Standing Sentinel

The world is a very dangerous place, filled with monsters both seen and unseen, all coiling at once to spring on you when you least expect it.

At least, that's what Mister seems to think.  Who am I to argue with him?  Cats are notorious for being able to "see" things that our feeble human eyes can't.  Like that time that Sean's cat saw a ghost of a little girl coming down the stairs, swatted twice at it, and ran away.  (I can't say I rightly blame him.)

But Mister neither cowers nor runs in the face of the danger.  Instead, Mister stands his ground.  Right over my head.  True story.  Mister sits and watches me almost every night as I'm going to sleep, inches from my face.  I open a sleepy eye, and there he is, head bowed slightly down, fluffy white chest puffed out in a sitting position, looking as if he might fall asleep himself.  Instead, he watches.  

Other nights, he sleeps with his rear to me, a few feet away, always facing the door.  Because that's where the bad things will emanate from.  Occasionally, he will cat-nap on his face (which might be the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life), but he's always just alert enough to spring into action if necessary.  You can tell by the way his ears twitch slightly.

Yesterday I was taking a shower, and I shut the pocket door to the bathroom so it was almost closed.  I say "almost" because we've managed to break it somehow, and it doesn't close all the way anymore.  We keep it closed because we discovered an unpleasant habit our cats have of peeing or "marking" on the shower curtain.  We're not really sure why.  It's happened in other houses, and we're not really keen on starting the habit here, so we keep the door closed unless one of us is in there to supervise.  

I got out of the shower, toweled off, and I could just see the shape of Mister on the other side of the door through the 4-inch-wide crack.  I took a closer look and noticed that he wasn't facing me, trying to get in--he was facing out trying to keep the monsters away.  I couldn't hire a bodyguard with more determination and dedication than that cat.  

I'm too old to be worried about fictional monsters now.  I only occasionally check under my bed and in the closet for Sasquatch and the Chupacabra (hey, those things are REAL.  Read the upcoming books from my friends Hanna and Lynne if you don't believe me!).  

But I have to admit, It's good to know Mister has my back.  Just in case.