The lake in the kitchen

‘Hey, Casey, did you know Mum can walk on water?’

‘She wasn’t walking ON water, Gibbs.  She was walking IN water.’

‘Well, why was she walking IN water, Casey? Is this a new thing she’s doing to try and lose weight?’

Casey sighs.  He gets tired of having to explain things to Gibbs all the time.

‘She didn’t exactly want to walk in the water, Gibbs.  Let me ‘splain.’

‘I’m all ears!  This should be good.’

‘The big white thing in the corner of the kitchen is called a freezer, Gibbs.  And in the freezer Mum keeps lots of food.  Every so often, the freezer gets crusted up with ice, so it has to be defrosted. Are you keeping up so far, Gibbs?’

‘Mousebums, Casey – this is riveting stuff.’

‘Language, Gibbs.  Remember what I’ve told you about young folk visit our website.  We don’t want to lead anyone astray.  Cats are superior beings and as such, it’s our duty to RAISE the bar, not lower it.’

‘Yes, yes, get on with it, Casey.  I can feel a nap coming on.’

‘Where was I?  Oh, yes. So, the freezer has to be defrosted.  To do that, Gibbs, Mum gave ‘Dad’ all the food that was in the freezer to put in HIS freezer (so that it wouldn’t melt).  Then she placed bowls of hot water in the freezer to help speed up the defrosting process.’

Gibbs yawns. He had been hoping for a shorter explanation and his nap was well overdue.

‘Mmm, I see.’

‘You know how busy Mum is – always doing jobs all over the house and stuff?’

‘Yes, Casey – she’s always doing something.’

‘Well, she went off to do something on that puter thing, and when she came back downstairs, the freezer had started defrosting and the crusted ice had melted and was all over the floor.’

‘Gosh, is that how that happened? I thought she was practising going in a gondola in Venice, as she can’t take a holiday this year.’

‘What do you know about gondolas and Venice, Gibbs?’

‘Saw it on a programme on the television with Mum recently.  All that water though – not my cup of tea.’

‘Why would you think she was practising being in a gondola, anyway?’

‘She had a pole thing and was waving it all over the place, Casey.’

Casey sighed.  Sometimes, he thought to himself – I wish Gibbs would just get it so I could get on with my life.  I wonder how many lives I’ve used up trying to explain things to Gibbs.

‘That pole thing, Gibbs, was the mop she uses to wash the floors.  She was trying to mop up all that water so that we could go in the kitchen if we wanted to.’

‘So, she can’t walk on water then, Casey?

‘No, I don’t think so, Gibbs, although I’m sure she has talents we haven’t seen yet.’

‘Oh.’

Gibbs has a good wash, paying particular attention to his nether regions and then heads over to his bed for a well-earned nap.

‘You’re welcome, Gibbs!’

Casey goes to the front room and sees Mum asleep on the sofa.  He has a quick wash before snuggling up next to her.  It’s exhausting being an older brother, he thought to himself, before he, too, fell asleep.   

Huge thanks to Aoife McCann for her amazing illustration. To see more of Aoife's wonderful art work (which is for sale), please go to:  https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/PookiePics?ref=hdr_shop_menu