Nobody Move!

I was enjoying a wonderful nap on the couch the other day. Through my foggy stupor I heard Patches, my cat, meow. Instinctively I put my hand out to pet her head, reassuring her that I was just sleeping and not dead. Suddenly my eyes shot wide open and without moving a muscle, so as not to startle anyone, I moved my eyes to encompass the loveseat next to me where Cleo was also napping. Cleo is my daughter’s bulldog! I noticed that Cleo’s eyes were as wide as mine, and she was holding perfectly still as well!

I don’t know if Patches suddenly sensed Cleo’s presence, or my eyes told a story that she read quickly as a mixture of fear and foreboding. Patches froze in her tracks and stopped meowing. Her eyes glanced up, for she stood directly beneath Cleo! Whatever happened next would largely depend on me.

There was no way I could out maneuver either one of them, so I opted for the only tool close at hand…my voice. Belying a calm I did not feel I gently said, “Nobody move. Everybody remain calm. Cleo stay.” That last part I repeated several times, as I watched her body tense in response to the crouched stance Patches instinctively took. 

Whatever happened was going to happen in the next few seconds. Cleo held the high ground and to her credit she followed orders and never moved, though I could tell she was fighting every muscle in her body to do it. “Good girl!” Though Patches is fully armed with claws that she is able, willing, and quite experienced in using, she decided the better part of valor was to cautiously retreat to the bedroom and slip under the bed. Again, “Good girl!” I don’t know about those two, but my heart was pounding. So much for my nap!