Monday, February 28, 2005

Take Madrigal To Be Put Down Day

Take Madrigal To Be Put Down Day!

The whole drive over, she'll be moaning the way she does all the time. She hasn't been able to eat or drink anything for a week and a half now. You've seen this before, with cats that were your responsibility by choice, not by default.

When you first arrive in the waiting room, it will sound like a jungle with all the different animals howling and meowing and barking. Once you sit down and stop jostling the carrier, Madrigal will begin her moan. And all the other animals will fall silent.

"What his name?" a pretty woman holding onto a leashed terrier will ask you.

"Madrigal," you'll say. "It's a she."

Madrigal's moan is livelier now. Angrier. One of the other cats joins in with a moan that sounds a little scared.

"That's a nice name," the terrier woman will say. "How'd you come up with that?"

"Her meow used to sound like a song or something," you'll say. "Something like that I think."

The terrier woman won't have anything to say to that. Madrigal will moan some more.

You'll say, "She's my girlfriend's." Moan. "My ex-girlfriend's. She took off a couple months ago. Left the cat."

The terrier woman will say, "Oh God."

Madrigal will moan and you'll say, "She's pretty bad now." Look up at the terrier woman. "I think this is it."

The veterinarian will call you in to the back. You'll catch a glimpse of the terrier woman when you move for the door. She'll be crying.

Over the course of Madrigal being examined, sentenced to death by lethal injection, and ultimately destroyed, you'll have gotten up the nerve to ask the terrier woman out. But when you walk back out to the waiting room, her eyes will see the empty pet carrier and they'll crinkle up to cry.

You'll drop the carrier on the receptionist's desk. "Donate this," you'll say. Then you'll head out to the car, pissed at your ex because her cat getting sick managed to ruin something with a lady that could have been cool.

Happy Take Madrigal To Be Put Down Day!