Furniture moved, routines disrupted, the world rearranged without his consent.
There is a flat plastic container that lives under the bed, in the dead zone past where my paw can reach without real commitment, and until this afternoon I had made my peace with not knowing exactly what was in it. I assumed dust. I assumed the particular nothing that collects in places nobody goes. … Read more
I came downstairs this morning to find my bowl had been replaced with an impostor, and nobody had thought to ask me first. The old bowl was deep and blue and had a small chip along the rim I’d long ago decided gave it character. It had been there, in that exact spot on the … Read more
There was a thread sticking up from the arm of the couch this afternoon, pale against the darker fabric, no longer than a whisker, and I want it understood that I did not go looking for it. It found me. I was simply walking the length of the cushion the way I always do, checking … Read more
I saw the towel before I saw anything else. It was on the counter, draped over something round, and I want it noted that my reaction was not an overreaction. That towel has a history. That towel has, on more than one occasion, meant the end of my claws as I know them, delivered via … Read more
A new plant appeared on the windowsill in the back room this afternoon, small and green with leaves shaped like little paddles, sitting in a plastic pot that still had a price sticker curling off one side. She carried it in from the car wrapped in a sheet of thin paper, unwrapped it at the … Read more
There is a new blanket on the bed and I would like it noted that nobody asked me. The old one is still around — I saw it folded over the arm of the reading chair earlier, demoted, looking thin and a little betrayed if a blanket can look like anything, which I’ve decided it … Read more
Something under the floor made a sound this morning that I have never heard before, and I want it on record that I did not simply ignore it. There was a clunk, low and mechanical, somewhere beneath the hallway, followed by a rushing hiss that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, and I did … Read more
A large flat box arrived on the porch this afternoon, thin as a cracker and much too big for its own good, and I want it noted for the record that I was consulted about none of it. Not the ordering, not the delivery, not the decision to drag it through the hallway leaving a … Read more
I want it on record that I was awake first. I am always awake first, technically, in the sense that I never fully stop being awake, but this morning I was awake in the specific, aggrieved way of someone who has been personally wronged before the sun has even finished coming up. The alarm went … Read more
She brought out the black bag on a Thursday evening, the crinkly kind that lives folded up under the sink next to the dustpan, and I want it noted for the record that I did not like the sound of it from the very first crinkle. That bag has never once, in my experience, contained … Read more
