Little bear and a play for sympathy

I have an upset stomach. Any further information is far in excess of what you need to know.

Evil cat was doing a dither. She was standing at the open gate leading to downstairs, considering her options when I had to visit the smallest room as a matter of urgency. No delay was possible, I just shut the gate and consoled myself that evil cat in the past had hidden effectively behind the television.

After the urgency had passed, I heard little bear wailing. As any mother of a toddler knows, there are cries that demand instant attention and cries that are merely aimed at getting instant attention. He sounded upset, but not in an urgent way. However I was concerned that he may have happened to evil cat so hurried down.

Evil cat, on the whole, is pretty tolerant of little bear. She does escape as quickly as possible generally but has been known to allow him to chase her as she moved round the room at a gentle trot instead of her usual tabby tornado. She has even been known to allow a tentative stroke under close supervision. When cornered in the past she has contented herself with crying.

I think this tolerance is wearing a little thin.

When I came down little bear was sitting in my chair looking very sorry for himself. A tabby blur had passed at high speed as I had opened the door to come down, which I had assumed was evil cat. Little bear held out his hand piteously. On his right hand thumb was a scratch at least half an inch long, barely visible but reddened from the contact. He started sobbing convincingly. I took him on my lap, kissed his hand and gave him a big cuddle. Calm returned remarkably quickly. I put the tv on and when a cat appeared little bear told me with some conviction, 'Scratch'.
'What were you doing when evil cat scratched you?' I asked. Little bear immediately burst into almost convincing tears. I was unimpressed.

When dear heart came home, I asked told him about evil cat. 'What were you doing when evil cat scratched you?' asked dear heart. Once again little bear burst into almost convincing tears. By now our sympathies were completely with evil cat.

I think I shall have to give evil cat extra tuna to make up for whatever he was up to.