Me: Can I talk to you about something?
Nell: It’s too early.
Me: I couldn’t sleep.
Nell: It’s the first of the month, by the way. Time to share the link so people can buy us a cup of Earl Grey.
Me: Maybe we’ll win the lottery.
Nell: Maybe you just need to get on with it. You publish a story every day. Let people support your writing.
Me: It’s buymeacoffee.com/saramartin and thank you in advance.
Nell: Now, what did you want to talk about?
Me: I noticed you are luxuriating on The Soft Rug In Front Of The Fire while Harriet is sitting on the hard antislip mat we put down for you to jump onto next to the sofa.
Nell: Her choice.
Me: She looks rather miserable.
Nell: She messed up the yellow chair.
Me: She was probably making a nest with the blanket.
Nell: It looks dreadful and makes it impossible to jump onto safely.
Me: It does make it a little difficult.
Nell: Bad animals sit on hard mats.
Me: That’s a bit harsh. You could have told me and I would have straightened it out.
Nell: You didn’t though, did you?
Me: I’m going to do it.
Nell: Going isn’t doing.
Me: And Harriet isn’t bad. She just made a mistake.
Nell: One she hopefully won’t repeat.
Me: I hope you aren’t implying that only good animals lie on The Soft Rug In Front Of The Fire because you aren’t always good and neither is Dave and he’s always on there.
Nell: Nobody is entirely good or bad. We all have our moments. We just need to acknowledge them.
Me: I’ll remind you of that.
Nell: Are you going to straighten that blanket out now? Nobody can sit on the yellow chair.
Me: Yes. Sorry.
