(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Caturday Pootie Diary: The other wrong side of the door [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-05 I was reclined on the couch, watching television and scrolling on my phone. Feeling fully recovered from my Covid infection, I was doing my best to rest, hoping to avoid any kind of relapse or long Covid. I always thought it would be wonderful to do nothing for an extended period of time. It turns out to be really difficult. I saw his tail first. Up in the air, the tip curved in a graceful curl, I watched it as he rounded around the end of the couch and towards my legs. “There’s the boy!” I said, happily. “There’s my kitty!” The tail paused. “You’re still here,” he said, deadpan. A gentle reminder of how we do things: 🐱🐶🐦 Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul. Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community. Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs. Birds... are birds! Peeps are people. Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly. There are some pics we never post: snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals. These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated. If we alert you to it, please remember that we do have phobic peeps who react strongly to them. If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand. Or, paw “I’m technically on vacation,” I explained. “It got started a little early because I got sick.” “When you cruelly kept me out of the room where you sleep,” he said. I sighed. “I had to,” I reminded him. “I didn’t want you to get sick.” “Why are you still here?” he wondered. “I’ll be here another few days, then things will go back to normal.” “To the routine,” he clarified. I rolled my eyes. “Yes, to the routine. I’ll go to work and you’ll stay here.” “That’s good,” he said, then continued on his way. I patted the couch next to me. “Let’s cuddle,” I offered. He walked right past me as if I hadn’t spoken. “You’re really that sick of me being home?” I asked, watching him climb into his perch. He circled, once, then dropped down onto his side, his limbs tucked close to his body and his tail wrapped elegantly around himself. “I like when you’re home,” he said, finally. “But sometimes I don’t want anything to do with you.” I dozed for a while, more from boredom than from drowsiness. The television droned in the background, lulling me a deeper sleep. Gradually, the sound faded out altogether as I drifted off. The ticklish feeling of whiskers brushing my cheek startled me awake. “Hey, little guy,” I croaked, holding still while he finished smelling my face. Satisfied, he settled down against my hip, in perfect proximity for me to stroke his fur. Which I immediately did. “We’re friends again?” I asked him. “We’re always friends. But sometimes I need space.” I nodded. That made sense to an introvert. Freddie stood suddenly and arched his back in a delicious kitty stretch (“Gooooood streeeeeeetch”), then stepped over my thigh to settle on the footrest between my knees. I moved my legs to give him room. He made himself comfortable as only a cat can, his head resting on my right ankle. “I’m glad you aren’t afraid to use me as a bed,” I said. “Good bed,” he murmured, already half asleep. “So it’s a good thing I’m home right now?” “I have lots of beds.” “Yeah, you do.” “I like being home with you,” I said, gently petting his tail. “Stop touching my tail,” he said. “Just a few days ago you couldn’t wait to see me,” I reminded him. “You cried outside my door.” His head lifted from my ankle and he regarded me sleepily. “There’s a certain amount of your attention I want, and that was too little.” “I can give you all the attention now, before I have to return to work.” “That is too much,” he said, standing suddenly and jumping gracefully over my leg to the floor. I shifted, trying to get comfortable and jealous of the ease with with Freddie does it. It was no use. I had spent way too much time on the couch since my “vacation” started. I stood and stretched my sore muscles as best I could. I decided to find Freddie and see what he was up to. It didn’t take long. He had settled in a patch of sunlight on the floor in the next room. I bent down to give his exposed belly a rub. “Do you really have nowhere to go?” he asked without opening his eyes. “I can’t go anywhere yet,” I told him. “I’m all yours!” He growled. I scooped him up and held him against my chest. He immediately went completely limp. “Unhand me, human,” he said. “No,” I said, carrying him back to the couch that would surely carry the imprint of my body until the day it was destroyed. I lowered myself carefully to my seat, trying not to jostle Freddie too much lest he scratch me. Once I was settled, I lowered him to the seat next to me, keeping my arms around him. “If I let you go, will you stay?” I asked. “No,” he said. “Please?” No answer. I slowly released him, trying to gently encourage him to find his comfort in that spot. As soon as my arms were loose enough, he pushed his way out of them and jumped to the floor. “You’re going to miss me when I go back to work,” I warned him. “That will be nice,” he responded. I watched the progress of his raised tail as he walked away. Happy Caturday, Peeps! We are pretty much back to normal here, just waiting out the end of a not great vacation. Although it’s never bad when I get to hang out with Freddie and all of you. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/5/2185350/-Caturday-Pootie-Diary-The-other-wrong-side-of-the-door Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/