__ How the cat orchestra took their seats with the “unsaid”. ____

 

 

 

__ How the cat orchestra took their seats with the “unsaid”. ____

 

 

 

It was the first of its time the local cat orchestra was going to play the Mahler. Ah you can not believe the amount of rumor, scandal, chitchat and resistance they had to over come to play this Mahler’s 9^th, for the fist time in the cat new century, which happens to be, about 9 years a head of humans.

 

 

 

Any gathering of celebrity cats is a challenge in itself, as first of all the audience must remember nearly all through the duration of the event they are the audience and meager spectators, the players; must be sufficiently astute and diplomatic not to allow conflicts of interest or loyalties, or more likely disloyalties, tarnish, the aspired to atmosphere of a great orchestral event. Then there are them rodents, that oblivious as always just walk into the cat turf, creating havoc, as till now no zoologist of quantum mechanical inspirations has been able to pin the exact love of these two of god’s creatures.

 

 

 

Zara the slayer, nick named such for her rather paperless meeting command, was given the chargeability for the beginning, middle and the ending of this event. Do not get me wrong, Zara was paperless, but she sure had her lists, in her head and sometimes shared with her colleagues as she went about on her now, most ambitious orchestral event of century.  “No rodents” �" she thought to herself, “but that is stating the obvious, if I go about articulating it to every Siamese. I think I will allow them to work that one for themselves”. Then the - instruments �" “I am not going to allow anyone carry boxes not belonging to any other cats, I expect all the players to carry only their own instruments”. Then she chewed on a piece of rodent jerky. “I suppose that is pretty clear to all musicians, musicians have a very Oedipal, and or Electra, bound with their instruments they will not let any one else touch it.”

 

 

 

Then she had to go paper, in full earnest, as she scribed on the police academy blackboard, and murmured to herself. “violins i, ii, violas, violoncellos, right in front, then we have woodwind, piccolo, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, and what is it,  E-flat clarinet, 3 clarinets in B-flat, A, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons.” She took a step back to look at the board, could not believe all the parallel circular sectors she had drawn. Then brass was easy, as she continued, “4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, all left to right”.

 

 

 

Then Zara, swallowed the final rodent jerky and nearly got choked, as kept on, negotiating the percussion instruments, right at the back, with the 2 harps.

 

 

 (later same day)

 

 

 

The cat commuters after the late evenings were gradually disappearing and giving way to night revelers and cultural visitors, but the tone and the atmosphere of the evening was such that a great cultural cat event of century was about to happen. The String players were the first to appear in the scene, followed by woodwind, the Brass guys were delayed hanging around in the local pub a little longer than should have. But, no sign of the Precaution players, surly they have not forgotten.  And no, no sign of the harps either.

 

 

 

Zara, had decided to use her motorbike rather than a escorted police car, this way she could command the whole operation close at hand, remain unrecognized, and let the audience and players take their places as they naturally would. The orchestra hall was becoming filled by the moment, behind the red curtain, the occasional bulge on curtain was indicating thing are happening back there also, perhaps players were placing their instruments and taking seats.

 

               

          

 

 

 

But no one had seen the harp players or any of the guys on the back row, the timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, not even triangle, tam-tam, 3 bells, not even glockenspiel. These guys it seemed just had decided not to turn up. The Mahler 9^th would not be Mahler 9^th without the Harp, tam-tam, cymbal or glockenspiel. It would just be a total disgrace to the cat world if it were to happen, or unhappen.

 

 

Every one was waiting on both sides of the curtain nervously, only Zara on her motorbike wearing her helmet waiting outside was cool.

 

 

             

 

(same night)

 

The orchestra had now played for nearly 89 minutes, the audience had mostly left the hall some as protest, others with nausea. An orchestra without percussion, how that can be, the wise old cat was still patiently there, he thought to himself, “it is just the curse of the 9^th, as it was with Beethoven and Schubert, Dvořák, Bruckner, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, and now it was in the cat world”.