Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
My footsteps pad against the cement staircase descending from Denison’s campus to downtown Granville. It’s a blissfully cool summer night, around 7 p.m. I’m headed into town to get my steps in, Rihanna and Lady Gaga blasting through my headphones.
That’s when I see it.
A white and black-spotted fur ball, plopped in the center of a dirt patch amid the grassy hill adjacent to Denison’s south quad steps.
I pause Rihanna, remove my headphones, and try the trick I saw on TikTok.
“Pspspspsp,” I whisper to the cat, feeling silly.
The cat stands up, stretches, and trots over to my spot on the stairs.
It worked!
I administer some head pats as the cat brushes against my legs and rolls over for belly rubs.
I lean over to check for a collar, but there isn’t one. Clearly, with its soft fur and friendly demeanor, this is someone’s pet – an outdoor cat.
I give the cat a goodbye tap on the head, and it hops across the cement staircase and disappears into the bushes.
I take my headphones from around my neck and plop them back on my head. I unpause Rihanna, and head down the rest of the stairs and into Granville.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.