While I'm Gone

Over the winter when I have come home after my day's work, I began to notice that some things in the house are not quite the same. At first it was nothing major - books or various items were slightly ajar. Or perhaps there was a crease in the bed that had not been there when I made. Or the carpet beside my bed ruffled, and not lying as flat as when I left.

Nothing too extreme.

The only moving object in the house when I'm gone is Julia. I could not even imagine that it was her because this is the way I left her in the morning and this is the way I found her when I came home:


















As you can see, Julia has a new bed. She has adapted quite well to lying in a rectangle shape rather than a circle. And the bed that Danica knit for her fits quite well inside the basket; it too has shape shifted from a circle. At first Julia didn't like the new sleeping area, and spent her time sitting beside it. I had a little conversation with her about the investment, and then she decided not to waste hard-earned money.

She appears to be spending a good deal of time in her new bed. Well, except for the running around the apartment during the middle of the night. We still haven't come to an agreement on that one.

But now I am wondering if the day time scene is a ploy.

I have more evidence.

Besides the shifts of items in my house, I noticed other things. When I was washing the table one day, I moved to the other side where the light reflected. On the shiny surface, I saw a perfect cat-size paw print. That was definitely an agreement that we worked through... allegedly. Since she doesn't climb on the table when I am home, it must have happened when I was gone. Then I started putting all the pieces together. The sleeping pose... was staged.

But then, there was a shift. I noticed that she wasn't trying quite so hard.

One day, I came home a bit early and happened upon this:

















the new ribbon I had brought home the day before. Every single bit of it. Nothing left for the present. Nada. And does this look like a cat who is sorry? Exactly my point.

I have other suspicions. Anybody got a hidden camera?