Prologue
Summary
- The narrator is adjusting to life in a quieter place after being used to the noise of the city, the scratching of a cat under her porch unsettling her.
- The narrator and her roommate Emmy, with whom she had recently moved to the valley, experienced a scare with mysterious night sounds; it turned out to be cats living under their house.
- Emmy, having lived in the wild and served in the Peace Corps, is used to the unfamiliar and rather enjoys the idea of living above a 'cat brothel'.
- The two considered installing cinder blocks to keep out the animals, though they never ended up doing it.
- The narrator often dreams of bigger creatures living under their house and remains a bit wary of the wilderness, especially after a fellow teacher mentioned seeing a bear.
- Despite expecting to enjoy the charm and calm of their new rural home, the narrator has days when she misses her city life and the excitement of her journalism career.