just to talk, paying myself the check, cat in bamboo

1. Hearing from two faraway friends before breakfast: one is sending me a gift for a favor I did him, the other has called just to talk, the first time ever without a purpose.

2. Finishing breakfast, I take out my wallet to look for someone’s business card. In mid-motion it transforms into an automatic gesture: paying the check.

3. Outside in the bamboo, a charcoal gray cat rubs from stalk to stalk, belly slung low. When I take one step toward the window to see better, she freezes and looks at me.