The Strange Case of the Cat Who Ate Her Breakfast
By Kevin Callahan
The 6:00 AM alarm hadn’t yet begun it’s dutiful jangle when I rolled over and hit the off button. I’d been woken by the sound of the shower for as usual my wife was up ahead of me. I pulled on my sweats and pushed my feet into slippers then began the early morning stumble downstairs. I hobbled downward on aching joints not quite fully functional, moving more by habit than awareness. As I entered the kitchen I snapped on both switches and the world had light.
Bonnie, our 17-year old kitty heaved to her feet from her place in front of the heating vent below the kitchen sink. I leaned down to pet her head with an affectionate greeting. I got two sharps meows! in return. This translates directly to: feed me! now! Dutifully I scooped out a half can of food into her dish setting under the center island. Bonnie shoved her eager puss into her bowl paying me no more attention. Coffee had already perked as I had set the timer before going to bed last night. I poured the first cup for my wife and headed back up stairs to deliver what amounted to our “I love you” ritual.
We live in a large colonial style house. At the top of the stairs are the guest bedrooms. Bonnie has chosen the one at the top left for her personal room. There, she can sleep on top of the deco pillows and soak in the morning sun. I started down the long center hall that connects to the master bedroom. I was nearly at the end of the hallway when the image of Bonnie asleep on her pillows sprang into my consciousness. I handed the coffee to my wife and crept back to the guest room. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs.
There she was, I was confused and incredulous. I’d just fed her and here she was asleep on her pillow. Creeping into the room, eyes fixed on this apparition she didn’t seem to be breathing. Gingerly reaching out to feel if she was stiff from rigor I jumped when she raised her head in indignation and snorted at me. What? What? Happy she was still with us I scratched her head and left her sleeping on the bed.
Now I was seriously confused. I really needed my morning cup of coffee. I did another hobble back down the staircase, rounded the corner into the kitchen and looked into Bonnie’s food dish. Nearly all the food I’d put there a few minutes ago had been eaten. But by whom, or what?
