Catty Natured

You know how a cat is? The way it awakes, how its eyes open, for a moment not seeing anything, how it blinks slowly eyelids washing a mind of anything but satisfaction. Legs stiffen, stretching out, paws opening and closing as it arches its back. Lithe sinews ripple under a velvet pelt, its whole body a rubber band of pleasure. I used to wake like that - almost. This sleek, self-absorbed feline who owes me at least some cursory acknowledgment, just slinks away without a glance as I struggle to disentangle my creaking form from jumbled bed covers. It has prowled through the cat flap probably stalking garden sparrows by now. I make coffee once more vowing to get myself a dog - an old one.