There's so much bad news in the world, I thought I'd share this small true story.

Laet night I had a terrible nightmare. I was a girl again, and there was a strange man, murderer, in my basement. I was standing by the basement door, trying to scream to my father for help, but my screams were thin and strangled. My heart pounded in terror. I tried again, and only tiny sounds came out.

After my third attempt, I felt a little triangular touch on my cheek. It was my cat. She had heard my little screams, and she had come up to touch noses the way cats do with one another. She woke me from the nightmare, and I have never been so grateful to be touched by a pet before.

"Good kitty," I murmured, and went back to sleep, this time sans nightmares.