Nick and Nora glanced over from where they sat on the couch to look at their silver tabby cat all curled up, asleep in its soft cat bed under the window. A sunbeam streamed through the window to cover the cat like a warm blanket. His tail would occasionally twitch slightly.
“Shasta sure looks cozy over there, doesn’t he?” Nora asked.
“He sure does,” Nick said. “And look. He seems to be smiling. I wonder what he might be dreaming about.”
“I don’t know. But it must be something nice, for him to smile like that.”
“I suppose so.”
Nick and Nora turned their attention back to the TV and let Shasta sleep.
***
In his dream, Shasta sat perched on a throne high up at the top of a flight of stairs. Female cats sat at attention around him. Two humans stood at either side of him, fanning him with large feathers. He tried to fight the urge to jump and attack the feathers since it would be unbecoming for a ruler of his stature.
Below him, at the foot of the stairs, a large crowd of humans was gathered. They chanted his name continuously and bowed to him over and over.
Nick and Nora walked from a side room at the foot of the stairs and climbed up them. They were dressed in servant’s clothes. As they approached Shasta, they bowed. When they finally stood before him, they kneeled and held out plates full of his favorite foods.
Shasta’s tail twitched happily and he purred in contentment.
It was good to be the king, he thought.
***
A loud purring sound coming from Shasta in his cat bed caught Nick and Nora’s attention and they looked away from the TV to look at him. The cozy cat’s tail was twitching more and, if possible, he looked to be smiling even more.
“Just what is he dreaming about?” Nora asked.
Nick shrugged and replied, “Probably world domination or something. Isn’t that what cats are supposedly planning, anyway?”
This story is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “rhymes with rosy”:
Jeanne Owens, author 