Maquinna's Poop du Jour

The Egg

Throughout the work week, Craig often rises much, much earlier than I do so that he can catch the commuter train into Boston. At 5 am, you can normally count on me to be groggy and incoherent. This morning, however, Craig managed to snap me to attention as I shuffled bleary-eyed from the bathroom, still asleep through the entire process of attending to the urgent need to pee.

'Look what Kitty brought in,' he said, placing a smallish, white speckled egg into my palm.

How odd, I thought. About the size of a robin's egg, but not the right colour. Too large for some of the birds that usually begin nesting around the house at this time of year. Whose is it? And HOW did Kitty get it?

The egg had long been out of its nest, but was completely perfect in every respect. No cracks or holes. Heavy for its size. Cool to the touch, though. No chance of trying to jumpstart what had already been halted. I could feel the embryo inside tumbling mutely within the shell. It made my heart pang a little, even though I was primarily curious about its origin and how Kitty had managed to bring it into the house unscathed. More to the point, why?

Now, Kitty has brought in many strange things in the time I've known her. I've nearly trampled upon mice, moles, voles, thrushes and sparrows, toads, and once, even a small bat. This one has me stymied, though. All the other critters were most certainly slain by our little huntress - and I have no quarrel with that. It's a part of the cat contract one must accept. I am trying to picture, however, our Kitty picking up an egg, gently cradling it in her mouth, maneuvering through two cat doors, and laying it gingerly upon the linoleum. It would have been quite a mouthful for her, and something would have had to inspire her to pluck it from the grass, or a nest, in the first place.

I doubt I will ever know how it all went down. I must content myself trying to identify which bird's egg it is.

Kitty came upon me later in the morning after I returned to bed for another hour of sleep, crying for her breakfast as usual. I found myself looking at her like she was a creature I had never yet met.

posted by Maquinna @ 2:22 p.m.