Crazy Cat Lady

Our cat Titania, adorable and sweet as she can be, really freaks me out sometimes.

This usually happens in the middle of the night. Early on, she doesn't come to cuddle; she stays away until we're half asleep. Then she hops on the bed, walks up next to my back, and falls over into me as though she's lost all muscle control. Then we all fall asleep.

Things are fine for the first few hours, but usually, I wake up at some point in the night. Maybe it's a loud truck passing by; maybe it's a storm. After the disturbance has passed, I notice the kitty beside me, zonked out.

At least, I think she is. She's so still and so quiet that I start to get worried. She's never this motionless - she's a little terror, running from room to room, knocking over vases and eating plants and stealing my yarn. In my sleep-addled mind, there is no good reason for her to be like this. I lift one of her legs and it just plops down beside her.

And then I think that I've killed her.

Surely that's what happened. Did I roll over on her at some point? Was she too close to me and too asleep to notice as I came crashing down? I lift another limb or two. I poke her. I can't tell if she's breathing. Finally, I lift her up in the air and feel her react as I break the spell of sleep.

For a few minutes, I am utterly relieved.

Then she starts running back and forth across the bed.