I went in and introduced myself as usual, although we already knew each other from behind: my daughter had had one of her cats wrapped around her neck on the first day of school. Relaxed, ringed tweed cats, always on the lookout for traffic lights and the first raindrops or falling banana tree leaves...
She and he were going to a city I know. A trip back in time to a day before-here, of military men dressed in antique fabrics; flannel or felt in autumnal and urban colours: greens, browns and greys. It is my memory even though I know it is no longer like that, and places that change for the better abound.
I ask them to let me guard their house before anyone else, and I think I convince them that no one will look after their cats better than me.
