When I answered the phone one Halloween, a man on the other end asked “Are you the one who’s lost a cat?” I had an orange cat named Sonny who liked to wander the neighborhood, and as he wore a collar with my phone number, I answered "Yes".
The man said: "You need to come down here and pick him up right now. This is the manager of the Del Mar Theater on Pacific Avenue”. I told him I'd be right over to pick him up.
“Okay”, he said, “where do you live?”
When I told him I lived on Elm Street, there was an odd pause before he said “just hurry”.
As it turns out, the Del Mar--a vintage theater with a free-standing ticket booth in front--was just admitting customers to the next show, so I understood why the manager wanted to be rid of the distraction, which was my cat. So I went right up to the ticket taker at the door, and asked where I could find Sonny. He pointed to the ticket booth, and sure enough there he was inside having a good time with all the activity. The cashier and the movie goers were amused at what was going on.
As I was leaving, I looked at the marquee, and I understood the awkward pause after I told the manager where I lived. The movie that was playing that Halloween Night was “Nightmare on Elm Street” !
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