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The Cat

Grayscale photo of a cat sharply silhouetted by the light from a distant window.
Photo by Gijs Coolen from Pexels

When I was younger, we had a sweet little indoor-only black cat that loved to go roll in the grass in the back yard. I liked her so much. She had this slipper that she loved to drag around like a security item, mom called it her kitten. Letting her out wasn't a big deal, because she stayed well to the center of the yard, enjoying the fresh air. If I left my door cracked at night she would come into my room after I was in bed, jump up, and curl into a ball by my feet.

Well, one day, she was in the back yard as had become her habit. the fence broke, and the dogs came over... well, you might guess how that ended.

We buried her in the front flowerbed, with that very slipper she loved so much.

A few years later, we've gotten more cats. I am going to bed. I peek around for cats, shut my door, turn off my light and climb into bed. I get settled, start to relax, and then I feel a cat jump up onto my bed and curl up by my feet. No big deal, really, Amy will sleep with me through the night, but the other three would wake me at about 3am, so I just need to figure out which cat it is. I reach down and there's no cat in the cat-shaped depression on my bed. So I think maybe it jumped down (even tho my senses are such that I would have felt it move, heard it hit the floor, etc)... I go and turn on the light and peek around. No cats.

Leaving, I close the door behind me, and count noses. Amy and Obie are sleeping on the couch. Bobbette is sleeping on a chair under the table. And Checkers is sleeping on a chair by the TV. Four noses. And my door is still shut.

I go back into my room, turn off the light, and climb into bed. And just as I start to fall asleep, I feel a cat jump up and curl into a ball by my feet...

This wasn't the last of her. About once or twice a week, after I'd settled in for the night, I'd feel Ebony - for I was certain that it was her - jump up onto my bed and go to sleep. But then I went away to college. And the dorms were dark and cold. And noisy. I was there for six months, gradually getting more exhausted.

Then one night, after I'd turned off the light and climbed into bed, I felt a cat jump up, and curl into a ball by my feet.

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