At the company Christmas party, Victor and I were sitting next to Donna, the second most important person in the office (after Carmine, the owner). We'd started talking about animals, since Donna breeds and sells very expensive mastiffs from her New Jersey home.

"The Monday before Thanksgiving," I said, "Our next-door-neighbor Eve and I were both on the street collecting our garbage pails. Eve was walking up to this vegetable box in front of her house, and I was, too, because I'd put that box in my recycling bin, so what was it doing in front of her house?

"'What's this box ?' she said. 'I didn't put this box out!'

"'That's my box,' I told her. Then we both stopped talking: In a corner of the box, huddled together, shivering, were a black and white cat and a tabby cat. No lid.

"'Uh.' I said.

"'Who left cats here?' Eve said.

"I ran back to my house. 'I know who to call!' I said. 'I'll be right back!'

"Eve said, 'I'll watch them.'

"I came out with the phone. Eve was definitely keeping an eye on them, her head down. No one picked up at SICAW, the local animal welfare group, so I left a message: 'Someone dropped two cats in front of my house. No, actually, my neighbor's.' Eve said, in the background, 'It was a mistake. They meant your house.' This is true-Eve does dogs, birds, and refugees from Sierra Leone . Victor and I do cats. 'Please call me back as soon as possible.'

"Luckily we have a guest bedroom where we've probably hosted as many cats as people. So I covered the box with my jacket and carried them into the bedroom. Got a litter box. Got food and water. Closed the door and waited an hour. Checked the cats-okay, huddled in the farthest corner of the room under the bed. Called SICAW again. Sent email.

"A woman named Ellen eventually called back and told me to take the cats to the Bay Street Animal Hospital where SICAW has an account. Bay Street Animal Hospital tested them, vaccinated them, neutered them, and defleaed them (oh wonderful-fleas in the house again).

"We ended up fostering them-SICAW couldn't put them at PetSmart where they usually show cats for adoption because some disease was going around and they had to clean the cages first. And then, since I couldn't imagine Ezra and Mordecai sitting in those little wire cages looking up hopefully at everyone going by in the store, we decided to adopt them ourselves."

"Who would've left two cats on the street ? And why didn't they jump out of the box?" Donna asked.

"Dunno," I answered. "However, there had been a bag lady across the street looking for bottles earlier that day. She had a young, thin German shepherd with her on a leash. Although how or why she'd be walking around with a dog and two cats, I can't imagine. And then why did she leave them in front of our house?"

Victor said, "Our vet says there must be a sign out front that only cats and dogs can read-'kindhearted people here,' like the signs hobos used to draw on houses for other hobos."

I said, "We've even had animals bring other animals to our house. One Saturday, a stray we're friendly with brought another dog to our house. It was dragging a heavy 35-foot chain behind it-"

Donna's jaw had been dropping lower and lower as she listened, and finally she interrupted. "What kind of neighborhood do you live in? Stray dogs, abandoned cats, bag ladies ?"