farewell

This is getting to be a habit, and one that can stop right now, thank you very much.

Aliss, the maddest cat I've known, died here at home half an hour ago. Whatever ailed her took its final hold this afternoon and evening: she knew, we knew, and what remains of the tribe knew that her time was up.

She took up residence on the carpet against the sofa; we've sat up with her to the end, which came quickly: a brief convulsion, she arched her back, and was gone.

Quite why we should lose three of our family in less than three months, and to three unrelated causes, I don't know. Enough now.

We're having a small whiskey each, in remembrance, before going to bed: I'll be out digging a hole in the morning, cutting through the frost to give her body back to the Earth.

Goodbye Aliss; you were loved, and you are and will be missed.