The Cat in the Ceiling

The scratching starts at six in the morning, directly above Elsa's bed. It is slow and deliberate, like somebody drawing a long line with a fingernail. Then comes a thin, offended meow.

Suara garukan itu mulai pukul enam pagi, tepat di atas tempat tidur Elsa. Pelan dan disengaja, seperti seseorang menarik garis panjang dengan kuku. Lalu terdengar embik kucing yang tipis dan tersinggung.

By seven, she has worked out what has happened. The neighbor's gray cat, who has always sat on the shared balcony watching Elsa's plants with contempt, has found a gap behind the bathroom pipes. She has climbed into the space above the ceiling and, apparently, cannot find the way back.

Pukul tujuh, ia sudah menyimpulkan apa yang terjadi. Kucing abu-abu milik tetangga, yang selalu duduk di balkon bersama sambil menatap tanaman Elsa dengan sinis, menemukan celah di belakang pipa kamar mandi. Ia memanjat ke ruang di atas plafon dan, tampaknya, tidak bisa menemukan jalan kembali.

The neighbor arrives in slippers, close to tears. "She's never done anything like this," she says. "She's afraid of the vacuum cleaner."

Si tetangga datang dengan sandal rumah, nyaris menangis. "Dia tidak pernah melakukan hal seperti ini," katanya. "Dia takut pada penyedot debu."

Soon, the hallway fills with helpers nobody quite invited. A retired electrician from the second floor brings a ladder and an enormous flashlight. The man from the top floor brings a tin of tuna and the opinion that cats cannot resist it.

Segera, lorong dipenuhi para penolong yang tak benar-benar diundang. Seorang teknisi listrik pensiunan dari lantai dua membawa tangga dan senter raksasa. Pria dari lantai paling atas membawa sekaleng tuna dan pendapat bahwa kucing tidak bisa menolaknya.

They open the tuna in the bathroom and wave it under the access panel. The cat answers with a single, flat meow that sounds like a refusal. The electrician climbs the ladder and shines the light through the gap. "I can see her eyes," he reports. "She's looking at me like I owe her money."

Mereka membuka tuna itu di kamar mandi dan mengibas-ngibaskannya di bawah panel akses. Si kucing menjawab dengan satu embikan datar yang terdengar seperti penolakan. Sang teknisi menaiki tangga dan menyorotkan cahaya melalui celah. "Aku bisa melihat matanya," lapornya. "Dia memandangku seolah aku berutang uang padanya."

By ten o'clock, it has been decided that the panel is too small to reach through. "If I were you," the electrician says, "I'd cut a hole. The plaster is old, and it will take a clean patch." Elsa, who has never cut anything more serious than a birthday cake, finds herself holding a small saw.

Pukul sepuluh, diputuskan bahwa panel itu terlalu kecil untuk dijangkau. "Kalau aku jadi kamu," kata sang teknisi, "aku akan melubangi plafon. Plesterannya sudah tua, dan akan mudah ditambal dengan rapi." Elsa, yang belum pernah memotong apa pun yang lebih serius daripada kue ulang tahun, mendapati dirinya memegang sebuah gergaji kecil.

The hole is not neat. A cloud of white dust drifts down over the sink, the mirror, and all three neighbors. The cat, who has been following the noise, retreats deeper into the ceiling and goes silent.

Lubangnya tidak rapi. Segumpal debu putih melayang turun menimpa wastafel, cermin, dan ketiga tetangga itu. Si kucing, yang sedari tadi mengikuti suara, mundur lebih dalam ke dalam plafon dan diam.

"Well, that worked beautifully," the top-floor neighbor says, wiping plaster from his eyebrows.

"Wah, berhasil sekali," kata tetangga dari lantai atas sambil membersihkan plester dari alisnya.

They stand and look at the dark hole. Eventually, the owner sits down on the edge of the bathtub. The electrician starts a rambling story about a parrot he once rescued. Elsa makes a pot of coffee, because it seems wrong not to.

Mereka berdiri memandangi lubang yang gelap itu. Akhirnya, si pemilik duduk di tepi bak mandi. Sang teknisi mulai bercerita panjang lebar tentang seekor burung beo yang pernah ia selamatkan. Elsa menyeduh sepoci kopi, karena rasanya tidak pantas kalau tidak.

An hour later, they have stopped paying attention to the ceiling. The electrician is halfway through his second parrot story when something soft lands on the floor behind them.

Sejam kemudian, mereka sudah tidak lagi memperhatikan plafon. Sang teknisi sedang di tengah cerita beo keduanya ketika sesuatu yang lembut mendarat di lantai di belakang mereka.

The cat is covered in plaster dust, so that she looks like a ghost of herself. She does not look at the owner. She does not look at the tuna. She walks straight past all of them, climbs onto Elsa's sofa, and settles in the exact center of the cushion.

Kucing itu berlumur debu plester, sehingga tampak seperti hantu dirinya sendiri. Ia tidak memandang si pemilik. Ia tidak memandang tuna. Ia berjalan lurus melewati mereka semua, naik ke sofa Elsa, dan meringkuk tepat di tengah bantalnya.

"She hates your sofa," the owner says weakly.

"Dia benci sofamu," kata si pemilik dengan lemah.

"Apparently not," says Elsa.

"Ternyata tidak," kata Elsa.