The Time Warp

The Time Warp

Sometimes dramatic events unfold, seemingly in slow-motion, as all the senses are heightened…

 

I was at a friend’s house helping to prepare a meal. The potatoes were boiling away on the hob, the salad was being prepared. Everything was going to plan.

 

Then her cat jumped up onto the kitchen counter.

 

Then the cat walked along the counter; the really thin bit by the gas hob.

 

I saw the cat’s whiskers pass through the flame and shrivel.

 

Then I could smell burning fur.

 

I heard myself saying “Your cat’s on fire!”

 

I heard my friend shriek and saw her lurching towards the burning cat.

 

I saw my friend frantically hitting at the cat to extinguish the smouldering fur along its flank.

 

I noticed that my friend was still holding a vegetable knife.

 

I heard myself shouting “No! Stop! You’re stabbing the cat!”

 

I heard my friend scream.

 

I saw the curly-whiskered singed cat jump off the counter.

 

I saw my friend lunge at the cat and tread on its tail.

 

I heard stereophonic squealing.

 

I saw my friend pick up the cat and wrap it in a towel.

 

I thought the cat bore a passing resemblance to Salvador Dali.

 

This dreadful chain of events took place in less than a minute but the memory will last forever.

P.S. The cat made a full recovery.