I cut myself shaving.
My daughter just came inside.
She says a cat bit her.
I see a skunk in the yard.
Trying not to panic, I pick up the phone.
I pick up my daughter too.
Blood from my face gets in her hair.
On the second ring, my wife enters.
“Why are you on the phone?”
“I’m calling 9-1-1.”
“I saw her get bit. It was just the cat.”
“Ignoring the 9-1-1 operator, I hang up.”
Imagining the worst is new for me.
It didn’t start till we had her.
“Sorry hun,” I say to both my wife and daughter.
“Let me get this blood out of your hair.”
