When a 3-legged black cat crosses your path...

As I left school after a particularly draining day today, I noticed 3-legged black cat hobbling around the school parking lot. It kind of broke my heart a little bit, seeing it hobble, and when I crouched down, it purred loudly and, eventually, came up to me. It was well-fed and obviously cared for, but I doubted that it could survive hobbling around the street like it was for very long. I thought it had run away, and began to think about taking it home and, at the very least, placing an ad on Craig's List to see if anyone had lost such a distinctive cat, or, at the most, adopting it. I don't want three cats (specifically, I don't want to be a guy with three cats... I have my current beloved Tobey, who I've had for nearly a decade now, and took on a friend's cat about a year ago after allergy and dog co-mingling problems), but maybe one without that extra leg wouldn't take up as much room.

So I tried to pick it up and it bit me. Just a little nip on the arm, didn't break the skin. I guess that cat didn't want to go home with me.

It was kind of a fitting end to what was an especially draining and, towards the end, annoying day. The student stuff is fine and envigorating, but it's the Up the Down Staircase stuff that starts to take a toll on my mind. A 3-legged black cat crossing my path and biting me when I tried to save it? A fitting em dash to the end of the day.