The Cat ran through the open kitchen-door, following what it thought was a mouse. Beyond lay the Garden, a realm of possibilities that almost befuddled his superior feline senses, but it managed to maintain contact with its prey, making its way across the lawn and into the herb-bed. Amongst the thyme and coriander and other scent-makers, he finally lost track of the lucky escapee and momentarily sat down to consider his short-term future.
Beyond the garden was the Street, an area he tended to avoid due to the presence of dogs and several Cats. The dogs he could simply avoid but navigating the ever-changing extremes of Cat territorial limits was tiresome at the best of times and injurious at the worst. Being a quiet-minded feline, today was willing to let the others pretend to own whatever it was that needed to pretend to own. As a result, he turned around and made his way to the back of the house, through the small and overgrown garden until he found himself beside the canal that ran through this part of Town. He headed towards the sun, enjoying the heat on his little body. A breeze caressed his fur, and he could not help miaowing in response. A splash of water caught his attention as a small fish broke the surface of the murky waterway. Nothing else happened and he continued on his way. A few minutes of deliCate navigation brought him to a bridge that crossed the canal. Approaching its peak, he leapt onto the wall and looked out across the surrounding landscape and the length of the canal.
Above him, he watched the swooping trails of swallows and felt strangely at peace. He curled up, bathed in the warm sunlight of the late afternoon, and drifted into a dream of chasing mice though the sky. They hid in clouds and baited him by leaping from cumulus to cumulus. At one point it began to rain and, as his fur became water-logged, he grew heavier. Eventually he was too heavy to remain and fell until he awoke with a start back in his body on the bridge, realising that the rain had followed him down.
He quickly jumped down and made his way under the bridge to take shelter as the heavens opened. For about twenty minutes the surface of the canal was punctured by raindrops, the water-world boundary shivering in either pain or pleasure each time. As mysteriously as it started, the rain eventually stopped, fading away as quickly as it began and the surface of the canal stilled, now only disturbed by the breeze. In the cooling air, the Cat decided to return home and made his way along the canal until he arrived back at the house.