circular staircase

I am the dark in the shadow. I am footsteps running across the night. The yowl that heralds the midnight sun. I am mystery, untamed.

“No, no, Biscuits, shoo,” my human said.

Thwarted yet again, I regrouped to my command center below the kitchen table. The door of treasures slammed shut. Fortunately, patience is my middle name.

Unfortunately Not Known For is my first. I raced to the door to peer under the crack. Musky scents in a thousand hues toyed with my nostrils. I inhaled unknown fields of green and herds of beast. Unctuous and heady, the perfume of lanolin made me swoon. Desperate, my wild paw snaked under the door.

“Skedaddle, you little maniac. Last time I let you in while I was winding you knocked over my swift and tangled my hank.”

“Slander! You gluttonous sea hag. Spare me one ball of yarn. One itty bitty ball. You have so manyyy,” I protested in one contiguous meow.

I could hear her wheel of fascination taunting me. Then an inspiration pinged in my brain. I tiptoed away. What to knock over? I mused.

Wine glass, perennial favorite, but not quite right; keys on ceramic tiles. not spectacular enough; mantle clock, loud and unexpected excellent choice! I thought. With a bound I leapt on the mantle. Lightning fast, I weaved in and out of the fireplace bric a brac. I hip bumped the clock and raced back to the kitchen table.

Heart hammering, I waited for her ankles to walk past the kitchen.

“Biscuits so help me. What have you broken now?”

On Mercury’s wings I zipped into my human’s studio. I’m in. I’m dazzled by the fragrant baskets. No time to bask, I thought, grab and go go go. Jaws wide, I nabbed the largest wool ball I could manage. Faster than a mouse tail, I ran to my special hiding place. Any minute I could run into my treacherous human. In a single bound, I skirted the hallway and slid into the bedroom. I made a beeline for her closet.

Free at last, I bit my treasure with abandon. I am the footsteps streaking across the night. I shook my head in a fury of hand dyed, hand spun Merino. My inner puma unfurled.

“Biscuits, where are you?”

I am the dark in the shadows.

“Biscuits!”

Front claws out, piercing exquisite softness, my hind feet in disemboweling swipes, I yowled quietly behind the slippers..