What is said, but doesn't get heard

Rowlphhhffff!!!

"The fuck!"

Rowlphhhffff!!!

The knot in my stomach got tighter. "Hon... relax. She's just a kitten. She's just lonely".

"She's been lonely for two fucking weeks already! I can't sleep! I got the client at 8 - I gotta be good for that. If he bails on us - well - I gotta be able to pay the mortgage"

"Please stop talking like that. All you do is scare me and get yourself upset. Use the ear plugs".

I hear him sigh, and the nightstand drawer opens. The bed relaxes next to me. A miracle - somehow he's calmer.

Rowlphhhffff!!!

Oh God, I think. Just fall asleep, sweet thing. It's not enough you wear us out during the day. Now you've gotta sit on the stairs and howl, for what, your mama, for other cats, for God?

The winding staircase, with the peekaboo view of the Olympics, and the skylight seemed good when we bought the house. But it turns out to be a perfect echo chamber for Ginger's voice. An echo chamber for all my fears.

Rowlphhhffff!!!

I put the ear plugs in, my vibrating watch on. The emperor must not oversleep.

*****************************************************
"Jase, Kayleigh, put your dishes in the sink and get your backpacks - I hear the bus coming up the road". Somehow, they listen.

The TV is on. "The number of mortgage foreclosures has reached a record 5% of outstanding loans....today we meet one family that has had to give up everything when he lost his job...."

The twins are at the door, as I see Meg at the door. They let her in, and run out.

"Hi Jen - you OK? You look the wreck".

"It's Ginger. I love her to death - she talks to us all day, in the cutest little voice - she's just a cute bundle of fluff - until midnight. Then she turns into a vampire."

"Really?"

"Well, she cries. The whole night. Screams really. She finds the best place in the house for the acoustics. The top of the stairs there".

"Oh my God! That must be really loud"

"I don't know what I'm gonna do. Carl was going to kill her last night".

"My sister had a cat like that. She got her some kind of surgery."

"What, on her vocal cords?"

"Yes, I think so. She said it was great"

"I want to find out about that"

"Hold on, I'll write down her e-mail. It's worth a try for you"

The TV is still on, "Hezbollah claims they will continue to receive and deploy rockets from Gaza...."

*******************End of Part 1****************************