Better than an Alarm Clock

Meet our neighbor's cat, RZA (Rizzo, Minou, Mouchie). She is better than an alarm clock because she is soft, furry, and only slightly less annoying. She would probably add that she deserves love and affection for bringing us live mice but thankfully she doesn't speak any sort of language that I can understand. This morning, K. woke up and left for work far earlier than she usually does because she was meeting a co-worker for breakfast. For me, this meant that I had to feign wakefulness just long enough for her to get out of bed and could then go back to sleep. RZA, whom K. let in after her shower, had other plans for me. After K. left, I turned to face the wall. RZA joined me on the bed, meowed in my ear, and stuck her cold nose against the back of my neck. I pushed her away and rolled over to face the door. RZA meowed in my face. I pushed her away. RZA sat in front of me and batted my arm. I pushed her away. We continued this for about five minutes before I gave up and staggered out of bed. She wanted some wet food. As I opened a new can of foul-smelling, mashed-up, rotting fish remnants, she wove between my legs and meowed frantically. Once her food bowl rested on the floor, she shifted all her attention on the food. I'd been upright too long to crawl back into bed. I was awake and I needed to pee. Damn cat. -Zh.