“Wanna grab a coffee?” She knew I did, so Ceci sidled up to my desk and tugged open the pocket on her skirt (yes, I know, pockets on a skirt: she installed them herself) and I hopped inside for the brief stride to the office kitchenette. She placed me among the sugar packets, because I’m so sweet, and I asked about her weekend as she examined what new issue had gone wrong with the Keurig.

She told me about shopping with her family, holidays coming up and such. Sounded like wrangling cats to me, and I told her so. She stared at me thoughtfully. “Where did that expression come from?”

“I think it’s just, you know, an evocative image. Someone tried to think of something very difficult and came up with that.”