Mango Sounds the Alarm

Mango is a quiet cat. In seven years I have heard her meow maybe a dozen times. So when I heard a loud, frantic cry from upstairs one afternoon, I ran.

She was standing at the top of the stairs, fur on end, staring at the open gate. Our toddler, who was supposed to be napping, had climbed out of her crib and was about to walk toward the top step.

I scooped my daughter up. My heart was pounding so loudly that I could barely hear Mango, who was still talking to me, in a voice I had never heard.

We installed a better latch on the gate that night. We also raised the side of the crib. And we gave Mango a can of the good tuna and an extra long chin scratch.

I do not know if she understood what she was doing. I do know that she acted. I will never forget it. She was a hero that day, and she does not know it.