As I sit down to write, struggling to keep Sage from batting at my pencil, sniffing the page, or trying to take a bite out of my lap top while Cinnamon lets out an angry meow, I realize I’ve got a source of inspiration right in from of me.
Cinnamon lets out another meow. She doesn’t like her brother’s tricks to get my attention. She wants me to pay attention to her and her alone. Everyone else can just hiss off. She only needs me. Well, Don can stay. Don sometimes feed her and has a comfortable lap. It’s good to have a spare human in case anything happens to me.
This infuriates Sage. I was his choice. Out of all the humans milling about the Humane Society in 2013, he picked me out, decided he wanted to go home with me. He was gracious enough, maybe even happy to have his sister tag along, only she had the nerve to steal me, his human. Now Cinnamon is stealing his boxes, his food, his place on Don’s mat, in Don’s office, and on Don’s lap. It’s not be tolerated.
We’ll conveniently ignore all the times Sage has stolen Cinnamon’s foot or her box. Sharing doesn’t seem to be a cat custom. Not for our cats. For Sage and Cinnamon, “share” translates as “mine”. “Thank you” means “more.” “Meow” is a catch phrase for “Me, now!” Hissing appears to be swearing.
All this feline terminology meets our attempts to cuddle, feed, spend time with our cats while trying to do our own work, leading cats chasing each other, head butting, and yowling.
Keeping the peace can be exhausting. I also have the perfect recipe for drama or comedy.
Watching my cats gives me ideas. Not just for fantastic or alien creatures, nor a feline presence in the story; but ideas for all sorts of characters. Tayel doesn’t like sharing Danyel any more than Cinnamon likes sharing me. I can’t say my cat entirely inspired that quality in my character, but she does give me ideas.
How about you, dear reader? Do you have cats in your life that inspire or distract you? Have you ever taken their distraction and turned it into inspiration?