Flow English Advanced: Lesson 12
Lost Cat
The owner of a missing cat is asking for help. “My baby has been missing for over a month now, and I want him back so badly,” said Ms. Brown, a 46-year-old woman. Ms. Brown lives by herself in a trailer park near Prairie Chapel, Texas. She said that Bullneck, her 4-year-old cat, didn’t come home for dinner more than a month ago. The next morning he didn’t appear for breakfast either. After Bullneck missed an extra-special lunch, she called the police.
When the policeman asked her to describe Bullneck, she told him that Bullneck had beautiful green eyes, had four nice white fangs, but was missing half of his left ear, was four years old, and dark grey in color. She then told the officer that Bullneck was about a foot high and had a very thick, muscular neck as well.
A bell went off. “Is Bullneck your child or your pet?” the officer suspiciously asked. “Well, he’s my cat, of course,” Ms. Brown replied. “Lady, you’re supposed to report missing PERSONS, not missing CATS,” said the irritated policeman. “Well, who can I report this to?” she asked. “You can’t. You have to ask around your neighborhood or put up flyers,” replied the officer.
Ms. Brown figured that a billboard would work a lot better than an 8”x11” piece of paper on a telephone pole. There was an empty billboard at the end of her street just off the highway. The billboard had a phone number on it. She called that number, and they told her they could blow up a picture of Bullneck (from Ms. Brown’s family album) and put it on the billboard for all to see.
“But how can people see it when they whiz by on the interstate?” she asked. “Oh, don’t worry, ma’am, they only whiz by between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. The rest of the day, the interstate is so full of commuters that no one moves.” They told her it would cost only $3,000 a month. So she took most of the money out of her savings account and rented the billboard for a month.
A month has passed, but Bullneck has not appeared. Because she has almost no money in savings, Ms. Brown called the local newspaper to see if anyone could help her rent the billboard for just one more month. She is waiting but, so far, no one has stepped forward.
Vocabulary
trailer park: place for people to live in trailers or mobile homes
fangs: long sharp teeth
in color: the color of, colored
as well: also
A bell went off: to get an idea or new thought
suspiciously: questioning, not trusting
you’re supposed to: you should, it’s better to
irritated: angry, unhappy
flyer/s: notices, notes
billboard: huge sign, advertisement
blow up: make bigger, enlarge a picture or image
for all: for everyone
whiz by: go quickly by, speed past something
interstate: big highway
savings account: bank account
so far: until now
stepped forward: agreed to help
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