A Present for Basil

As the Catman and I sat at munch today, we spoke of many things, and I must admit he made me laugh more than once. Even when the conversation petered out, the silence was comfortable. He'd take a single sugar snap peapod from a half-sized ziplock bag that he carries with him to lunch, and I'd hear a light chomp as he snacked. He looked at ease with himself, and I wondered if I might end up like that someday. I'd like that, I thought to myself.

When he realized that I'd been observing him, he stopped, and slid the ziplock bag across to me. There were still three peapods left. Surprised, I asked, "what's this for?"

He smiled, and answered, "there's three pea points in there for being a goodbud." It was as if he'd read my mind.

It was hard to eat those peapods with such a big smile on my face, but somehow I managed. When my stomach was full, I thought, "how can I repay the Catman for his years of kindness?" Then I remembered about the Basil plant that had recently entered into his life, how he often spoke about it's development with the pride of a new father. I'd do something for Basil, I decided.

I took a deep breath, released it into the ziplock bag, and closed it, careful to not let any escape. I slid the bag bag to him and said, "for Basil." He looked at it, touched, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. Finally, he spoke.

"You think you're pretty funny, don't you?" he asked.

I couldn't see how that was relevant so decided not to answer. I reminded him that plants need carbon dioxide to grow, so he could use my breath to nourish one of his own - what better gesture could I make? When I began to walk him through some of the precautions he would need to take (don't transport the ziplock bag in your pockets, and if you put it in your bookbag, make sure it's not next to something pointy), he interrupted me.

"I'm going to have those pea points deducted," he said.

Even after 3 years, he still knows how to surprise me.