OUT ON A LIMB

It was a sweltering summer day when Ross and his wife, Judy, visited her parents, Asa and Alene, in Cantua Creek—a small, sun-soaked town in rural Fresno County, California.

The afternoon heat was oppressive, and cooking indoors on the gas stove was out of the question. Asa and Alene’s swamp cooler was already fighting a losing battle against the blazing sun—the unanimous decision: a backyard barbecue under the shade of the mulberry trees.

Asa and Ross prepared the coals while the shade and a soft breeze made the backyard feel tolerable. When the coals were ready, Judy brought a heaping plate of chicken for the grill. As Asa started arranging the chicken pieces, Judy suddenly perked up.

“Do you hear that? I think a kitten is crying!” she said.

Asa and Ross exchanged skeptical glances. “I don’t hear anything,” Asa said dismissively.

Judy frowned and returned inside, only to reappear moments later with a plate of hamburger patties. This time, she was more insistent. “Seriously, I hear a kitten crying!”

Ross shook his head, and Asa muttered, “Must be your imagination.”

Frustrated, Judy disappeared again, returning with reinforcements: her mother, Alene. With her hands on her hips, Alene declared, “Nobody moves! Let’s all listen.”

The group fell silent. Moments later, they heard it: a faint, desperate meow. Four pairs of eyes scanned the yard until they spotted the source—a tiny tabby kitten stranded on the outermost branch of a nearby mulberry tree.

The poor thing was frozen in fear, clinging to the branch, its tiny body facing away from the trunk, and too scared to turn around. Judy’s heart melted instantly.

“Ross, you have to save it!” she demanded.

Ross looked up at the precarious situation and shook his head immediately. “No way,” he replied. I’m a teacher, not a fireman.

But Judy wasn’t about to back down. “It’s a baby, Ross! It’s scared to death!”

After much cajoling—and a pointed look from his mother-in-law—Ross grudgingly agreed. Asa tried to intervene. “Leave it alone,” he said. “The mama cat will come get it, or it’ll figure it out.”

But Judy was already positioned beneath the tree, apron spread wide like a makeshift safety net. “I’ll catch it! Drop it into my apron!”

Ross sighed and started climbing. On his belly, he inched his way carefully toward the frightened kitten, the branch swaying under his weight. The kitten’s cries grew louder and more pitiful with every inch closer Ross came. He was almost there when the chorus of voices from below rang out.

“LOOK OUT! HERE COMES THE MAMA! AND SHE IS MAD!”

Before Ross could react, a furious blur of fur and claws launched itself at his bare legs. The mama cat had arrived and couldn’t let this tree intruder near her baby.

Ross yelped as the feline whirlwind scratched and clawed at his legs. He lost his grip and plummeted fifteen feet, landing with a thud on the Bermuda lawn below.

Dazed and aching, Ross assessed the damage. His legs were a roadmap of angry red scratches, and his whole body protested from the fall.

Looking up at his wife, he groaned, “Why didn’t you catch me?”

Judy, trying to stifle a laugh, replied, “I was ready for a kitten, not a full-grown man!”