The White Cat

I got up last night to use the bathroom. When I was finished with the task, I walked to the other room hoping that I was wrong. 

I peered through the window and found the shadow that has now become familiar to me. Damn, I thought. When is this ever gonna end!!!! 

I went to get the glass of water and slowly pulled the curtain. I heard a faint sound and then I found that it had jumped on the compound wall. It walked towards my neighbor's bike, made itself comfortable on the seat of the bike and then stared at me. I stared back. 

We both stared at each other for some time and then I got tired and went back to my room to sleep. 

It all started a few days back...

I had woken up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and heard a faint sound near one of the windows. I peered closely at one of the windows and found a white outline on the window ledge. The windows at my house have a protective mosquito net. This served two purpose - one, to keep the mosquitoes out and the other to keep cats, squirrels and other insects from entering through the windows.

Very cautiously, I peeled off the net and slowly opened the door. And that is when I saw this white cat sitting on the ledge. 

I don't like cats and can't stand them. It is one of the species that irritate me.😏 So every time, I see one, I drive it away from that place.

Coming back to the story, as soon as I saw the cat, I wanted to get rid of it. I tried swinging the window back and forth many times and it still did not leave. I finally got a big stick and hit it hard. Only then did it move from the resting place.

That night, I thought the problem was solved and the cat would not dare come near my bedroom window again.

Well, I was wrong. The next night, I found the cat again sitting there. This time I got a glass of water and poured it on the cat. It had the desired effect and the cat got away. It ran and sat on the seat of my neighbor's bike and stared at me. Well, if you did not want that, you should have stayed away from my windows, was what I thought 😂😁

This has become a routine now. 

Every night, I find the cat sitting there. I get a glass of water and pour the water on it. As soon as I do that, it gets away and moves on to the other side of the compound wall. 

For the last two nights, I didn't even get to the part of pouring the water. I just pushed the curtains aside. On hearing the sound, the cat jumped on to the wall, knowing very well what would happen if it stayed.

I just don't get it. If the cat was smart to know what was bound to happen, why did it sit in the same spot last night 😉

It seems we are both adamant - the cat and I. Let us see who is going to win this match!!!

Random thoughts - April 27

I type a message on Whatsapp and then just before I press the send key, I read it again. Isn't this too much. What will the other person think of me? I then delete it and retype a new message. The new one is simple and lacks the emotion that the previous one has. I hit the send message.

Iam on a call with someone. When I realize that the other person is not interested in what Iam saying, I leave that topic and move on to something else.

Iam speaking to someone and perceive that they don't want to continue the conversation. I don't prod them. I say good bye and end the call or stop the conversation.

They are all examples of how I have learnt to restrain myself in saying or doing something because I know that the other person is just not interested in it.

There is nothing wrong in what the others are doing. They have their own life, commitments, their own problem, thoughts running in their mind. If you insist, they might listen to you. They will do it either because they are too nice to say no or they don't want to offend you. 

Unless it is really important, you just have to feign nonchalance and go on with life. 

Perhaps this is the reason, people kept diaries. You need an outlet to put down all your thoughts without worrying about how others will react.

Review of the Susanna Kearsley's novels

It was by accident that I stumbled upon the novel, The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. I remember I had read a few pages of this novel a year back. At that time, I was just not interested. 

Two weeks back, I was browsing through the novel list at an online site and came across this one. I told myself what could go wrong with reading this one. The novel is set in the Cornwall county in England. It starts with a detailed description of the place which I now understand is Susanna's style of writing.

It takes some time to like this novel. One has to have a little patience to wait for the story to unfold. It was a very sweet romance story that includes time travel. Although it was slow paced, I liked the story and the ending. When I was done with it, I wanted to check out if she had written more that one novel. I read reviews of a few of her novels and then went around searching for her other novels at the same site. 

I was not disappointed and found a few more at the same online site. They are all feel-good novels and have a happy ending. She has done a lot of research on the historical events and the places around Europe.

Here is my own personal review of a few that I had read -

a) The Rose Garden - a romance novel set in the Cornwall county. I loved the time travel part of this novel. The time travel blends in with the story. At no point of time was I confused if the heroine was in the present or in the past. The decision that the heroine takes felt right to me. There were a few surprises in the story towards the end and I had to read those sentences a second time to understand. I liked this novel and wouldn't mind reading it the second time. This was my first introduction to the group of people called Jacobites.

b) The Firebird - The hero and heroine are born with a gift - they can visualize who owned an object merely by touching it. In fact, the hero can actually go back to the events that happened in the past when he touches an object. They follow the journey of a girl who had lived in the past and that takes them to the different places she had lived including many parts of Europe and Russia. I was excited when I read the scenes that take place in Russia. As usual, the author does a good job in writing detailed descriptions of the places.

c) The Shadowy Horses - this is a novel that is set in Scotland. There is a friendly Roman soldier who is a ghost and a boy who has psychic powers. When I realized that there was a ghost, I assumed it would be a typical ghost story. I was surprised when the sentry is just one of the characters in the novel. I really didn't know much about what happens at archaeological digs until I read this novel. When I first read this, I was wondering why the boy and his mother sounded familiar and then I realized the connection between this book and the Firebird. This has to be read prior to reading the Firebird. I made a mistake of reading the Firebird first and then had to go back and forth between the two novels to understand the connection.

d) The Splendour Falls - after reading three of Susanna's novels, I was hoping for some kind of time travel or magic in this one. I was rather disappointed when it was just a sweet romantic novel with a sprinkle of mystery. However, as usual her detailed description of the surroundings was what made it a nice read. The novel is set in Chinon, France and as you follow the heroine's journey, it takes you through the nooks and corners of Chinon. When I finished this book, I wanted to immediately travel to Chinon and visit all the places described in this book.

e) Mariana - finally, I got another time travel romance story to read!!! While in the Rose Garden, it was just time travel, in this novel, it includes reincarnation. The heroine actually is the same person who had lived in the 17th century in the same house that she lives in the present. I just loved this novel. It was a bittersweet romance and the twist at the end was completely unexpected. Was I a little disappointed?? Maybe, maybe not!!! It is set in a lovely village in England and I could picture myself in all those places she had described in the novel.

I think I have become a fan of Susanna and her novels. Just when I thought that this was the last novel I would be reading online and I had to go out and buy other novels, I found another of her novel - The Desperate Fortune yesterday at the same site.

Well, I have started reading it although Iam very sure that this is just a normal novel. 

I hope it is a good one!!!