Tiger Tales And Friends: Trev & The Gammon Tiger Tales (And Friends) Trev & The Gammon I arrived home from work, put the key in the door and sighed contentedly. It was friday and my working week was done. The drudgery of the week was over and I was free. As it was the height of summer I decided I would stoke up the barbecue and crack open the beers to surprise my boyfriend on his return. Until then I had two whole hours to myself to worship that glowing entity in the sky; the sun. I rushed upstairs, replaced my pencil skirt, heels and silk shirt for shorts and a bikini top, and put a light slaver of factor five on my skin. On my return back downstairs the usual crowd of cats met me mewing impatiently for their evening meal. My ginger tom, Tiger rubbed himself against my legs purring in a perfect unison with the rest of the assemble and it struck me as odd. Tiger usually gave communal meal times a wide berth on account of his dislike for our tabby, Trev the dominant male. They fought on every meeting, Tiger trying to over throw for the top spot. Trev never missed a meal time. Where is he, I pondered. Convinced he would turn up, I poured a large glass of water, put on my sunglasses & made my way to my garden recliner. After a while I felt myself drifting into a peaceful slumber when my idyll was interrupted. Someone was calling my name. I roused myself & the sight of my rather eccentric neighbours greeted me. Martha and Greg stood propped against the red brick wall, waiting for me to acknowledge their presence and indulge them. "Hi", I reluctantly climbed up and walked over to join them. "If you're wondering where Trev is, he's in the house asleep on the sofa" Martha cooed. They were childless and too old to do anything about it now, so babies our cats. They prattled on for ten minutes more and my attention was momentarily averted to behind them and into their house. I had a clear view into their kitchen, where I could see Trev on top of their kitten worktop approaching the cooker top. Martha noticed my shifting gaze and turned in time to see Trev lift a gammon joint from the pan Martha had put it in. She shrieked and made to run back in. As she yanked the back door open, Greg and I were treated to the hilarious sight of Trev's alarm at being caught in the act and, still with the gammon joint in his mouth, scaling the loaded dish rack resulting in a shower of broken glass as he made his cunning escape. He shot past her through the back door at lightning speed and scaled her shed. There he sat proudly demolishing Martha and Greg's dinner. They stood together at the bottom trying in vain to coax him down, whilst I took the opportunity to sneak back in doors out of culpabilities way.
Overheard In A Supermarket A minuscule old woman dragging a tartan shopper approaches the customer services desk and struggles to reach the top of the grey helpdesk to deposit a carrier bag. A young, fresh out of school male assistant beams down at her eager to assist. He points to his name badge and informs the elderly woman his name is Curtis and how can he help today? "I want to return this to you, its no good to me" spat out the woman. Although of a tiny stature, she means business, there will be no messing around. She's come here intent on a refund and that is all she will accept. She can be formidable when she puts her mind to it. "I'm sorry to hear that". Curtis opens the bag to reveal a disposable barbecue with the cellophane removed and leaking bits of charcoal. She hands over the receipt, not to be caught on such a technicality and proclaims that the items that ought to be in the pack were "missing". Curtis cocks his head in confusion as he surveys the packaging. A disposable barbecue didn't contain an awful lot and from what he could see all was present and correct. "Sorry madam, what do you believe is missing?" "Well the meat". She starred at Curtis incredulous, surely that was obvious. "The meat?" "Yes, look at the picture on the box". Curtis held the cardboard outer and took in the picture. Two mouthwatering sausages flanked four beef burgers and two pieces if corn on the cob. A couple of chicken skewers completed the scene. Curtis was by no means the smartest boy in his class but he could see what had happened here. "Did you think the meat & corn was included here, madam?" The pensioner rolled her eyes. "Well yes, why else would I have bought it? Get a lot for your money there" Curtis had deduced correctly and he gave a wry smile as he drew her attention to the small print that said 'serving suggestion' on the glossy picture. Crest fallen and determined to brazen out her embarrassment the old lady insisted she still get the £3 refund she came for. Curtis scanned the receipt and noticed a slight hitch. "Madam, these barbecues were two for £3, the receipt says you had two of these?" "That's right" "Well where's the other one? I need them both to refund you" The old woman turned a shade of scarlet and shuffled her feet, looking uncomfortable. "Its in my freezer"