The fun started with an open window. But, I digress to let you know how he found the open window.
Marc-Luc was born in Paris and would die in Paris. Currently he was near the Seine River. He was on his way to where his ancestors were from – rue de la Cavalerie. Calvary Street. Not the Calvary of the cross but instead where centuries ago the stables for the military academy – l'école de militaire – were located.
Leaving the quays of the Seine River, Marc-Luc took in the sight of the Eiffel Tower with its towering glory of 324 meters. At one time it was the tallest building in the world. It is made of iron, not steel, hence the nickname of “The Iron Lady”. An interesting fact is that the iron framework weighs 7,300 tons while the paint that protects the structure weighs 60 tons!
From there Marc-Luc continued down the Champ de Mars - the field of Mars – named after the Roman God of war – where he stopped from time to time to admire the many flower beds along the borders of the park. He wasn’t particularly interested in the kind of flowers but instead was drawn to the vibrant colors – red, yellow, orange, white, pink, purple and combinations thereof. The park itself had lush dark green grass where families were gathered with picnic’s spread on blankets, some with an adult or child taking a nap and some with dogs that were giddy with delight at being outside their Parisian apartment. Soccer balls (“les foot balls” in French) skittered across makeshift football fields in between those lying on the grass enjoying the sun. Marc-Luc stopped a number of times during his quest down the Champ de Mars to enjoy the life unfolding before him.
Where the Eiffel Tower bordered the northern end of the Champ de Mars it is the l’Ecole de militaire that borders the southern end. This previous military school encompasses the entire square block and it is the back of the school that faces the park, the more beautiful ornate architecture is on the next street parallel. It was founded in 1750 by King Louis XV and Napoleon Bonaparte attended in 1784, at the age of 15, where he graduated after only one year instead of two. By the age of 24 he was a general.
Marc-Luc knew that at the intersection with the l’Ecole de militaire he needed to turn right and cross Avenue de Suffren to continue down Avenue de la Motte-Picquet to get to his destination. He was sidetracked at the Brasserie le Suffren on the corner as they had, as usual for this time of year, a large display of oysters which were calling his name. He stopped to check them out and take a taste or two. After a bit, he continued west on Avenue de la Motte-Picquet where many cafés are located so he crossed the street and perused one or two more. When he arrived at Brasserie Siempre he realized he’d also found the street he was looking for – rue de la Cavalerie – where he made a left.
To Marc-Lucs’ disappointment the street was not what he expected but instead was asphalt paved with clean sidewalks and sky high apartments on both sides of the street in a very calm neighborhood. He had longed for the no sidewalks and dirt or muddied street which one would carefully pick their way through of his ancestor’s years. But despite his disappointment he was happy to have found his ancestral home. He flew down the street buzzing up and down, back and forth. He literally flew and buzzed, as Marc-Luc was a fly.
About halfway down the street he saw an open window and decided to explore and find a place to rest for a while. Marc-Luc entered the apartment through the open window and landed immediately on the white see-through gauze curtain just inside the window sill. This allowed him to look further inside before he committed himself completely to enter.
The apartment was large for Paris apartments with an open living room / kitchen area. It was not necessarily neat but it was tidy – it looked lived in and not like a showroom. Next to the heater was a chair with a huge jaguar cat sitting upon it. Was this a zoo and not an apartment? Marc-Luc was just about to fly away when the jaguar cat locked eyes with him – piercing green eyes. Marc-Luc meet Molière - Molière meet Marc-Luc.
Molière thought he had heard a buzzing noise but was lying in his chair next to the heater dozing off and on so he at first ignored the sound. But as we all know, curiosity kills the cat and of all breeds of cats his is one of the most curious so he decided to investigate. But before we continue I must digress again, this time regarding Molière.
Molière is not a jaguar cat, nor is he necessarily huge – he weighs 6.2 kilos (13.67 pounds). He is from the Bengal Cat breed which is weird because he has spots like a jaguar, not stripes like a wild bengal cat – he gets them because although his breed is a domestic cat breed they come from the Asian Snow Leopard wild cat lineage, hence the spots.
Molière is also a flirt. He is the neighborhood character. Everyone in his apartment building knows him as he more often than not is sitting in the open window. People from neighboring streets know him – by name! He especially loves children and often when he hears a child’s voice he runs to the window so that he can talk to them. Sometimes he allows them to pet him but that is usually reserved for just a few of his admirers. He absolutely goes bonkers over Bobi – the ugliest, fattest Chihuahua dog ever to be seen but Molière loves him and his dad. They always stop by to say hello through the window where they bop noses (dog and cat) and scratches (dog dad and cat). It’s not unusual for people walking down the street for the first time and seeing Molière to take pictures of him. And now, Marc-Luc is at that window – well, just inside it on the gauze curtain trying to decide if he should enter further.
Molière continues to watch Marc-Luc but can’t decide if he’d rather go back to sleep. Since the intense gaze is scaled back Marc-Luc flies from the curtain into the apartment and lands on the wall – the white wall where he is standing out in contrast.
Now Molière is interested because that spot on the wall wasn’t there before so he decides he has to investigate. Molière walks about halfway through the living room and stops. His body becomes still. He doesn’t move a muscle. He becomes statuesque. Except … except for his quivering nose and mouth. And he chatters. He stays this way for a minute or two then pounces forward and leaps up the wall. Marc-Luc flies away and lands on another wall. Molière follows and the same scenario plays again. And again. And again.
They play hide and seek for what seems like hours, with Marc-Luc hiding and Molière seeking. There will be small periods of time when Molière is breathing heavily and has to rest but overall he enjoys playing with Marc-Luc.
As Marc-Luc takes off again, this time Molière is ready and jumps 4 feet vertically and bats him with his paw. Marc-Luc falls to the ground and Molière is immediately beside him. Looking at him. Marc-Luc lies there on his back and when his eyes focus again he sees a large, not round or oval but a combination of the two, moist pink thing hovering over him. When he sees one large green eye behind it he realizes it is Molière’s nose above him and he worries that his days are over – that maybe its snack time for Molière. Then suddenly the nose and eye are pulled back from directly over him and instead he now sees three light pink pads with fur around them coming towards him – Molière’s paw.
Molière swats at Marc-Luc giving him the nudge he needs to roll over from being on his back to being on his feet and he quickly flies away – with Molière in pursuit. The two are back to hide and seek.
Sometime later Marc-Luc notices that the sun is going down and it’s beginning to get dark outside. He realizes it’s time to say goodbye to his friend Molière. They were great company to each other but the time has come to go elsewhere. He has only 28 days to experience as much of life as possible so he lands on the gauze curtain remaining there until he knows Molière has seen him. Once again Molière body is still, statuesque, with his nose and mouth quivering. He is chatting to Marc-Luc thanking him for the games today, apologizing for potentially hurting him badly but glad that he recovered so well and wishing him the best in the time to come.
With that Marc-Luc exits the open window and takes one last buzz up and down, back and forth on the street of his ancestors then he turns the corner to begin his next adventure.
AUTHOR NOTE: The main character of this short story is fictional, any resemblances to any living or dead fly is purely coincidental. Whereas, the secondary character is true based on the author’s observations of the goofball with which she lives day in and day out. All geographic and historical references are real.
ORIGIN: How this came about ... I had a dream I was at a Toast Master meeting when I was challenged to give a 5 minute extemporaneous speech with the word FLY ... I dreamt the speech which I later wrote as this blog.
