Zoom Cat
A cat and a plan
A yellow cat walks across the desk, coming into full view of the screen. Christy strokes it from head to tail. There are issues of The Atlantic in view once the cat jumps from the desk. Christy’s soft voice tells everyone in the Zoom meeting that Melvin was happy to meet them, but he’s usually pretty shy. She is near 60, with dark hair reaching just below her shoulders. Her blue eyes are framed by dark glasses. She’s been holding meetings like these for the past ten years. Before now, they were just conference calls, or sometimes in-person meetings held at coffee shops. Christy knows the policy issue the group is discussing inside and out. She assures her acolytes that this arcane change will benefit many thousands of the state’s residents. Somehow, it has been five years since the “coalition” started working on this issue, and still, no progress. This time, though, would be different. Christy was sure of it because of a very positive one-on-one she’d had with a key member of the legislative subcommittee.
Thomas can’t and won’t stop talking even as a yellow cat comes into full view on his computer screen. He’d been listening intently as Christy explained the coalition’s strategic approach. Now, she was stroking the cat and saying his name and Thomas was pretty sure he saw a fairly recent issue of The Atlantic as the cat jumped from Christy’s desk. Thomas is in his late 70s, bald, his…
