I paused in the upstairs hallway and poked my head into the room where the human usually sleeps. She was out, snoring softly. Her heartrate was very slow and when I sniffed the air and caught her scent it smelled like she was dreaming. I wondered if she dreamt about me. I dream about her.
Deciding I was thirsty, I walked through her room to her bathroom where she keeps a dish of water for me. Glad to see it was freshly filled, I lowered my head to drink. For a minute, the only sound in the room was the sound of my tongue grabbing the water and pulling it to my mouth.
Then there was another sound.
The crinkle of a bit of plastic on the floor in the human’s room.
A gentle reminder of how we do things: 🐱🐶🐦
- Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul.
- Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community.
- Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs. Birds... are birds! Peeps are people.
- Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly.
- There are some pics we never post: snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals. These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated. If we alert you to it, please remember that we do have phobic peeps who react strongly to them. If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand. Or, paw
I paused my drinking and listened. The sound did not repeat right away, so I went back to lapping at the water. I kept one ear turned toward the bathroom door so I’d know right away if there were any shenanigans happening in my territory.
I froze, hearing something else.
It sounded like...claws on carpet. An excited, happy sound.
“Who’s there?” I demanded.
Silence.
I tiptoed into the bedroom, using all the stealth I could muster. I paused at the edge of the human’s bed, lifted my nose and sniffed the air.
Something.
Some scent that wasn’t here before.
“...hello?” I whispered.
A chill crept over my fur, making it rise. I shivered a little and crouched, my belly brushing the carpet beneath me.
Freddddddddieeee, a voice crooned.
My back arched and I hissed threateningly.
Jeez, she said, a little laugh in her voice. You’d think we never met before!
I dropped to the floor in relief. “Desi?” I asked. “Is that really you?”
A small, grey striped cat wound her way around the corner of the human bed. In the flesh, she said, her tail curled above her like smoke. She paused, thoughtfully. Well. Not really.
I ran to her and tried to rub against her, but my body passed through hers. It was cold.
I’m not here anymore, she explained. We can’t touch.
I shook my body as if shaking off water on my fur. “Brrrr!” I shivered.
She laughed, quietly. It’s nice to see you again, she said.
“What are you doing here? Are you back? Are you back for good?”
She looked a little sad as she said, No, not for good. Sometimes I like to visit the human and lie next to her while she sleeps.
“I don’t think she knows,” I said. “She would have said something.”
She doesn’t know, Desi said. I think it would make her more sad. Because I can’t be here except for short visits.
“That is sad,” I agreed.
Plus letting her see me is not really allowed. I’m not much of a rule follower, but some rules are truly unbreakable.
I sat and stared at her. One of the blinds covering the window above the human bed was caught on the sill and let in a sliver of moonlight that fell across the sleeping human and spilled onto the floor. It passed right through Desi as if she were no more than cold air.
She squinted at me. Are you taking good care of the human? she demanded. Her breath ruffled my whiskers like a winter wind.
“Oh, yes!” I said. “I sit on her and purr at her and make sure her food tastes good. It usually does,” I added.
You need to make her sleep more. She doesn’t sleep enough and when she does it’s —
“All at once!” I finished with her. “It’s so weird how they don’t sleep throughout the day!”
I never understood it and crossing the rainbow bridge didn’t provide any answers. She seemed annoyed by this.
She turned suddenly and leapt gracefully onto the bed. I followed after her.
The human shivered a little and burrowed deeper under her blankets. She murmured something unintelligible, then fell into a deeper sleep, snoring softly.
Desi watched her wistfully, then lay down and rested her head on her paws. I could make out the pattern on the comforter beneath her.
“I’ll keep her warm while you visit,” I said, quietly.
The human was sleeping on her side and had her arm out in front of her, as if inviting me to curl up in the curve of her elbow. I did just that, draping my chest and front legs over her bicep. She wrapped her arm around my body without waking.
Desi sighed, the sound contented and a little sad. Sleep good, Freddie, she said, her voice fading with every syllable.
I was already asleep.
Happy Caturday, Peeps! I thought the Autumn Equinox was a good time for a little ghost story. I know we’ve done it before, but you got any good ghost stories? We’d love to hear them!
