cat shit

teeth brushed, showered and dressed, go down the stairs, it is now past dawn. The tiny garden lights are still glowing, still charged from yesterdays sunshine. Small globes of cracked glass.

There is a small heap in the hallway, the cat had been locked out all night.

Turn on the light, look more closely. It is a long streak of faeces. Disgusting, but it needs to be removed. The cat itself looks on, from a position half way up the stairs. Find the workshop metal dustpan, shovel the mess up, put it into the rubbish bin. Wash the dustpan with the hose pipe in the garden. Take a bucket, a rag, and a scrubbing brush and scrub the area with water, take up the water with a rag and throw the water down the back yard drain. Turn off the water to the hosepipe.

This has caused a delay of ten minutes, it is now five thirty five. The cat looks on, still.

Tidy away the utensils.

Go up the stairs, to the bathroom, wash the hands, soap and hot water.

It is the cool morning of what will be yet another hot day,  policemen leaving the station greeting others arriving, this seems to be the time where shifts change, go around the corner, start the engine of the tiny car, and start to move, a clear sky with a sun that has just cleared the horizon blazing early.