I feed my cats around 5:30am because that's usually when I get up to
go to work. On Sunday I wake up around 5:45, wonder why the cats
haven't woken me, and figure I'll put out the food. I stagger into the
bathroom, put out the food, and notice that only Espy and Nipsy have
shown up. Very weird. Marlo is usually the most insistent.

Missing a meal is almost never a good sign with a cat, so I go around
looking for her, getting worried enough to go check the first floor
and basement, and I'm starting to panic. Back in the bedroom, there is
Marlo staring at the (floor level) air conditioner, tail waving
frantically. Espy comes by and also takes a look. But Marlo is clearly
in good health and so I go back to bed, wondering what is to come.

Around 8 I wake up, and Marlo comes trotting out from under the
dresser with a tail dangling out of her mouth. Down goes the mouse,
which runs away, Marlo chasing. She picks it up again, and brings it
into the bathroom, where I pick it up (using a towel) and drop it into
a trashcan. I take it outside and liberate the (apparently healthy)
mouse.

Marlo forgives me for this blunder, but I really don't like to see the
poor things tortured. We rarely have a mouse come visit, and so I
forget that these adorable little creatures are finely tuned hunters.
I'm just glad that I'm bigger than they are.