Gasket's Ball - A Christmas Story Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Gasket discovered that at
Stocking Opening Time
Around the Christmas tree,
There was something for everyone,
Cats and dog included.

A special stocking
Was always hung on the mantle
And sure enough come morning,
It would be filled with treats and toys.
At first the children delighted
In opening their stocking gifts,
But after a time,
It became obvious
That the cats were not to be denied
The pleasure of discovering
What Santa had brought.

Typically there would be
One or more cans of tuna fish and sardines -
As it turned out,
The cats really didn't care for these
No matter how high
They would be piled on their plate
(Only to be discarded to make way
For the more traditional treats from the table.)
No it was that
As the crinkling of paper continued
And toys emerged from the wrap,
The cats could not keep away
From the activity and would gather about.

One favorite toy that is cheap,
And fun to play with
Is the rubber paddle ball.
A tennis racket shaped plywood paddle
To which is stapled a length of rubber band
And affixed to the rubber band's other end
Is a rubber ball,
Not much bigger in diameter than your thumb,
Makes up the toy.

Anyone can play with it,
And as one becomes expert
Can make the ball
Do some amazing bounces.
Of course the action of a ball
Can't be ignored by a cat
And they watched one particular ball
As it was bounced harder and harder, until –
The ball became unattached
From the rubber band.

As if planned all along,
Gasket sprang into action
And as the ball
Cascaded through the living room
And into the hallway,
She was in hot pursuit.
And, catch it she did.

What happened next
Was worth retelling.
Having caught up with the ball,
She grasp it in her mouth
And carried it around the room.
Then, for some reason
Known only to her,
She took it up the flight of stairs
Between the first and second floor.

On the second floor
We could hear her
Talking to the ball
And from time to time would hear her
Bounding down the hall
Pursuing the ball
And then there would be silence.
Followed by her admonishing the ball again
Before releasing it for another merry chase.

This continued for some time
Until perhaps by chance,
The ball escaped
By bouncing back down the stairs
Into the living room area.
In hot pursuit,
Came Gasket,
Scratching out a quick turn
On the hardwood stair treads
As she attempted to catch up
With the bounding ball.
Of course, the ball had the advantage
Of gravity and Gasket had the disadvantage
Of poor traction
But catch up with it she did.

Now with the ball
Finally in her possession,
She picked it up,
Not unlike a mother cat
Picks up a kitten,
And returned to the second floor.
But this time,
Rather than chasing the ball down the hall,
She instead released it
Back down the stairs and
Came in a rush after it.
Again it was captured and
Again she returned to the second floor,
But all then was silent.

What had happened to the ball?
Had she lost it?
Perhaps it was under some piece of furniture?
Or maybe she had grown tired of the game?

From the back of the house
Where the stairs go
From the second to the third floor,
Came a crash!
She had taken her ball
To the third floor and
Released it down the straight flight of stairs
Between the two floors.
While the front stairs
Had a landing half way down,
The back stairs did not.
So when she released her ball
On the third floor,
It had a straight run down the stairs
As did she.
But, at the base of the stairs,
There stands a wall
And a sharp right hand turn.
Poor Gasket's ball
Made the turn in good fashion,
But she did not and
That was the crash
As all ten pounds or so of
Animated cat reached the turn.

Again silence.
Then we heard her
Admonishing the ball
For having played a trick on her.
She spoke at some length to it.
And, then she released it
Down the front stairs
To continue the game.

Finally, Gasket lost the ball and
So the game was over.
The house returned to a semblance of normalcy
And with the passing of the season,
The stockings and tree trimmings
Were put away for another year.
However, as luck would have it,
Gasket's ball was found
So it was packed with the other treasures,
To await the next Christmas time.

Perhaps this would have gone unwritten and
Forgotten except the following Christmas
As stockings and gifts were unwrapped,
There in the cat's stocking
Was Gasket's rubber ball.
It was rolled across the floor
And while the other cats just watched,
Gasket pounced upon it and
Quick as a wink,
Was off to the second floor with it.
Soon we heard her
In active conversation with the ball,
You can use your imagination
As to what must have been said,
But in short order,
The ball was released from captivity
And came bouncing down the stairs -
Gasket in pursuit.

It was Gasket's Ball!