Ann's awakening

Ann slapped the alarm off immediately. She had been awake for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. Bob grunted, slowly threw off the covers, and rolled out of bed. Ann rose, pulled on her slippers, and wrapped herself in her robe. She thought the fact that it was Friday should have made it easier to get going, but it didn’t.

She walked toward the kitchen, with a brief stop in the guest bathroom, and started preparing breakfast. Bob, a creature of habit, liked his eggs over easy with one slice of rye toast, some kind of fruit, and black coffee. Ann went through the motions thoughtlessly.

This was likely Bob’s last year of work. He didn’t seem to get much joy out of his job, but he held on because it was such a large part of his identity. Ann didn’t share that feeling. She had retired a couple of years earlier from her uninspiring position, since their retirement savings was sufficient. Since then, she tried to fill her time with various projects: sewing, knitting, painting, jigsaw puzzles, etc., but nothing seemed to stick.

Bob, dressed for work, retrieved the newspaper from the front walkway and sat down at his place. He spread the paper in front of him and donned his reading glasses. Ann put his breakfast in front of him, placing a fork next to his plate.

Bob glanced up. “Thanks, honey,” he said. Ann picked up her own breakfast and sat at the table. She grabbed the section of the paper containing the crossword puzzle and started filling it in. They ate in silence.

Bob finished the last of his food, gulped down his coffee, and stood. After putting his dishes in the dishwasher, he headed toward the bedroom. Emerging a few minutes later wearing his jacket, he grabbed his briefcase, walked over to Ann, and gave her a quick peck.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

“Have a nice day,” she replied.

As the front door shut, Ann looked up from the paper and stared straight ahead at nothing in particular, trying to figure out what she would do with her day. Nothing exciting came to mind. She cleaned up the table, walked back to the bedroom, and got dressed.

She decided to watch an episode or two of a show she had been streaming, and walked to the family room at the back of the house. As she entered the room, she froze. Outside of the sliding glass door were two small orange kittens, maybe a couple of weeks old, on the back stoop.

Moving in the clumsy, reckless way that young animals do, the kittens alternately climbed on each other and stared into the room. Catching sight of Ann, they appeared to be meowing at her. One of them pawed at the glass hopefully. As Ann stared at them, a smile grew on her face.

Ann knew she couldn’t let them in since Bob was severely allergic to animals. She walked to the door, slid it open, and stepped outside. The kittens rubbed against her ankles, meowing nonstop. Ann couldn’t recall seeing anything so cute in her entire life.

Their house backed up to a forested park that was known for ferrel cats; one of them must’ve given birth earlier in the spring and recently weaned these two. They looked healthy but were obviously hungry. Ann slipped back inside, blocking them from following her with her foot as she slid the door shut, and made her way to the kitchen.

She returned with two small bowls of whole milk. As she set them down, the kittens sniffed at them for a second or two and then began lapping the milk up, urgently. Eventually they sat down on their haunches as they continued working their tongues in and out. Ann sat on the edge of the stoop watching them, mesmerized. Her smile reached her eyes.

Watching these defenseless, adorable creatures awakened something inside her. She couldn’t quite place the feeling. Fascination? Adoration? A motherly instinct? Whatever it was, it was something she hadn’t experienced in a very long time -- maybe never – and it was a very enjoyable sensation.

Ann now knew how she was going to spend her day. The spring day was pleasantly balmy. The light breeze caressed her skin and the fragrance of new growth was in the air. She thought it would be a lovely day to be outside no matter what, and an even lovelier day to be outside with these cute creatures.

As they finished their milk, they fumbled around, eventually making their way over to Ann. She pet them gently, one with each hand, as they rubbed against her. She could both hear and feel their loud purring. They only meowed sporadically now and without the earlier desperation.

Ann went back into the house, returning with a blanket and a piece of yarn. Holding one side of the blanket, she tossed it away from her and let it cascade to the ground slowly in the shade of one of the evergreens. The kittens followed her, play-mauling each other along the way. As she sat, they stumbled onto her legs.

Holding one end of the yarn, she let the other end dangle onto the blanket. As the slight breeze moved it along the fabric, both kittens tried to snatch it with their front paws. Ann dragged it back and forth; the kittens pursued it. Occasionally one would plow into the other in its determination to snag the yarn, but the collisions didn’t seem to bother either of them. Ann felt like a child with a new toy.

Eventually the kittens grew tired of chasing the string and flopped down onto the blanket. Ann spent the remainder of the morning petting and holding them. As lunchtime grew near, she slowly stood and walked to the glass door. At first the kittens remained lying on the blanket, but as she reached the door, they popped up and scampered over to her as if summoned by an alarm.

Ann entered the house, again keeping them from following her, and prepared lunch. She decided on some tuna for the kittens and a sandwich for herself. Placing everything onto a large tray, she carried everything to the backyard, like a waiter in a restaurant.

She laid out the two plates of tuna and two bowls of milk onto the blanket. The kittens wasted no time in tucking into their food. Ann slowly ate her sandwich while watching them. Once they finished the tuna, they lapped up some of the milk and plopped down next to each other. The early afternoon had grown warm and Ann felt a bit sleepy herself. She laid on her side, pulling the kittens toward her. Ann felt … protective. Soon all three of them were napping under the tree.

After some time, Ann jerked awake. Judging by the angle of the sun, she deduced it was mid-afternoon. The two kittens were still sleeping, but had curled into slightly different positions, half on their sides. She envied their lack of concern about anything in the future, their carefree existence. Ann herself had an immediate concern: what to do with them.

Adopting them was out of the question because of Bob’s allergies. She briefly considered keeping them as outdoor cats, but dismissed that idea; she had recently watched a documentary about the various reasons cats should not be allowed to roam wild. That left only one option, one that she was not happy about but was resigned to do: call the local animal shelter and have them pick up the kittens. The thought deflated her.

Being careful to not wake the kittens, Ann went inside to call the shelter. She explained the situation and learned that they would be able to swing by and pick up the kittens in an hour or so. The person she talked to was reassuring, telling Ann that because of their young age, it was very likely that they would be adopted quickly. That made her feel somewhat better.

Realizing that her time with the kittens now had a definite time limit, she went back outside to join them. They were just waking and seemed excited to see her, scrambling off the blanket in her direction. As she watched them rub against her leg expectantly, she again experienced the pleasant emotions that had washed over her earlier in the day. As Ann’s smile widened, her eyes grew moist.

The rest of their time together passed too quickly. Eventually, Ann heard the doorbell ring and entered the house to let the shelter worker in. He was a nice young man who was clearly good with cats. He noticed Ann was distraught and did his best to comfort her, emphasizing that the kittens would have a happy life in their new home. His words did help somewhat, but she still felt the dread of impending loss.

After he left with the kittens, Ann spent some time sitting on the blanket and reminiscing about the day. Eventually she rose, put everything away, and began preparing dinner.

The rest of her day was like any other. Bob came home from work, they ate together, watched a mediocre movie on television, and went to bed.

Ann sharply felt the loss of the kittens and had difficulty falling asleep, but she eventually settled down. As she was on the verge of slumber, her eyes popped open as a thought hit her like a lightning bolt: she could volunteer at the animal shelter!

Envisioning regularly spending time with a room full of cute creatures, Ann drifted off to sleep, a relaxed expression on her face. She spent the night experiencing a series of pleasant dreams.