As Edna and Eva were leaving the plant, they stopped to talk with Otis, who was being kept on for a few weeks to close the building and dispose of the inventory.

"Do either of you girls want to take the cat?," he asked.

Neither Edna nor Eva was interested in having a pet, Edna protesting she was going on an extended vacation trip and Eva insisting she would be getting a new job soon, possibly with a long commute. They suggested he talk with the French girl. After all, she was the one who had tamed the cat.

Almost on cue, Elise arrived. She was a sweet girl, a bit young, and had come to the United States with the idea of being an au pair helper in the home. She had seen a movie about an Italian girl who had married an Iowa farmer and she wanted to live a while in the heartland. Unfortunately, nobody in the area needed -- or wanted -- an au pair, and she had had to take whatever job came her way. They welcomed her at the plant, and she helped Otis in the stockroom. He often enjoyed the way she talked and mispronounced the English words.

It was indeed Elise who had tamed the cat that had always lived in the storeroom and kept it free from mice. One day Elise had come upon the cat quietly watching a turtle that had crept in out of the cold, and she had named the cat for the man who had written the story about the tortoise and the hare. She said he had been reincarnated into the cat and was writing stories about all the animals, as well as the people who worked there. Nobody knew whether to take her seriously, but from that day forward they had all treated the cat differently. Elise had embroidered the name of the storyteller onto a flea collar for the pet. It read "Esope" which was the way they spelled Aesop in French.

"You'd better take your cat," Otis said to Elise, "Nobody else will."

"I don't think he would come with me," she said sadly. "He prefers to stay here."

Perhaps she was right. The cat was sleeping in the sunshine in his favorite spot. The French girl went over to him and stroked him. He didn't even open his eyes.

" Esope," said Elise , "stays here and rests himself." Then, as she often did, she repeated it in French.

"_  _  _  _  _     _  _  _  _  _     _  _  _     _  _    _  _    _  _  _  _  _  _."

(5 letters, 5 letters, 3 letters, 2 letters, 2 letters, 6 letters) (In French)

Copyright 1998 J.J. Schnebel
All rights reserved

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