Nathan Alan Willoughby stretched on the red chenille bedspread. He just finished his mid-afternoon nap. It followed his early afternoon nap, which preceeded his noon nap, his late morning nap, his mid-morning nap, and his early morning nap.
Before his late afternoon nap, Nathan Alan Willoughby thought he'd play with the catnip mouse. The mouse was always easier to find than the ball with the bell in it. He liked the ball better, but he'd gotten lazy and often settled for the mouse instead.
He yawned and jumped off the bed, waking two of the four cats still napping. The yellow tabby opened one eye for a brief moment as Nathan Alan Willoughby landed with a solid thud on the wooden floor.
As Nathan Alan Willoughby lapped at the cool water in the bowl, he noticed the rough texture of it. It was hand made pottery. Perhaps it was worth a grade in art class, but now it was providing him with refreshing water. It did give the room a more homey feel, though Nathan Alan Willoughby knew only one home, for a brief time, when the little girl had taken him home for a night.
Looking up, the calico was hissing. Tau-tau was her name, and she seemed perpetually cranky. Nathan Alan Willoughby didn't know why any cat should complain when there was always food sitting around, and fresh water. He noticed that Tau-tau was hissing at the catnip mouse. She took it in her paws and tossed it in the air. When it landed, she pounced on it, then gave it a powerful swat with her tiny paws.
Nathan Alan Willoughby was impressed. She was small and lithe, but she managed to bat the mouse clear under the dresser of the Red Room. Tau-tau reached under the dresser but couldn't reach the catnip mouse. Great, if she couldn't reach it, then there was no chance he could. Nathan Alan Willoughby was, after all, a very large cat with very large paws. He looked around. All the balls were out of sight, probably with the other toys under one of the two dressers.
While it was nice to have a room like a home, it wasn't so nice to have the toys constantly getting lost. Was that what it was like in a real home? The best amusements enjoyed for a fleeting moment til knocked away, becoming unreachable? Certainly there was more to a home than that.
Nathan Alan Willoughby licked his paw and rubbed behind his ear. All that sleeping had made him dusty and his fur felt distinctly unkempt. He groomed for a while and wondered what he'd do next. As he turned to lick the hair on his back near his tail, he noticed he couldn't quite reach the center. He turned and tried to angle from the other side. Still, there was a small patch that remained elusive. What was the problem here? He looked down. His belly had grown after a month at the Westwood Rescue for Good Cats.
Going to the window, Nathan Alan Willoughby noticed that some of the other cats were also a bit flabby. As he watched the activity on the sidewalk below, he longed to be among them. While he was glad to have a warm room and plenty of food, he found the lack of activity very trying. Surely life included activity as attested to the people walking, carrying bags, and even jogging with those other four-legged pets, the dogs.
He stretched and looked back at the bed. Soon, he would settle down for another nap. But Nathan Alan Willoughby was not satisfied. He remembered the interesting things he found in dumpsters, running from people as they yelled at him, and chasing real mice at night. Mostly, though, he remembered the little girl who scratched him on the head, and sometimes pulled a string for him to chase. That's what he missed most. Surely he was not meant to just sit in a room and eat and sleep. However, solving that dilemma was too much for today. He'd have to sleep on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment