Rise & Shine

The black cat eased/sleazed/insinuated himself between me and my pillow, clawless paws kneading my shoulder and yellow eyes staring intently. There was hazy sunlight coming through the blinds and the sound of the early morning newscast in the background. The tabby, neatly tucked in behind my knees, woke and stretched and on the other pillow, the tuxedo cat yawned and then began a slow, firm, nudging for attention. The black dog was already awake and anxiously pacing beside the bed, I could hear her nails doing their morning rise and shine dance on the wood floor while the small brown dog, neatly surrounded by cats on all sides, began giving me a series of wake up ear kisses, hoping to hurry the process of breakfast and a trip outside. The remaining two black cats sat side by side in the doorway, meowing impatiently and poised to race for the kitchen the moment they were sure I was awake - the battle was lost before it had begun - and any sign of movement on my part would be the green light for the morning free for all. I surrendered but made my terms clear - it was Saturday, the first one I'd had off in months, and once they were all attended to, I warned them, I was going back to bed and expected to be left in peace. No hitting, no gymnastics on the bed, no chasing, no tantrums, I admonished them, No howling at the least sound from outside and absolutely no fighting.

There are days when I would cheerfully exchange my world for one of my cats - imagine a life consisting of sleeping and eating, free from responsibility and financial worries, car repair bills, alarm clocks and the IRS. Drama would be limited to deciding between canned food or dry, the worst crisis that could arise would be the lack of a clean sandbox. There would be a human to attend to my every whim and an enviable simplicity to living - no ethical dilemmas, no job demands, no attention to details, no unhealthy emotions to contend with.

What I needed, I decided as I crawled back under the covers, was a new perspective, a time out to reflect and reevaluate, to sort out priorities and make a new plan. I drifted back to sleep on this rare Saturday off, dreaming of salvation and sugar daddies.