Here, Kitty, Kitty!

I Guess I Can See Why

The slightly sweet smell of still-baking bread wafts through the air as the washcloth in my hand slides slowly across the island countertop, moving in small circles along its edges as I work my way inward. After sleeping through several of my alarms and devoting myself to baking everything that was needed to fill the display box I've finally made it to the last item on my to-do list for the morning, cleaning the kitchen and tables of any cat hair or germs that might have been left behind. The clock on the other side of the room only serves to get on my nerves as I find myself glancing over at it far too often to see how little time I have before I'll have to flip the open sign. A small part of me wants to delay having to work by just one more day and head back to bed, but I'm sure I'll just end up wanting to do the same thing tomorrow.

I take one last glance up at the clock before letting my gaze settle back on the island and realizing I've already reached the middle of it with the washcloth. I lift it up and give the area a quick once-over before tossing the cloth into the water bucket by my feet and bringing my slightly wet hand up to cover my mouth as I yawn. I look at the timer on the stove to see there are still a few minutes left till the bread is done and sigh before reaching down to pick up the bucket and walk over to the sink. I dump the water out and wring out the washcloth before putting it back in the empty bucket and heading to the closet to toss it inside.

I turn back to the stove as I shut the closet door behind me, taking a few steps forward till I hit the island and lean over it. I prop my head up on my fist as I watch the blinking red numbers slowly tick down, resigning myself to standing around and slowly watching the timer run out. After a minute I took a deep breath and lifted my head so I could fold my arm and lay my cheek against it, making me bend a bit further to be closer to the island. My breathing shallows out as I let my eyes slowly close, saying to myself that I'm only resting my eyes.

My eyes are barely closed for a minute before I start to hear something that catches my attention. My face scrunches up in confusion as I try to listen closer, noting that the sound isn't coming from the oven of the clock. It sounds muffled, making it hard to really concentrate on picking out what the sound might be. It's almost like... scratching. Like nails scratching continuously on something solid, maybe wood.

Intrigued, I open my eyes and straighten myself out before looking around. With my eyebrows drawn together I turn toward the back door and stare at it for a moment before walking forward. I crouch down in front of the door and lean forward to place my ear against it, listening as the scratching became louder the closer my ear got to the wood. I pull my head back and get to my feet, placing my hand on the doorknob before opening it the slightest bit to get a look at what could be scratching at my door so early in the morning.

The moment I have the door slightly cracked open something pushes into it enough to push themselves through the small space between the door and the wall, rubbing against my leg as it moves past me. I stand there stunned for a moment before looking down to see whatever just decided to make itself at home in my kitchen only to find a familiar short-tailed cat sniffing around my kitchen. I'm too busy watching the cat sniff around and carelessly jump onto my counters to stop what I can only assume are other cats from brushing past my leg on their way inside. By the time I tear my eyes away from one cat three more have appeared, causing my shoulders to drop and my mouth to open and let out a distressed "augh.".

The sound gets the attention of the fluffy black cat, my brain helpfully comes up with the name Baji, causing him to turn my way and meow rather harshly. I attempt to take a step back from the seemingly upset cat only for my foot to hit something and one of the cats to start hissing which is followed shortly by another, much louder, hiss from a different cat. I whip around and back away from the other cats, choosing to ignore the black cat in favor of keeping myself from being scratched by one or both of the other cats.