* * * * * _July 8, 1983_ I didn't tell him, still. He was mad because he had to pay to get Sup out of the pound. Bimmie salved his ears, they were torn, and put them in the basement. He said, Now! * * * * * _July 15, 1983_ Bimmie says to write every day. It's dull, them in the basement. They come up tomorrow. * * * * * _July 23, 1983_ Susta acts funnier than ever. She rubs my legs when I'm cooking. She keeps wetting her paws and rubbing her face. * * * * * _August 3, 1983_ Today I caught Susta sharpening her claws on the couch. I said, Bimmie, look at the crazy dog, thinks she's a cat. He frowned. He only has one pimple now, he's kind of handsome. I said, Isn't it cute? Bimmie went downstairs. I think he was worried. * * * * * _August 11, 1983_ Susta's getting big. I let her sleep with the baby. Bimmie says, Whoopee! It worked! I'm scared to tell him now. * * * * * _August 12, 1983_ Susta rubs my leg when she's hungry. Then she sits and switches her tail for a long time. * * * * * _August 17, 1983_ Susta meowed today. I was fixing dinner. She looked up and said, Meow. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Bimmie's afraid she'll have kittens. That isn't what he's trying to do. * * * * * _September 5, 1983_ Susta wanted to go down in the basement this afternoon. When I called her for supper she came up with her stomach flat. Bimmie and I went down. Susta ducked back in a hole in the wall. There's a sort of little cave. We said, They must be in there. We got a flash, and we could see little black balls. Bimmie couldn't reach them. Bimmie kept talking about how his experiment is going to revolutionize agriculture. * * * * * _September 6, 1983_ I can hear her meowing to them. We can see them with the flash. We can't tell anything yet. * * * * * _September 7, 1983_ He'll buy a typewriter but not a dryer! He's going to write a book about his experiment. He expects _me_ to type it. * * * * * _September 10, 1983_ She still won't bring them out. She purred today, rusty-like. Bimmie says, sometimes, It had to work. Other times he bites his nails. He gave me ten pages to type. I thought I'd better. * * * * * _September 13, 1983_ I went down to call Susta and I saw them. There were five, wobbling everywhere. They're the cutest fat things. I picked one up, and then I felt sick. He had a long nose and little rosebud ears and white feet. He looked like the dog next door. All of them do. They're all puppies. Nothing else, just puppies. I put them in a box, and took them upstairs. Bimmie's working tonight. I'll go to bed before he comes home.