Tabs could not believe how loud the generator was. The sound reverberated off the walls of his tiny shelter, and probably also off the frigid floor, which except for the one hole cut in the middle of the room, was a 12-inch-thick slab of solid ice.
When his friend, Felix, told Tabs about this place, told him about how ice fishing up here in the Northern Territories was the most relaxing thing he’d ever done, Felix neglected to mention the generator.
Figures…
Tabs shivered, despite his heavy wool coat, thick fur and thermal kitty underwear, and watched his breath puff in the frosty air.
The one electric bulb hanging from the ceiling briefly dimmed as the generator momentarily sputtered.
Wouldn’t that be perfect, Tabs thought, if the generator conked out and stranded him out here on a frozen lake?
The generator resumed its steady, rhythmic roar, which sounded to Tabs like the loudest lawn mower he’d ever heard.
He wondered what he would do if it stalled. The darkness wouldn’t be a problem for him because he was able to see in the dark, but the cold… How cold would it get in the little shack without the heater? Probably very cold…
He had no transportation, either, thanks to Felix, who talked Tabs into hiring a local bush pilot to make the trip here. Until the pilot returned on the day after Christmas, Tabs was on his own.
With a jolt, he suddenly remembered having his iPhone and pulled it from a pocket inside his coat, thinking that if something happened to the generator, he could call his assistant for help.
He slid his paw across the phone’s screen, and the device sprung to life, displaying more than a dozen illuminated app icons. Instinctively, his eyes went to the upper lefthand corner.
“Meow!” he cursed. No bars. He wouldn’t be able to make a call.
He held up the phone and waved it around in the air, looking for a signal. Nothing until, wait! — he saw one bar for a second. Maybe he could get a stronger signal over there, he thought, looking at the one tiny window in the room.
He hopped down from the chair, a sturdy, old thing made of heavy wood, set the iPhone down on the ice, and wrapped the end of his fishing line around a leg of the chair five times.
That should hold it, he thought, and then the generator stopped.
When he turned to face it, the bottom of his coat brushed the iPhone, which slid directly into the hole in the ice.
Plop, was the sound it made when it splashed into the water.
Uh, oh, Tabs thought, as the now quiet room went dark…
If you enjoyed this little tale and would like to see Tabs continue the story, let him know in the comments. 🙂 And now, here are some pics from Tabs’ every-growing kitty modeling portfolio.
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