A Pretty Important Job

A Squirrel came upon a Cat who was sitting on a fence post minding their own business. The Squirrel was curious what the Cat was up to and wasn't afraid about asking questions.

"Hey buddy," the Squirrel asked, "Whatcha doing up there?"

The Cat didn't reply. They simply looked down at the Squirrel and continued with their sitting.

"Can't you hear me?" The Squirrel asked again, "I said, whatcha doing up there?"

The Cat once again looked down at the Squirrel, this was going to be a problem. This was not the first time a passerby had asked this question of the Cat, but usually, after the Cat didn't answer the first time folks realized that was their cue to scram. The fact that the Squirrel wasn't picking up on this cue did not bode well for the Cat's concentration on what was a monumentally important task.

"I'm concentrating." The Cat replied, short, sweet, stern.

"Concentrating on what?" The Squirrel replied.

Good grief, thought the Cat. Why can't people just mind their own business? The truth was, the Cat was concentrating on one of the most important tasks in the world. A task that involves sitting around for long lengths of time for a very specific and very important reason.

"I'm on shift." The Cat answered, this time more curt, and direct.

Please let that be the end of this, hoped the Cat.

"For what?" The Squirrel asked again.

"Please leave me alone, I am working." The Cat said finally, revealing more information about what he was doing than they ever had before.

"Working on what?" The Squirrel asked.

Great googly-moogly how is this Squirrel not getting the hint? The Cat was really losing patience and concentration on his work, which was of the utmost importance not just for the Cat but for the entire Universe. The Cat couldn't believe how brazenly this Squirrel was putting the entire fabric of space-time at risk by engaging the Cat in conversation when they were on shift.

Then, suddenly the Cat stood up, stretched, and walked away from the fence and the Squirrel.

"Hey, where you going now?" The Squirrel called after the Cat.

Now that the Cat wasn't working on the most important thing in the universe they were a little more willing to chat and share information.

"I just got the signal that my shift is over, another Cat has sat down and taken over." The Cat answered.

The Squirrel still looked confused.

"Take over for what? You still haven't answered the question!" The Squirrel pleaded.

The Cat was finally truly fed up and snapped --

"Take over for keeping the universe from ripping apart at the seams. We each take shifts throughout the day! Sitting and strengthening the invisible wires that hold this whole universe together! So the next time you think it's cute to disturb a sitting cat maybe think about whether you want to be responsible for the END OF THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

The Squirrel was shocked. The Cat walked away, on break, till their next shift.