still bleeding scratch. She returned to the impossible task of corralling the Tasmanian Devil racing through her house, wreaking havoc. I love cats, Tina reminded herself, but just right now – another crash from the dining room – not kittens with shark teeth and raptor claws.

~~~ The End ~~~