RKYV ONLINE # 47

He was barely even breathing as, after a short while, the footsteps descended his front steps and once again clacked down the street. Marcel didn’t even dare to peer out the window in case was he was seen. He had avoided the terror today but he still had 2 months of mornings to get through.

One day, a week later, Marcel heard a strange clanging noise in front of his house. He looked out of his window and saw that a neighbourhood cat had trapped itself in a garbage can that a thoughtful friend had put out at the corner the previous evening. The poor pathetic creature had managed to slip in through a crack in the lid but it was now quite thoroughly trapped. The nice women next door owned a cat. She had started dropping by with baked goods and vegetables from her own garden when she realized her neighbour was injured. He tried calling her but the phone went straight to voicemail. He really should rescue the cat; opening the lid would be a simple task, even on crutches, but HE was due to arrive in one hour. Surely, Marcel could dress, rescue the cat and get back in the house before 7am. Marcel gingerly hung his cast over the side of the bed and reached for his crutches.

So far, so good, he thought. The stairs were trickier and since he was still groggy with sleep, Marcel slid down the steps carefully on his behind; one at a time; precious time wasting away.

After a few minutes, Marcel was at his front entryway. Now he needed a shoe. He wasted several more minutes searching; he hadn’t left the house once since his release from the hospital. Finally he found the left shoe in the living room which was a terrible inconvenience since the cast was on his left foot and the right shoe was required. He nearly decided to abort his risky mission when he noticed his shoe sticking out from beneath his brown leather couch. He was able to retrieve it easily enough with the end of a crutch. Marcel didn’t bother with a jacket. Although the morning air was brisk, he didn’t plan on being outside for very long. He checked the time nervously, it had taken him nearly 26 minutes to get ready; he was cutting it close.

Marcel navigated the front door and porch carefully; using crutches to descend stairs was a difficult enterprise. Travelling down his front sidewalk was easy enough but he had to take a few steps onto the lawn to rescue the dumb cat and the ground had become quite soft with overnight rainfall. His crutches sank a little way into the muddy earth. He reached the can and opened the lid to find a very large and frightened cat launching itself at his chest. Marcel was unable to sidestep the cat, as his crutches were stuck in the ground and he was sent tumbling to the lawn. As he was falling, his body instinctively attempted to plant both his feet resulting in the worst imaginable pain shooting up his left leg. He had put nearly all of his weight on the foot when he fell to the muddy ground. Marcel had neglected to wear a watch but he was certain he was nearly out of time and in the most excruciating pain. As he was lying down on the mud of his front lawn, he began to panic. Marcel was injured, helpless and HE was coming soon!