Grendel and the Cream Separator
From the telling of Charley Noble
Father never liked cats, nor was he especially fond of Grendel, our newest little gray
kitten who was always getting into everything, usually something disgusting, and then
would try to climb into Father's lap.
As I remember it, we were all having breakfast in the farm kitchen, and Father
was pouring milk into the big milk separator in the corner of the room. Milk
separators are machines designed to magically transform milk into cream and
skim milk by centrifugal force, sort of like a particle accelerator. Ours was a
modern one run by electricity.
Anyway, Father flipped on the switch and sat down for breakfast, when one of
us noticed Grendel disappearing under the machine. Mother immediately got
down on all fours and tried to grab her tail; but she, the kitten, was already
climbing out of reach, amidst the grinding gears. Mother was about to pull
the plug to stop the machine, but was stopped by Father who was justifiably
concerned about ruining a morning's work for some rude little animal, and
besides he hadn't heard a single screech.
So we all continued eating our breakfast, with an occasional glance at the
machine, whirling out its cream and skim milk. Father was whistling a cheerful
tune, which I think was "Dunderbeck's Machine." When the machine had
completed its cycle, Father got out his screwdriver, removed the side cover
plate and there was Grendel siting in the drip pan, somewhat greasy but
none the worse for wear, still staring at the maze of gears.
From that day on, she was inseparable from her favorite hangout whenever
Father was processing the milk.
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