Once upon a time, Bill Wilson was an accountant who worked for a company that manufactured explosives. Many people told him that the office was too near the factory, but nothing bad ever happened and he retired to enjoy the rest of his life with his wife in an Arizona town built especially for the retired. However, the day after he left he was walking in the evening with his wife and they were hit by a car. She was killed and Bill ended up in the hospital with serious head injuries and permanent blindness. After a month he recovered consciousness and gradually improved to the point that he could leave the hospital and live with one of his sons. He mourned the loss of his wife for a year and cursed about the loss of his sight. Then one day he decided that whatever the future he should try to do what ever he could to adapt, not because he relished the challenge but simply because the alternative of doing nothing was worse. He was aware that he would never get over the loss of his wife, but perhaps he could grow accustomed to it.
First he decided to take a course at the local blind center to learn how to get around with a cane. It wasn't that his family refused to wait on him and lead him around. It was just inconvenient, and he knew a seeing eye dog was out of the question. He had had a bad experience with a big dog as a child and had been afraid of them since that time.
Bill had always been eager to try new things and he quickly learned the way to the center from his son's house and except for the intersection with the traffic, he felt more confident about getting around. One day he was standing listening at that particular intersection waiting to hear the traffic light change. He had discovered that if he stood next to the light post he could hear the switch and then the traffic would stop. Today however it was particularly noisy and he couldn't hear the switch. Someone said, "Hey Bill, What you need is a seeing eye cat." He laughed and asked, Whatwould that be like?" The response was a monochrome image of a pair of feet, and a cane tip. He was looking at the feet from the height of about 7 inches. Then he realized that the feet were wearing his favorite shoes and what is more, if he moved his feet the feet in his field of vision moved. The voice asked, "Is it satifactory.?" Bill thought, It's a bit low, but certainly better than no vision at all." The voice replied, "Pick me up" and at that moment Bill realized that the voice was in his head. That was why it was so clear above the traffic noise. He was astonished, and for an instance he wondered if he was having hallucinations because he had had head injuries. The voice said,"No way! Think about it, a talking cat would attract too much attention. My name is George. I am going to turn my head and now you can see my body." Bill saw the back and tail of a rather large black cat. He picked up the cat, crossed the street and sat down on a convenient park bench.
He thought, "Okay George I need you. Now what is it you want and why did you pick me? The cat replied, "I need an owner. Mine has died. She was a witch and one evening she was flying around on her broom stick and a jet hit her. I am a stray and the humane society is trying to get me. You know what that could be like. If I get adopted they will castrate me. If no one wants me, my fate is lethal injection. I would rather pick my next owner. You are not afraid to learn something new. That makes you a pretty good prospect." Bill replied, "I don't have a choice about learning new things. I'm blind." The cat replied, "Of course you have a choice. If you didn't learn to get around someone would wait on you for the rest of your life." Bill thought about that and he didn't like the prospect. He just thought, "Okay George, I think the first item of business is a collar with my name and address on it, the second is a trip to the vet. You seem to have a sore place on your ear." George replied, "Thank you, someone scratched me, and it seems to have become infected. By the way, you seem to have a question about me, because of my lack of color vision like humans have. I really am a black cat, not some color that would appear black because of the vision. I know. I've heard humans talk about me. What is for lunch?"
After a trip to the dollar store for a collar and a leash, and a trip to the vet, which left Bill a bit poorer, George went home with Bill. Bill's grandchildren were sent to buy cat food, since cats were not allowed at the supermarket. The children were quite taken with George, however the feeling was not mutual. Bill explained that George was an adult cat mostly, and didn't really want to play, and besides he was a little sick from the infection.
In spite of George's obvious physical existance to his son and grandchildren, Bill still wondered about his sanity. After all, seeing eye cats do not exist and perhaps what had happened was all in his head. George commented, "Of course it is all in your head. Everything that you perceive is in your head. What is really out there in the real world, no one knows. You wonder if you are insane. Perhaps! The important thing is what you are going to do."
Bill thought, "So, Damm existentialist cat!". The response was, "Of course, If that is the way you perceive me." Bill thought."Hell! That get's me nowhere with the sanity question. What do you mean, the important thing is what am I going to do?" "Are you going to run arround telling everyone that you have a seeing eye cat? I think it will at least get you a psychiatric interview, and some medication, provided they don't think you need restraint because you might injure yourself or others. For instance, so you hear voices in your head, and you think it is the cat. I suspect that you had better keep quiet, however I did like that stunt you pulled at the vet. You know, she complimented you on getting around so easily in unfamiliar surroundings and you told her, I was a seeing eye cat. She enjoyed the joke."
"For a cat you are certainly well versed in human affairs." "I've been on intimate terms with several owners.""I see, You mean you have been inside their heads.""Right, I think it is time for a nap. My ear feels better and it will be a good night for hunting later. You might think about this inside heads business and notice that you knew that I had a sore ear. Exactly who is inside whose head and what is shared?"
It was midnight. Bill was dreaming. In his dream, He got up and jumped through the open window onto the limb of the maple tree. He descended to the ground backwards, hanging on to the bark with his claws. Now that he was on the ground he began to explore smells. His supersonic hearing was attuned to pick out calls far beyond the upper threshold of human perception. The pupils of his eyes were expanded so that he could see clearly in the dim light. His ears moved as he focused on sounds. The infection was still there but it didn't hurt much anymore. He became aware of a highpitched chirping noise and moved stealthily towards it. Now he could pick up the mouse smell. He crept closer and pounced. Then he killed it with one bite on its neck and started to gulp it down. Bill became alarmed and awakened in disgust, however before he could gag he thought, I'll be dammed, It was delicious. In the back of his head, he could hear George thinking, Good!, You are adaptable enough to learn in spite of your preconceptions.
It was morning. Bill arose, picked up the cat which had been sleeping at the foot of the bed and headed for the bathroom. He put it on the top of the cabinet next to the washbasin, relieved himself, stepped into the shower and turned it on. There was the startled explanation, "Oh No! water!" followed by, "I'll be dammed, It is refreshing." Bill replied, "Pick up each other's speech patterns do we? Good! You are adaptable enough to learn in spite of your preconceptions."
Bill was startled to find the cat laughing. It thought, "I suppose water is okay if you don't have fur." He replied, "I don't think that is all of it, George. Tigers in India like water and they swim a lot. Possibly wet fur feels good if the climate is hot enough. Look inthe mirror on the vanity top. I need to shave."
They had breakfast. It was very early and Bill's family was not up yet. Bill left a note saying that he had gone for a walk so they wouldn't worry about him, and the pair went outside.
Bill thought, What are we going to do today? The answer was, "Perfect the blindman's technique with the cane."
Bill replied, "Why? I have a seeing eye cat."
"Think about it. There are all sorts of places such as grocery stores, and restaurants where pets are not allowed. They make exceptions for seeing-eye dogs, but not for cats. We start with the church steps I saw on our way home. I know you don't go to church so they are not familiar to you. That is what we want. We start somewhere else if it is Sunday. This isn't an exercise for company and we certainly don't want any good samaritans helping the poor blind guy get to church."
"It is Tuesday. By the way, this is sort of supernatural. Have I made a pact with the devil? I've never really believed in such things but this has all the earmarks of something unusual. I have to consider every possibility."
"No, I am not the devil nor am I in league with the devil. However,once I had an owner for a while who thought so. It was a pain in the ass, particularly when he wanted to sign a contract and insisted on worshiping me. Finally, it was just too much to put up with. I deliberately got lost. It is a risky thing to do, particularly with the so called society for prevention of cruelty to animals. As I've told you, one takes chances if they get in control. Here are the church steps. Take a good look and then I turn the vision off. This is strictly experimental. I've never done this sort of thing before."
Bill confidently started towards the steps wistiling a tune and carrying his cane. He was moving his head from side to side as he walked. Then he stumbled on the bottom step and fell. Then he got up and returned to George who was sitting on a bus stop bench. He thought, " You forgot to turn off your hearing. You have what we call the supersonic range. I mean, you hear it but humans don't. It is used by all sorts of creatures. For instance, bats use it to navigate in the dark. They emit high pitched sounds and listen for echos. I thought if I whistled maybe I could do it too."
George replied, "Interesting, You know a lot about animals. I didn't know that. In fact I didn't know your hearing range was different from mine. Let us just try this again There are some places you can go, and I can't but you can be close enough for me to hear. It might take some practice. By the way your nose is bleeding. On the next trial I will tell you to stop if it looks like you are in trouble. I should have anyway. I was just confused and intrigued by what you were trying to do. I make mistakes. It is my first experience as a seeing-eye cat.
They worked on the method for a couple of hours. It seemed like they were having some sucess. It was difficult, but George did have the sensation that some objects were in front of him. He had heard that blind people develop this after considerable experience and that it was due to the development of their skill at listening to echos. He wasn't conscious of the process, but George could confirm that there really was an object there when he thought it was there.
Finally, Bill felt tired so they went home. Bill got a cup of coffee and a donut from his son's wife. George got a saucer full of milk. She had worried about Bill a little when he had been gone for over an hour but then a neighbor reported that he was practicing going up and down the church steps. Lately, the family was getting used to the increased independence of Bill.It seemed to be time for a cat nap. Both Bill and George felt like they needed a rest.
Bill and George awakened in time for lunch. Bill was given a tuna fish sandwich and some lemonade. He insisted that the cat have some of the tuna fish rather than cat food. His son's wife humored him. In reality Bill did not care for the aroma of cat food while he was eating his sandwich.
After lunch they went to the back yard and sat on the patio. Bill found that he looked forward to the afternoon. He was surprised. Then he realized that one thing he had missed enormously since his wife had been killed had been companionship. People were often kind to him but they didn't often share experiences. George's company did not make up for the loss of his wife, but it was a different experience. Bill had lead a rather monotanous life since the accident. He thought about the irony of the experience. He was not sure he was sane. He was being exposed to experiences that could be disgusting, potentially dangerous and demanding a good deal of work on his part and it was the first time he was not depressed since his wife had died.
Soon they settled on a plan for the afternooon's work. Bill would attempt to locate an object. He would guess and investigate what it was with his cane. Finally when he was sure that he had gained as much information about it as he could with only auditory cues and touch, George would show it. The first item was the garden shed. Bill was a success at finding out what it was, and what it was like. Then he ran into the fence. It was much harder. It was only waist high and since it had a lot of open space it didn't produce much of an echo. Bill found that the way to identify it was to use the cane. The next item was a large utility pole which supported the telephone connections and a clothesline. Bill sensed what it was correctly. In a couple of hours he had a very good idea of the back yard. One good feature was that George was close to the ground. Objects were located that Bill might trip over, however a possible bad feature was that any objects that were hanging such as low signs or tree limbs might not be detected. There weren't any in the back yard so it was a theoretical issue. Once all the obstacles were located, George turned off the link to his hearing and asked Bill to find out if he could sense any objects. At first he could not, however with much effort he found all the objects again but they were not as well defined. George wondered why that was so Bill explained that higher sounds were better because of the shorter wave length. While tapping the cane against hard objects produced an echo it was limited because all objects were not hard. In addition the whistling produced more high frequency sounds than the cane. High school physics was a subject that Bill never thought he would use. Now he found it essential.
It was dinner time. They ate and after dinner, Bill told stories to the children. George hid in disgust. He was not a children's cat, and fearful of getting his tail pulled or being picked up in an awkward way by a child. Later Bill asked him about his distaste for children. George explained that one could never tell how to deal with them. Some wanted to pet him, some wanted to tease him and some wanted to kill him. It all came under the subject of play. Bill explained that he really feared dogs because they were unpredictable. George commented that it was true but at least one could distinguish those that needed a scratch on the nose to put them in their place, the genuinely friendly, and those that wanted to eat cats.
George sat in the maple tree outside the window for a while, listening to the night sounds. Bill was in bed but awake and tuned into George's activities. Finally the cat descended the maple tree and headed for the patio table. It looked at the headlines of the newpaper for Bill's benefit and purred a little at Bill's appreciation of his thoughfulness. He settled down on the table to settled down on the table to consider what was next.
There was a cat call. George thought, She want's me. You haven't had any since your wife died. You had better not go to sleep. You will enjoy this. Bill was startled to realize that the linkage included what he had thought was his most private thoughts, but he managed to recover and comment, I suppose this is what one callls a little pussy. George responded, "Only by humans, Pecker Head!" Bill thought that was disrespectful, and was reminded that so was "a little pussy".
She was gaunt and possibly an orange and black tortoise shell. Her coat was untidy and she was tense and ready to flee at any unexpected sound, or movement. Bill was thinking that it wasn't true that all cats looked gray in the dark. One had to account for those cat eyes with the full nictitating membranes and the ability to gather light. She was quite different and smaller than the sleek muscular George. Atfirst she was on the fence. Then she descended to the vegetable garden and presented herself. George grabbed her by the loose skin of her neck and mounted her. The experience was intense and unlike anything Bill had ever experienced. Then they disengaged and both jumped over the fence to the vacant lot. They rested side by side in the tall grass for about an hour and then copulated again. Then they rested more and repeated the sex act There were 2 more encouters before morning. As they disengaged from the last one George let go of her neck too soon and she turned, and with a hiss and high pitched moan,scratched him on the nose. George thought, Damm! but it was worth it.
In the morning Bill set out 2 dishes of cat food and two bowls of milk on the patio. George questioned him. What is that for? If you feed her and isn't too timid to accept she will stick around. Bill answered yes. I think you are going to be a father. We want the mother around to find out. It isn't likely that she will have very healthy kittens if she isn't fed. You have to help her with your hunting.
George responded, It is untraditional. Females who are about to give birth try to pick a secluded spot and after that they chase males away until the kittens are old enough to defend themselves. Bill replied, Yes, because males that are not the fathers of the kittens try to kill them. If she has kittens, we want her close so that you can defend them. George responded, Nobody does that. Bill answered, it is time for you to learn. Now if you have finished eating, come here. I want the vet to take a look at your nose. That ear thing you had could have been bad. We take no chances with your health.
George didn't think the nose scratch was worth bothering about but they went to the vet to humor Bill. There the vet commented that it was the second time that she had seem George this week and suggested that if he was castrated he wouldn't get scratched up. Bill refused, explaining that he hoped that the friendly disposition and physical characteristics of George were hereditary and he hoped to breed him, failing to mention that possibly the job was already done. The vet responded that he had noticed that George had a friendly disposition and was certainly well behaved. It was an interesting experiment. She even offered to take a kitten if Bill found a suitable female and there were offspring. The scratch was disinfected and Bill was told to use the salve for the ear if there was a problem. The vet was pleased at the condition of the ear.
On the way home, a large dog started to chase George. George was on a lease. He ran to the nearest telephone pole and climbed it. In his panic he had turned off the link to his vision so Bill saw nothing. He hit his forehead on the telephone pole, but he was so irate that he forgot to be afraid of the dog and chased it away even though he couldn't see it. George came down and remarked, Sorry, I was frighened and I forgot that you couldn't see. I am a beginner at this seeing eye stuff. I think I have to plan these things better. You have a big bruise on your forehead. Bill was considering the event. He had never been able to chase away a dog before. Finally he realized that it was a case of priorities. George was valuable to him both as seeing-eye cat and as a friend. This was more important than his fear of dogs.
George asked, do you want to go back to the vet with that bruise or shall we just go home? They went home and Bill took an asprin for his headache. George looked out the bathroom window and there was the female cat eating the catfood left on the patio. It was time for a catnap.
Bill and George awoke in time for lunch. After lunch Bill decided to go to the blind center. George complained that he was tired. Cats are capable of short bursts of fast activity, but do not have the ability to walk long distances without fatigue. Bill offered to carry him. He found a wicker market basket in basement and put a blanket in it. George found that he could sit in the basket and look out from about the level of Bill's knees. This was an improvement over the lease, however they took the lease along in the basket. It also solved the dog problem. George was free to jump out and climb if the need arose, and Bill didn't have to follow. The lease was put in the basket, and so they proceeded to the center for the visually impaired.
The people at the center had wondered why Bill had not showed up for his lesson for using the cane the previous day, but were glad to see him and impressed with the significant improvements in his ability. He explained that the bruise on his forehead was due to his practice alone and said that he had run into a telephone pole. He did not mention George and the dog, but remarked that he had brought George with him since the cat had been sick yesterday. That was why he had not come for the lesson. The cat still wasn't entirely well. That was why it was in the basket. He really didn't want to leave George alone. George thought Bill learned to lie well. Bill's lesson went very well. Hedemonstrated what he had found out about echos and whistling, and the folks at the center decided that he had learned more than they taught in the course for the recently blinded. Therewere no more lessons for Bill to learn.
Bill asked about the swimming pool and the response was that the trainer for the cane course was surprised that Bill knew it was there. Bill explained that he heard splashing and laughing children on the grounds of the blind center and thought that it must be a swimming pool. Of course it could be a wading pond, but the sounds suggested that someone might have been diving. Actually, George had spotted the pool and the activity on the way in and had made a comment about the human like for water. The trainer also explained that Bill was welcome in the pool during certain hours providing that he knew how to swim. Bill did swim and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Rather than the basic course on using the cane, Bill was promoted to a course for experienced people who wished to work on methods for getting around the city without assistance. It dealt with public transportation, and it had some nifty features such as a three dimensional map of the downtown area that one could feel. Bill was also enrolled in a beginner's braille class, told about the collection of recorded books in the library and asked if he wanted to take a computer course. He declined the computer course since he had used one for the last 2 decades of his working life, but he asked for assistance in outfitting the family computer with a talking device so that he could use it.
For a fleeting instant Bill felt guilty about using resources that should be reserved for those who had to put up with the misfortune of not having any vision. Then he realized that he was included in that definition. In the brief time that he had recieved the benefit of George's mental link, he had become accustomed to visual images as George saw them and had for the moment forgotten that he could not see.
It was evening. After dinner Bill and George were sitting in the backyard on the patio. Bill had set out a dish of cat food for the female tortoise shell and they were aware of her presence in the bushes near the fence. She came out of the bushes and approched the patio cautiously. She was evidently very hungry but trembling with fear. Bill thought, George, you have to do something for her. George responded, What? It isn't that way at all. If she had kittens she will defend them with her life and try to take mine if I am anywhere around. It is always been like that. Bill, thought. It is time to change that. Leave your hunting catches for her. If she is pregnant she can't have very good kittens without more food.
George was astonished. He thought, Why should I care about the kittens? It isn't the way it always is. Bill answered, because you are their father. Geofge thought, Maybe. It is true that I haven't seen many tom cats around here. It seems to be my territory. Just what does fatherhood mean for you humans? You seem to have very different ideas.
Bill responded, You take care of them until they are big enough to fend for themselves. Many times they take care of you if something happens. For instance, I'm blind, but my son provides a home for me. Bill thought, interesting, Perhaps I will give this thing a try if she doesn't catch up to me and claw me to death.
Bill asked, what way is it for you? Why should she claw you? George answered, Tom cats may kill kittens if they are not the father. We can sort of tell by the way they smell. If we succeed, the exmother comes back into heat and we get to mate. I take it you humans don't do that to get them back into heat. Bill responded, no they aren't seasonal. George commented, No wonder you are so preocupied. You seem to think of sex several times an hour even though you are an old man. One of my previous owners did too, but he was the one who thought I was in league with the devil and he always associated sex with sin. I thought it was part of his religious madness. What about you? You don't seem to think of religion much. Bill answered, I believe in it. It is just that it doesn't dominate my life.
There was a full moon. George climbed down the tree, caught a mouse and left it in the catfood dish on the patio. Then he climbed the tree and went back to the bedroom by the window. He sat on the sill and looked at the newspaper for Bill while the tortoise shell female timidly approached the food disk. Bill asked, aren't you going out to meet her? George replied, no she is not at all receptive. What you need is to seek human companionship and try to get over your grief, rather than developing interest in the sex life of a cat. Bill thought, I know that is right but I don't know anyone. George replied, Perhaps we can find someone soon. Bill was thinking. That is what I should do, but I didn't really want to admit it since somehow it seemed disloyal to my dead wife. Is conversation with George really a product of my imagination? George responded, We have already explored the question and you know there is no good answer.
As the summer wore on Bill and George became more accustomed to each other. There were fewer accidents such as the telephone pole incident. Bill became known around town as the excentric blind man who carried the big black cat in the basket. They went almost everywhere they could together. It is true that George watched rather than swimming with Bill in the pool at the blind center. Bill was in better physical shape from the swimmimg and walking he did.
Eventually, the tortoise shell had a litter of kittens but they were not like George. He thought, You see, I am not even the father. Bill asked, How can you tell? George replied, They don't smell at all like mine. Someone else is the father. I repeat, what you need is a human love life instead of worrying about mine.
One rainy day, Bill was walking towards the center for the blind. He had lengthened the handle on his umbrella and it was tied to the side of the basket that George rode in. His other hand was used for his cane. As he approached an intersection, George saw an older woman with a white cane get splashed by a bus going through a puddle. Bill said, "What you really need is a seeing-eye cat to avoid such difficulties." She turned around and started beating Bill with her cane, as she shouted, "I certainly don't see very well any more but I see enough to hit disrespectful people who make fun of me. As he stepped back the handle of the umbrella became dislodged and he tripped on it and ended up sitting in a puddle on the sidewalk. She hit him a few more times, muttered that it was bad enough to have poor vision, without ridiculous comments from the sighted, and then left and crossed the street. Bill sat in the puddle and began to laugh. George asked what was so funny. Bill could hardly stop laughing. It was ridiculous to him. His only intent had been pleasant conversation. George commented, You are bleeding. Where do you want to go to get patched up? Bill responded, "I think, the blind certer." Geroge said, "The vet is closer, and she is very nice, rather than like the woman who beat you." Bill replied, "You know that the vet is supposed to treat you and not me." George answered, "Maybe she will make an exception. She likes you." Bill replied, "Stop, She is young enough to be my daughter." George responded, "Very well, I didn't know that made a difference. I take it you want to meet someone who is at least your age." Bill replied, " There shouldn't be so much discrepancy between us so that it is difficult to talk because of lack of the same experiences." George asked, "How do you feel about older women?" Bill responded, "I don't know. I am 66 now and I haven't met any."
At the center, Bill told his story. The nurse was putting band-aides on his forehead and nose. She said, "That would be Mrs. Abernathy, the widow. She was just here with a story about some sighted wipersnapper as she put it, making fun of her because she got splashed by some sort of a vehicle. She obviously didn't know you were blind. In fact, I don't know how you knew she got splashed by a bus and that she had a vision problem. " Bill responded, "I heard the bus. I take them from time to time, and I've been splashed. I heard the cane too. The comment about the cat is quite real. He doesn't like water and gets agitated if I am close enough to get splashed." The nurse commented, It is amazing how you have learned to pick up information from your environment in the short time you have been blind. Would you like to meet Mrs. Abernathy and explain the situation?" Bill responded, "I think not. She didn't seem to have much sense of humor. I also suspect my cat doesn't like her." The nurse responded, "She is a rather fussy woman who doesn't like animals. Perhaps your cat senses that." George thought, You can bet I do. Billy boy, We will work on getting you a girl friend, but certainly not her.
One autumm evening, George and Bill were walking along the sidewalk that bordered the park, when a younger man approached and hit Bill on the head. He was temporarily stunned by the pain and he fell to his knees. George had deserted the basket in a hurry. He was hiding in the bushes. The man was going through Bill's pockets. He found a old fashioned pocket watch with no glass face, a credit card and some change.
Bill recovered from his pain and grabbed the man by the sleeve of his shirt. Just then a tiger came out of the park with a roar, and the man ran, leaving his shirt sleeve in Bill's possession. Bill lay where he was for some minutes and then slowly sat up. His head hurt, but he seemed to be okay otherwise. George was gone. He couldn't see and his cane did not seem to be within arms length. He sat for a while trying to think of where it could have fallen, and then began to try and find it in his immediate vicinity without getting up.
After about 20 minutes a vehicle stopped. A cop asked, Did you see a tiger? Bill replied, "No, I'm blind and someone mugged me. Who are you?" The voice replied, "I'm a policeman. You have lost your cane. It is over on the grass. How do you feel? There is a basket with a blanket here. I suppose you can not tell us much about who did it." Bill replied, "Not much, but I've got a piece of his clothing." He held up the sleeve. The cop said, "You may be in luck. We just picked up a guy with one sleeve who said he was being chased by a tiger. Maybe it is drugs or something like that. Do you know what you lost. Bill went through his pockets and replied. "I lost 3 dollars and 10 cents in change, a credit card with my name, William Wilson, a pocket watch without a glass cover on the face and a black house cat. The cop replied, The cat might be the one sitting over there in the bushes. George turned on the link to his vision. Bill noticed that his head was bleeding. He asked the policeman, "Is my head bleeding badly? The cop said, "Lets go to the emergeny ward. It needs stitches. Bill said, Come George. The cat left the bushes and came back to the basket. Bill picked up the basket, and let the policeman assist him to his feet and give him his cane. George had to wait in the car while Bill was stitched up. When he came out, the policeman had been in touch with his collegues. The man who said the tiger was chasing him, has 3 dollars and 10 cents in change, Bill's credit card and a watch without a glass cover. Bill was not seriously hurt but he accepted a ride home with the police. He was thinking,
"Tiger, Tiger burning bright.
In the forests of the night."George thought, "That is really lovely. Is there more? If so, could you recite the whole thing?" Bill could not. His head hurt. He thought, Ever since I retired, all I seem to do is get hit on the head. The poem is by William Blake. When I feel better, we will look it up.
It was winter and the first snow storm muffled the sound of Bill's whistling and the tap of his cane. He was truely dependant upon George. Bill was walking in an unfamiliar section of the city, when George insisted that they go to a small house because there was someone he wanted to see.
As they approached the door it opened. George thought, go in, We are expected. They entered into a room with a large fireplace. A woman who appeared to be in her early 60's was sitting beside the fire reading a newspaper. She looked up and said, Glad to see you George. You certainly took a long time. George responded, I had to be sure. At that point, Bill realized that the both voices were in his head. He thought, Who are you? The woman responded, George's owner, Victoria, the witch. Bill thought, He told me you were dead. Victoria responded, He lies a lot. I was hit by a jet plane and it is taking me a long time to heal. George's instructions were to find me some male company. Bill responded, But I'm blind. You don't mind if I'm blind? She responded, "Nobody is perfect." Do you mind if I am somewhat older than you are? Bill thought, You look younger. How old are you? The response was 105. Bill was thinking, so that is what he meant by an older woman. He asked, If the blindness isn't important, what did you tell George to look for? She responded, Ability to adapt to new situations. For instance, there is a full length mirror over there. Please look into it. Bill did and she said, "Dog, George." Bill noticed that a big black newfoundland dog with a seeing-eye dog harness was sitting by him. He was afraid of dogs, and yet the visual link was there and he knew that the dog was George. He thought, Wow! that is really good. We can go anywhere that they let seeing eye dogs go. George, You were the tiger. George turned into a 500 pound tiger wearing a seeing eye dog harness. Bill thought, too bad it isn't very practical. I like it, but people shoot tigers, because they are afraid of them. George responded, How about this, and turned into a pit bull in a seeing-eye dog harness. Bill thought, same problem. They have a bad reputation. Tell me George, Can you be anything you want to be? George responded, I don't know. I haven't tried a lot of things. Bill continued, Can you be partly something? George said, I never thought of it. What would you like? Bill responeded, I think I would like a seeing eye dog with color vision like a human. I would really prefer a cat but it isn't as practical as a dog at times. What about a cat with human color vision in the daytime, and cat vision at night? I have become accustomed to seeing in the dark. First George became the cat with color vision, and then the big black labrador with color vision. Bill thought it was nice. George thought, This hardly takes care of the mugger problem. Labradors have a pleasant disposition. Bill thought, the reason you got away with the tiger, was that the cops didn't think it could be real. How about something way out there that is scary and unbelievable. Bill noticed that he was looking down from a considerable height above his head and he was standing by a very big scaly green foot with claws. He tilted the mirror up and there was a dragon. He thought, Now that is really scary. I am sure it will do very well for the mugger problem, but I think it would be even better without the dog harness. Victoria, the witch was laughing. She said, You pass the adaptability test. Now let us have dinner and get acquainted.
Bill and Victoria got along very well and in time they realized that they loved each other. She was introduced to Bill's family, who approved of her, and in time they got married. Did they live happily ever after? Not really. Many but not all of the difficulties were evident from the start. One problem that Bill was never able to solve to his satisfaction, was whether or not he was sane. His experience with George and Victoria seemed too unlikely, and perhaps it was a fantasy. It seemed like too neat a solution to the problem of the loss of his sight. George with his existentialist views was no help in resolving this difficulty. In fact at times the cat was very annoying with comments such as. "I see, you think you are seeing things. Why is that a problem? it. Obviously, it is all in your mind." Fortunately however, most of the time Bill was too busy adapting to his new life to have time to think about this question.
George became an excellent seeing-eye dog when necessary, but was inclined to change into a black cat, and eat mice, birds and whatever else he could catch. While intellectually, Bill got used to this, and even partipated in the cat's satisfaction, in an emotional sense, there was always the moment when he was off guard and the result was the momentary nausea and consideralbe disgust. In general, George and Bill got along well, although George never became accustomed to Bill's like of swimming and bathing. As for Victoria she was somewhat unpredictable. She was a flighty individual who attended covens at all hours of the night, rather than staying home with Bill and George. This was particularly true, now that she had recovered fully from her collision with the jet. She had an enormous amount of experience in life and participated in all sorts of community affairs. There were times when Bill was exhausted from the effort of keeping up with her. Bill and George had to lead a very active social life since many of the events she attended were for couples. Bill became well known as Victoria's husband and George was well known as Bill's big black guide dog. Unfortuately, Victoria developed the habit of leaving the Saterday night witch's coven just in time to get Bill and George out of bed so that they could go to church with her. George had usually been out all night cating around, and complained bitterly about having to work like a dog on Sunday morning. Bill's thought about all the problems was that, although there were difficulties, his opinion was that he lived a more interesting and varied life than many of the retired people that he met.