Wednesday Morning, 3 am/Simon and Garfunkel

Wednesday morning, 3 am. Charlotte is turning round and round on my pillow, finally draping her large frame over half of it, purring ferociously. Maybe she’s being affectionate. Maybe she’s attempting to muscle me out. Maybe she’s planning to suffocate me. Wednesday morning, 4 am. Festus is downstairs batting at the cat door, which is locked, knowing the noise will wake me up. Somehow he also knows I can’t yell at him, because I’ll wake Jen. I run down with the spray bottle. He’s nowhere in sight. He starts up again as soon as I go back to bed. Wednesday morning, 5 am. Bo is practicing his mouse-hunting skills, tossing some toy in the air and racing around the room after it. Occasionally it lands on the bed and he pounces on me instead. Wednesday morning, 8:30 am. I’m leaving for work, haggard-looking. All 3 cats are curled up in front of the fireplace, sleeping.