Gumpert, a grumpy old tabby cat with a deep purr that conveys his advancing years stands on the edge of the circle, flanked by a squirrel and an owl.

Two of the other neighbourhood cats sit across from him, closer to the warm glow of the street lamp.

‘Oh just you wait Dasher, it might be ok now but at some point you really do get tired of pretending…….

….It was fine before all of her other cats started to get old and die, but once I came along to replace one of them, she just stopped getting new cats in…….

…..She’d also gotten older and had stopped going out. Now I was all she had. All she has in fact. It’s exhausting. At my age, I don’t want to be there to comfort some lonely old lady, especially now it’s harder to hunt. I rely on her more for food’

Dasher stroked his relatively youthful whiskers

‘Hmm, yes a true Faustian bargain Gumpert’