*** "The Lion in the Garage" is a story exploring the collision between the ordinary and the absurd. A routine family favor—babysitting a cat. *** The Lion in the Garage by Harry Arabian Jack and his girlfriend Diana had planned a day-hike up Wachusett Mountain and needed one small favor before sunrise: could I babysit their cat? I agreed, with one condition—that the cat remain in the garage. Jack promised this would not be a problem. The cat was calm, he said. He would bring a tent-style enclosure, sufficient food and water for the day, and everything would be neatly contained. They arrived very early, well before my first cup of coffee had even occurred to me. The morning already felt unreliable, as though it had begun without consulting me. Half-asleep, I registered hurried footsteps, a muffled goodbye, and then the unmistakable whine of Jack’s Forester snow tires spinning as they departed into the darkness. I shuffled into the kitchen to start the coffee when anoth...