The girl had been pouring her heart out to the cat for a week when her mother found out.
"Don't touch that useless beast, it has fleas!"
"No, he doesn't! And he's not useless, he'll find Daddy, he said!"
Her mother sighed. "Your Daddy is gone and won't come back, no matter how much you wish it. And cats can't understand what you say, let alone talk."
The girl took refuge in sullen silence, and her mother shooed the cat out of the window.
The small ginger tom met up with a bigger grey cat who had been waiting nearby. Instead of a greeting, he said, "My, humans are so silly. She didn't even think to ask me if I could talk."
"The girl believing your promises isn't exactly clever, either."
"Well, no." He stretched. "I have better things to do than chasing some guy. Nothing, for example."