Sticky Notes

Miss Kitty finished practicing her fiddle, finally mastering the Cowboy Waltz. The timing, to her at least, was a bit tricky, but she was determined to have it perfected for her next lesson with Fiddlin` Red. Playing the fiddle helped Miss Kitty shut up the committee that lived in the attic of her brain. When she played her fiddle, the committee stopped their incessant arguing, their counterproductive drama, and best of all, their internal discussion of her character defects.

            “Well,” she said to her golden beagle, Spot, “I can check that off my list.” Spot, an intelligent dog with floppy ears and wise eyes, wagged her tail. “No, it’s not time for a walk,” Miss Kitty said.

            Miss Kitty looked at her list, composed on colored sticky notes. She had added several chores that she had actually already completed, like weeding the strawberries, going to the Colburn Colvert Mall to throw away her non-compostable garbage away, and calling her mother in Boston. Intellectually, Miss Kitty realized that adding checked off items to her to-do list was a form of cheating, and really, quite ridiculous. Mentally, Miss Kitty loved marking items off her to-do list; it made her feel like she had a productive day.

            The next item on her list, calling Dr. Robert Harrison for a dentist appointment, seemed to glare at her. It’s not that Miss Kitty was afraid of dentists. However, she felt a sense of guilt and shame because her ruined front teeth were her problem, and she felt that she should take care of it herself. Miss Maudy, the voice of the sanest person on her internal committee, told her, “Making an appointment is taking care of the problem yourself. Sometimes, Kitten, you just have to suck it up and accept the kindness of others. It will help you learn compassion and humility.”

            Miss Kitty frowned. What she really wanted to do was dye her hair. The old dye had faded, leaving her with mostly her natural color, which she considered boring. Miss Maudy said, "Make your appointment, and as a reward, color your hair blue and yellow."

            Miss Kitty picked up her smart phone, dialed 208-263-4353, and scheduled an appointment at Dr. Harrison's office for Friday.