A Riddle

"What is the difference between a pussy cat and a sentence?" A charming older woman asked me this question the other day. We were alone in the store and she had just wandered in. I had to admit that I didn't know. "Well," she told me, "A sentence has pauses at the end of its clauses - and a pussycat has clawses at the end of its pawses!" That made me smile; I love word play, and I also was taken with the use of the old fashioned "pussycat", a word rarely heard these days outside of "The Owl and the Pussycat." She then continued her way around the store, eventually coming back up to purchase a book and a flower pen. Just before she left, I thanked her for the riddle, saying I would be sure to remember it. She smiled, took her bag, looked at me, said "Meow!" and left. Delightful!