It takes two trips to load my car. It’s not that I have that much, it’s what I have in hand. Two cups. One cup of coffee for the road, and one flask of tea for when I get to school. Two drinks. Two trips. I leave the door open as I travel back and forth, and my cat watches.
Most days he sits at the door. Observing.
Some days he wanders out to the front step. Ready to return.
Yesterday, he moved out beyond the porch with purpose. Tail up, he stepped out to the garden path. Then he stopped. Frozen. His front right paw suspended. Ears forward. Step. Crouch. Step. Step-step. Slinking in hunter mode.
Curious, I followed. Was it a bird? I have seen him catch a bird in flight. I have seen feathers strewn about. I have seen his savage skill. As much as I hated this vicious side, part of me wanted to see him take charge and show his young nimble self.
I leaned over to look as a noise next door, stops him. He turns and darts towards the front door.
At the doorstep, he stops. Turns and looks back, as if to see if he’s being followed, and runs inside.
To my eyes there was nothing.
What is going through his mind?
Does he instinctively know his ability to gage a distance, to execute a leap is compromised?
Does he feel an aching in his joints?
Whatever the cause, I was glad that he had the good sense or instict to get inside. Safe. Out of the neighborhood antics.
As he sits in the doorway, looking out, I give him a good bye stroke and close the door.
I imagine him turning to a warm space to sleep. Waiting till I return.
To Read To Write To Be 
Part of me thinks your cat is docile and sweet. Part of me thinks is the cat is scary. Cars are co
placated.
Yikes! Sorry about those typos. No alcohol involved in the making of those errors, only dry fingertips and bad eyes!
I knew what you m and cans was pleased to see that l not the only person one !!
Such a lovely, poignant moment captured through your carefully crafted prose. I cannot imagine having a cat who could take a couple of steps onto the porch or even all the way outside and then come back inside! I don’t trust a single one of mine not to dash outside and run up a tree and have no clue how to get down or dart straight into the street.
He was that cat. I remember wishing he was that sleepy car that never wandered. I worried every time he escaped. Now, I worry that he’s getting old!
As a non-cat person (ask me about that one time, and please know I’ve tried), I worried about the teaser, but I always love your writing, and I loved this post. You have a way with details and imagined inner thinking of both people and animals around you. Good writing involves empathy– this is a great piece to teach into empathy and how writers think about and get in the heads of characters.
I love how you alway find the teacher in your comments. Thank you for bringing my thinking to teaching.
This reminded me of my cat. She was an outdoor cat and is so curious and still desperate to get outside. I never let her out, fearing she wouldn’t come back, and that it would be a death sentence because of cats and coyotes.
Cats are interesting creatures for sure. I have one who constantly craves attention. He’s currently hitting my face with his tail as I comment.
❤️❤️
If it was me, I would be balancing all of those drinks because inevitably I am running late. It was fun following the story of your cat. I think I need to write about cats.
Writing about cats is always a good idea!
Cats are marvellous creatures. They help bring us into the moment