Head Nun Goes to Bangkok

Recently Head Nun went for a retreat in Bangkok and was away for two weeks. I didn't think I would miss her but I did. Every morning at around 7, Head Nun would be up preparing breakfast for the nuns. At the same time she prepares breakfast for us cats. There are 3 non-residential cats who come for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. Goodness knows where they come from but they seem to know the right time to turn up even though there is no sign which says "Free Meals for Cats" outside the temple. Head Nun, always kind and compassionate, never turns them away. We usually get crispy bitesize biscuits and water for breakfast and I would be awakened every morning by the sound of the biscuits falling into the bowls. After we have our fill, the other cats disappear somewhere, to sleep, I suppose. 

The morning after she went away, I missed the sound of the biscuits falling and only when I appeared in the kitchen looking hungry did one of the nuns take them out and give them to me. I decided there was no point in sitting around feeling miserable and continued with my task of cleaning up the temple. I usually start with Head Nun's storeroom. There are 101 things inside - old tins, old newspapers, old boxes, old bottles - I wonder why she doesn't throw some of it away. The place is a good hiding place for rats and cockroaches but nowadays I just shoo them away and refrain from killing them. In the evenings, I stalk the garden for these sneaky creatures again. Once I met a small fat rat. When we caught sight of each other, we both stopped dead in our tracks. I was tempted to pounce on it and have it for supper but remembering the Buddhist teachings and my vege diet, I let it go. It looked at me, a little surprised, then a little scornfully and said, "Hey, why don't you come and get me? No guts, huh?" I laughed and shooed it away. "If I hadn't come to this temple, I would have made mincemeat out of you, you lucky devil!" I shouted after it. 

Head Nun always said I had to have the last word .... well, it does make one feel better especially if the other side doesn't have the opportunity to answer back. Two weeks do pass by very quickly and today Head Nun came back! The moment she entered the temple, I rushed up to her and rubbed myself against her legs. She laughed and said, "Bless you, Vege Cat. It's good to be back." The nuns insisted that she went to her room to rest and later in the day, she distributed sweets which she had bought in Bangkok to each and everyone of us, including devotees who had come to the temple to pray. Aah, I'm going to sleep soundly tonight because tomorrow morning, I shall hear biscuits falling into my bowl again ...