“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to cat. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of feline fears and the summit of feline knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call "The Twilight Zone.”
- Rod Serling, adapted by Chloe
Before construction on my bungalow began, the first floor contained four equal-sized rooms. The front half the house consisted of a living room to the left of the front door and a dining room to the right. The back half of the house consisted of a kitchen behind the dining room (a swinging door connects the two rooms) and another room behind the living room. In the past this room has been used as a nursery, a play room, a media room and a storage area. It would make a good bedroom, but it lacked a closet or a downstairs bathroom. At present, it functions as the downstairs study containing books and a desk where I store personal records.
The addition of a wing containing bathroom and closet adjacent to that room will allow it to function as a guest room. The back window in the downstairs study will convert to a door to the new wing. The study will migrate to the dining room, and the small dining room table and chairs will move to the back wall of the kitchen now that the big steam radiator that previously stood against that wall is gone.
Chloe and Annie reacted differently to the commencement of construction. Annie took the noise and visitors in stride, greeting construction workers and continuing her usual routine. “This is nothing compared to the noise and bustle of New York,” she seemed to say.
Chloe responded dramatically. She told everyone she was moving under the bed at least for the duration of construction, possibly for the rest of her life, coming out only at sunset, long after the workers left for the day and returning to her under-bed refuge for the night. Since the space beneath the bed was claimed by Annie for her domain, Chloe’s decision precipitated new territorial negotiations. Since these negotiations continued through the night, I felt like I was sleeping on top of an active volcano. Chloe’s decision to absent herself from the tumult during the day made her less aware the changes taking place in the house. While she hid, the downstairs addition was framed and roofed.
One evening at twilight, Chloe left her haven and tiptoed downstairs to greet me. I was in the old study, sorting and filing some receipts. She twined amiably around my legs; then froze in horror as her eyes grazed the back wall. Instead of a window, there was a gaping hole in the plaster. She looked at me, then the wall, then back at me in alarm. “A portal!” her astounded stare seemed to say. “A portal to the fifth dimension!”
I put down my filing and walked calmly to the back wall. Chloe followed cautiously, hiding behind my legs. When I reached the hole in the wall I said encouragingly, “Look, Chloe! There’s nothing to be afraid of!” I put my arm slowly through the hole and pulled it back, holding it near the floor so Chloe could examine it.
At first she scampered backwards, eyes wide. Then, very cautiously, she sniffed at the arm, keeping about ten inches distant, tail down, eyes narrowed. She approached slowly, sniffing intently. She looked up quizzically. “Portal dust?”
“Now watch this, Chloe!” I stepped over the lathe and rubble at the bottom of the wall and onto the plywood subfloor. Chloe gasped and ran to the far side of the room, crouching beneath a bookshelf. I stepped out of Chloe’s sight for a moment, and then reentered the old study. Joyously, she started toward me, but stopped suddenly at about two feet distant. She paced nervously, tail twitching, brow furrowed. “Can I approach? Is it safe?” she seemed to wonder. “Is it really her? Or is it only a clever replica, created by the portal creatures?”
She approached very slowly, stomach close to the floor, growling softly. Clearly she was ready to pounce should the apparition reveal itself to be the evil creation of the portal creatures. A few cautious sniffs assured her of my reality. She fell to her side, incapacitated with relief.
“Well, Chloe, now you see that there’s nothing to be afraid of,” I said, putting on my best cheerful and confident voice. “Let’s go into the new addition together.” I reached down to scoop her up and carry her with me into this new world, but she flew up the stairs and under the bed at warp speed. I followed and, sitting on the mattress, put a cat treat on the floor to lure her back out. There was the flash of a furry paw. The treat disappeared, followed by the sound of quiet crunching. Annie, sitting on top of the bed, ate a treat as well. “Silly cat,” she seemed to say, looking at me disdainfully. “The fifth dimension is small potatoes compared to the Big Apple.” She sighed and stretched out beside me companionably as I crawled under the covers with a book.
