The cat was sound asleep on his pillow. At least, he looked sound asleep. We all know cats never really sleep, unless it's the sleep of healing after a terrible fight and even then it's questionable how much asleep they really are.2
Everyday the mouse watched the cat sleep on his pillow, waiting for a safe moment to pass on his way to the goodies waiting for him and his family. At first cautious, since mice know all too well cats are deadly in every other way but asleep, but in the long run he got more confident and even composed a little song he sarcastically sang daily for Mr. Alicat: 'Lazy, fat, old cat, patron of this house. You're nothing but a brat and you'll never catch this mouse!'3
However, Mr. Alicat lazily opened an eye one day and whispered: 'Soon Mickey, soon.' Of course this put Mickey into a state of the highest alert, but since nothing other happened then Mr. Alicat opening one eye daily and whispering 'Soon', Mickey felt most confident after a couple of weeks and continued his daily routine, singing even a bit louder than before... 'you'll never catch this mouse.' He even added a line: 'You're nothing but a loon, you'll never catch me soon!'4
As could be expected, Mr. Alicat struck unexpectedly one unfortunate day and held Mickey, swinging upside down by his tail, between his sharp claws. Mickey, being utterly surprised by the attack after all this time, and even more by still being alive, couldn't think of anything else to say then: 'But you didn't catch me soon!', to which Mr. Alicat replied: 'My soon is always much sooner then you hoped for and to others undoubtedly never soon enough. Remember... one word may mean one thing to one person, but something totally different to an other!' and then he let him go, because it's always much nicer to read a story with a happy end.
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