!! Point

          

            When Miss Kitty finished her chores at the cabin, she went home and checked her email. She was astounded when she received a message from her Paypal account, and immediately sent Miles a text message.         
           “Miles,” Miss Kitty typed in her iPhone, “I can’t accept your generous gift.”

            Miles had been anticipating this very message from Miss Kitty, and he already had a plan to encourage her to take the bonus and have her teeth repaired.

            “Dear Miss Kitty,” Miles typed. “Harold wants to give you the money as a birthday gift. He doesn’t know when your birthday is, so we decided to gift you the money now. Lenny has informed us that Dr. Robert Harrison is an excellent dentist in Sandpoint. We are looking forward to a report on your appointment.”

            Miles checked his text message for errors. He hated abbreviated messages, silly symbols, and intentional misspellings. Satisfied with his response, he hit the send button with his tail, because he was feeling a little silly.

            His phone vibrated, and he used his packrat claws to cue the new message from Miss Kitty.

            “Miles, I simply cannot accept the bonus. It’s too much.”

            Miles understood Miss Kitty’s response. He knew she was proud, self-reliant, and independent. However, he also realized that she did not have the resources to pay a dentist to repair her chipped front teeth. Miles and Harold both agreed that Miss Kitty had a smile worth saving. And they were determined to save it.

            “Actually,” Miles typed, “the bonus comes with a catch. I want to hire you to do some undercover work for me regarding Lilith Ekans. Harold must not know about this :)."

            Miles hated the happy face symbol, but he needed to sway Miss Kitty to his point of view. Miles thumped his tail on the table as he hit send. Why, Miles mused, he would use a thousand exclamation points if he thought that would win Miss Kitty over.

            “I’m intrigued,” Miss Kitty responded, “In spite of the ridiculous happy face. If you ever use exclamation points, I will have to stop the flow of cheese and alcohol :(.”