“I’ve probably asked you about this before, but what’s the deal with the next door little dogs and the cats they live with?”

—. . .

“Did you hear what I asked you?”

—. . .

“Don’t like talking about the cats, do you?”

—Not particularly.

“What does Mikey say about the cats?”

—A bunch of crap, mostly. Let’s just say that living with cats has merely magnified and exacerbated his Little Dog Complex. He talks big, but my guess is that he doesn’t mess with them.

“Yeah, they’re bigger than he is anyway. And cats don’t need to be big: I saw a kitten claw a full-grown, half-Huskie mutt right on the nose once and that dog gave up the fight immediately.”

—Please, I’d rather not hear your tall tales about cats.

“Tall tales? Are you suggesting that my story isn’t factual?”

—A kitten vs. a full-grown dog? I don’t think so.

“You might not want to think so, but it’s true: happened in Alaska, in the late 60s.”

—Whatever . . . can we please stop talking about this? I’ve got a busy day ahead of me.

“Right: nap number one coming up.”