For the dverse prompt, a change of mind, a change of life.

Our life has been built of dreams, first one and then another, building block on block until we climb to this rambling monolith of light and stone. The first small paving stone along the way, a cat, and not just any cat, a Siamese, a special cat, Jackson, was the first cement, the feline glue. When he died, and the dream was building higher (four children and counting), we said our cat days are over. Some things you just can’t replace.

And then, the dream train rolled, another row of windows let in bright southern air, and Raymond leapt into our lives. Stripey arrogant, a tombeur of a cat the archetypal catalyst, he stirred the pot, opened the door to a stream of homeless, irascible, unpredictable, lovable cats. Raymondo Pentimento. Thank you.

Petals fall, the rose

in the…