New Year's Eve Caper

New Year’s eve is always quiet at the temple. After all, one can’t expect a bunch of old and middle-aged nuns to let their hair down and paint the town red! So everyone is in bed by nine as usual, regardless of what’s going on in the outside world. Whether the year is old or new doesn’t bother them in the least.

As for me, I was feeling kind of restless that night. I could hear the honking of car horns, the roar of motor bikes and people shouting greetings outside. I had to see what was going on, so I sneaked quietly out of the temple and hid behind some bushes near the roadside so that I wouldn’t be run over by drunken revelers. As I sat there smothered by the dirty smoke and fumes, I heard a rustle behind me and lo, there was Ning. He had come to join me and we both sat for a while watching the “fun”.

“So how long are we going to sit here?” asked Ning. I shrugged. It didn’t matter how long, I had nothing else to do.

“Wish we could have some champagne to celebrate,” said Ning. “Do you think the nuns might have some?”

“Of course not!” I replied. ”The strongest drink they have is green tea!”

“Hey, why don’t we go to the Long Tails Club? We might be able to pick up a sip or two!” said Ning, suddenly becoming excited.

Though I had always regarded Ning as a friend, sometimes I think he’s also some kind of demon in disguise out to get me. Our last episode at the Club wasn’t exactly something to remember in the memoirs of a well behaved temple cat (see "Return of Cousin Li - Pt.2).

“Oh, no! I’m not going there again. You go if you want to!” I told him. He protested, said I was a coward, a sissy ... well, after all that name calling, I had no choice but to defend my honour. Besides, what does champagne taste like?

We both ran off in the direction of the Club and arrived there in no time. A party was going on and Ning said we should head for the kitchen where we might be able to find something. He was right. There were a few glasses of unfinished champagne lying around on the table. After making sure no one was around, we hopped onto the table and started licking. My first taste of champagne ….it was delicious! As I drank more and more of the bubbly stuff, I noticed a strange knocking in my head, my ears started buzzing, I even felt a little dizzy – golly, could champagne do all this? I could hardly stand on my four feet!

Ning, who was enjoying himself, noticed my predicament and decided it was time we left. He helped me off the table and we both struggled our way out of the Club unnoticed by the security guards. By the time we reached the temple, I was about to pass out.

"Look, why don’t you stay outside with Lao Tzu until you feel better,” said Ning. It was a good suggestion. L.T. was furious when he learnt of our little adventure. “Don’t you ever come near Vege Cat again!” he yelled at Ning. A red faced Ning scooted off and I plumped myself down beside L.T. and was soon fast asleep.

When morning came, I was still outside with L.T. My head weighed like a ton of bricks, my eyes were bleary and the “meows” that came from my throat were dry croaks. L.T. shook his head. “Look at you! Now you’re going to have a hard time trying to explain to Head Nun what happened to you.”

I didn’t have to explain. She gave me a long, hard look and ignored me completely for the next seven days. I felt like a fallen angel kicked out of heaven and told never to return.