March 19th

Weekend starts with the little kids upstairs howling like sirens instead of my alarms on my phone. 7:02 am. I open my eyes and ponder why they’re running around and why my hands ache again. They have a serious case of zoomies. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thumpthumbthumpthump, thump, thump.

I make coffee and counter noises. Well, I sneeze and that is totally involuntary. Thump, thump, thump, thump. A door slams upstairs. 

A coffee and a cigarette later I feel like a human again. My early morning dragon phase evolves to barely human more lizard being pondering how I shall proceed with the day. There will be breakfast if I don’t forget, as well as some basking in the sun. Maybe in-between I tidy up the patio. It looks disgusting, I know. I’m not the most orderly person. and I let the garden take care of itself. 

With a pillow, I sit outside the open patio door and sniff the air. It smells like a forest would. How wonderful! With my second coffee in hand, I stare out onto the quasi grassy mossy patch where cowslip, liverwort, violets, and crocuses bloom. Bees frequent the flowers busily. 

Through the thuja hedge, a calico cat strolls into the garden. It walks through most of the space to a sunny spot and plunks down. Its tail twitches contentedly and starts licking a paw. “That is the right idea,” I tell the cat. Its ear twitches as if swatting at my words.

“Don’t spoil it, human.” The cat looks at me with a warning. I nod and keep my mouth shut. After all, all creatures deserve a sweet sunny spot to be carefree, and the much deserved silence to be left alone.

I go inside to get myself a bagel with cream cheese and walk back out. The cat sits in front of the patio, peering inside. Huh, curious feline.It sniffs the air and curiously wraps its tail over the paws. I sit down again and listen to the sounds of the environment. There are doves cooing, a car blasts down the street, neighbors scream at their kids, some little birds sing in the hedges. The cat is purring.

The bagel is good, so being the polite person, I ask the cat if it wants to try a bit cream cheese. It’s lactose free, so it’s safe for the cat. Of course, the animal ignores me, or it ponders my proposal. Finally it comes closer sniffs and licks off the spread from my pinky.

“Revenge is rarely a bad idea,” it purrs. “Point of reasoning is the crucial part in every endeavour.” Then it lickt a paw and proceeded with cleaning itself. What the cat says is not random, and not false either. I should write that down somewhere. So treats get me feline wisdom! That is a nice turn of events.

“Thank you.” I tell it, but the cat is done talking and loses interest in my patio and me. I finish the bagel and go to jot down what the animal shared.

In the mirror in the hallway the shadow peers out curiously to see what I am up to.