Different
Iris was a big cat. Her tabby stripes folded over in rolls as Bridgette lugged her across the meeting room in the townhall. This was the perfect spot for a lecture, like the one's Bridgette had heard people from town give each other. The young girl stretched onto her toes to get Iris' back legs onto a chair.
"Iris, we need to talk about doors. There is a front and back."
Iris settled into the chair. This performance seemed entertaining enough.
"Iris, you look for the door knob and if you are at the front you push it against the door on the same side as the door knob . If you are at the back, you pull the door toward you. Then you can go through."
Iris started cleaning herself.
"Iris, are you listening? This is important. You can't go through the side of the door with the hinges."
Iris was not impressed and worked on the fur under her left forepaw.
"Iris, you need to stop getting stuck behind doors." Bridgette didn't know how to get through to the cat. The height her hands reached into the air reflected her exasperation with Iris.
The mayor leaned around the door to her office. "Bridgette, don't worry about Iris. She noticed a detail everyone else can't - or won't - see."
"What?" Bridgette was confused. Her hands dropped to her side.
The mayor had stepped back into her office. Bridgette could hear her mom telling her not bother the mayor while they were at work. But, she took a step toward the office anyway.
Iris meowed.
Bridgette assigned meaning to the meow and responded, "She spoke to me first."
Small feet tapped into the mayor's office followed by a thud from Iris jumping to the ground. "What did Iris see?"
The mayor had been looking out the window. Dust excited by the heat coming from the sun's light danced around the mayor. A few seconds passed, then the mayor turned to the door. "Let's look."
Iris slipped between Bridgette's legs and brushed firmly against each. Her purr rumbled all the way to the space behind the door.
The door had been open so the space behind it was small, squished up against the wall. Iris squeezed in and meowed. The mayors hand pulled the door a few more inches from the wall so both her and Bridgette could peer into the hidden realm.
"There." The mayor pointed to a dark knot in the door near the middle hinge. "Pull on that." She encouraged Bridgette to reach out.
Bridgette squealed when her finger passed into the knot. She pulled her hand back to her chest.
The mayor gripped the door tight with her left hand and reached over Bridgette with her right hand. Her hand trembled a bit as she hummed a song. Bridgette heard high pitched bells ringing and rubbed her ears, unsure about the sound. The mayor used the knot like a handle and slid the back of the door open.
Iris bounded into the tall, soft grass on the other side. Feathery seeds the size of an apple floated up into the air. Iris regained her composure and walked out between Bridgette's legs as if nothing special had happened.
The mayor slid the door back and returned to her desk. Bridgette's mom came into the meeting room at that moment.
"Bridgette, Bridgette," her mom called, then spotted Bridgette by the mayor's door. "Bridgette! What did we talk about?"
Her mom apologized to the mayor, and came around the back of Bridgette to guide her back to the kitchen. The mayor looked at Bridgette and with a smile gave her a task, "Bridgette, could you get the seeds out of Iris' hair, please."
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