gistfile1.txt

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/ A certain old cat had made his home in  \
| the alley behind Gabe's bar for some    |
| time, subsisting on scraps and          |
| occasional handouts from the bartender. |
| One evening, emboldened by hunger, the  |
| feline attempted to follow Gabe through |
| the back door. Regrettably, only the    |
| his body had made it through when the   |
| door slammed shut, severing the cat's   |
| tail at its base. This proved too much  |
| for the old creature, who looked sadly  |
| at Gabe and expired on the spot.        |
|                                         |
| Gabe put the carcass back out in the    |
| alley and went back to business. The    |
| mandatory closing time arrived and Gabe |
| was in the process of locking up after  |
| the last customers had gone.            |
| Approaching the back door he was        |
| startled to see an apparition of the    |
| old cat mournfully holding its severed  |
| tail out, silently pleading for Gabe to |
| put the tail back on its corpse so that |
| it could go on to the kitty afterworld  |
| complete.                               |
|                                         |
| Gabe shook his head sadly and said to   |
| the ghost, "I can't. You know the law   |
\ -- no retailing spirits after 2:00 AM." /
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