Story Time!

On a bright sunny day, Andrea leaves her apartment to go on a walk as per her routine.  Walks to the park are always refreshing for Andrea because she can enjoy watching the children play, smell the flowers, and get some fresh air.  However, she never made it to the park today, because she saw something that must not be left alone.  Chalk graffiti art of cats on a brick wall on her route to the park!  Unbelievable!  Who could do such a destructive act on someone else’s property?!

Andrea was always a prepared lady who carried many every day-use items, but she did not carry any cleaning supplies in her purse.  She’s going to have to remember to bring wet wipes from now on, but for now, she hurried back to her apartment room to get a scrub brush and a bucket full of soapy water.

She dips the brush into the bucket and tries to scrub away a corner of the graffiti when the cat that she’s about to clean suddenly moves away from her brush while still on the wall, leaving a trail of chalk.  How could this be?!  Andrea was confounded and thought she was just mistaken with her old eyes and tries to wipe a nearby cat, when that one jumps off the wall and onto the sidewalk.  Huh?!

The cat that jumped onto the sidewalk was two-dimensional in this three-dimensional world.  It started running away and causing havoc like knocking over trash cans and vandalizing nearby property, in addition to leaving a messy chalk trail.  Andrea started chasing that cat when she noticed that more cats were jumping from the wall and running in all different directions.  What to do!  So she tried running back to try to catch them all, some of which started wrecking things, but wanted to go get the cat that she was previously chasing, and started to panic!  Andrea started to scrub everything within five feet of her reach to try to minimize the damage, but it wasn’t doing any good.  She tried to chase the cat that she was chasing before, but got too tired to run any longer and had to stop and rest.

Because Andrea was an old lady, she didn’t have the vigor and vitality she had when she was younger.  So, she sat down, leaning against a nearby wall, to try to catch her breath.  Then she started tearing up a little because of her frustrating situation.  She was about to open a baggy of grapes to make herself feel better when, in the corner of her eye, she noticed some movement near her.  Upon closer inspection, it was one of the cats, taking interest in the grapes.  Seeing this as an opportunity, Andrea grabbed her scrub brush and pounced on the cat, scrubbing it as much as she could until the cat was gone.  She nabbed a cat!

Andrea found a strategy to get those cats.

She left her grapes out in plain sight, next to the bucket of soapy water, to attract the rest of the cats.  The cats came one by one cautiously (because of the bucket), but Andrea waited around the corner; she waited until all of the cats were present, so she could finish them all in one blow. 

Once all four cats (excluding the fifth cat because she had already done away with that one) were eating or playing with the grapes.  Andrea was always clumsy, so she had to be careful.  The broom handle drew closer to the bucket and slipped!  The cats were startled for a bit, but resumed their play.  Andrea took deep breaths to steady her hands.  She had to swiftly knock over the bucket.  Slowly, she brought the broom handle closer and closer to the bucket until it touched.  Then, she suddenly and quickly pulled back and jerked forward, effectively melting away the chalk cats!

Andrea sighs and plops down, breathing easy and letting the excitement wash over her while she laughs to herself.  This had been the most stressful thing she’d experienced in years.  Then, she gets up, pats the dust off of her, and takes her cleaning supplies back to her place to resume her walk.