Chaos in the Computer Room

At work the following Friday afternoon, Amy was busy doing the final printouts for the week. Derek had left at lunch time to drive home to Manchester for the weekend. The hard copy terminal that stood next to the computer, used for starting up the computer and shutting it down, suddenly stopped working. The engineer had shown Amy how to change the fuse beneath the keyboard so, assuming that this was the problem, she carefully removed it and found a replacement fuse in the cupboard. Unfortunately she wasn't as careful screwing the new fuse in, because she was crouched awkwardly under the keyboard. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a flash. She found herself being hurled forcefully across the room to land on the floor with her back slamming against the door. She sat in a daze, unsure how she had got there. Her arm ached painfully from the huge jolt of electricity she had just received. Realisation of what had happened gradually dawned. Holding the fuse wrongly as she screwed it in, it had shorted out. Amy was annoyed with herself for not taking more care. She hauled herself to her feet feeling shaky. She was surprised that no-one had come rushing in to see what all the noise was about but being a Friday afternoon quite a few of the staff had already gone home. She staggered out to reception and confessed to Wendy what she had done. “Are you sure you're all right?” Wendy asked looking concerned. “Perhaps you ought to get checked out at the hospital.” “No, that won't be necessary, I'll be OK once the ache in my arm eases up,” Amy assured her. “Well at least tell Mike what has happened,” Wendy insisted. “I definitely don't want him to know – he'll think I'm not up to doing the job properly,” Amy declared, “but the next time that fuse needs changing, I shall ask Roger or Derek to do it.” Satisfied that Amy seemed to be alright, Wendy changed the subject. “Yesterday as I arrived for work, I noticed a small black cat on the driveway. It had just emerged from a hole in one of the drain covers that has a broken corner. I think she might have a litter of kittens hidden down there because today I saw her entering the drain carrying a dead mouse.” “There are a lot of feral cats living in the cemetery along the road,” Amy said, “I expect she has come from there. I'll go and take a peek.” She went out the front door, found the drain with the broken cover and carefully lifted it up. Four pairs of frightened eyes looked up at her. There were two black kittens like mum and two tabby kittens no doubt like dad. They were well grown and ready to leave their damp uncomfortable nest any day now. Amy gently replaced the cover and returned to reception to tell Wendy what she had found. “I really don't want these kittens to suffer the hard existence of living rough in the cemetery like their parents.” “Well there's no time to lose if they are old enough to leave as they will be in danger of getting run over if they venture out onto the drive,” Wendy said. “I shall have a word with Jeffrey in the warehouse. He's a big softy at heart so I'm sure I can persuade him to have one and perhaps some of the men out there can also be persuaded to give a kitten a home.” The next day Wendy rang through to tell Amy that she had found homes for three of the kittens with Jeffrey and two of the warehouse staff. This just left one black male kitten. Amy went out to reception where Wendy had the kitten curled up in a small box next to the switchboard. “I'd love to take him home,” she told Amy, “but Dennis thinks we've got quite enough with two dogs and a cat.” Amy opened the lid of the box and the kitten woke up. He had large round blue eyes and enormous bat ears. She couldn't help being captivated by him so without further ado she decided to adopt him. After work she took him home and introduced him to gentle Kitty who was totally unimpressed with the spitting scrap of black fur. He arched his back at her trying to look big and ferocious. After Amy had collected Byron and brought him home, they chose the name of Butch for the new kitten. She soon discovered she had taken on more than she had bargained for. His feral background made him totally averse to any show of affection. Not for him a lap and a cuddle. Nor did he bother with the finer points of kitten play, preferring instead to go for the kill every time. Any fingers left carelessly dangling over the edge of the armchair he considered fair game to be shredded by his needle-sharp claws. He ate his meals as though each one was his last, growling fiercely at anyone, especially Kitty, if they came within striking range as he wolfed down his food with hackles raised and claws flexed ready for action. Byron quickly learnt to give Butch a wide berth. This was no cute kitten to be played with. One day Amy left some frozen liver in a polystyrene container on the worktop to thaw but later discovered that Butch had managed to get onto the worktop and had gobbled it up – the container as well! At work Amy asked how the other kittens were settling into their new homes and it seemed they were all appreciating the easy life of domestic bliss. She had the misfortune of owning the one kitten that refused to be domesticated.