Percy's Plan

Percy was having the worst morning of his life, and absolutely everyone would be hearing about it. In fact, according to him, he couldn’t possibly meow too loudly for the severity of the situation. He stormed into the bedroom and, after a well-timed back end wiggle, hopped onto the bed.

“Wake up, Mom!” He meowed at the top of his little lungs. His mother didn’t budge. “Wake up!”

Percy batted her feet with his paw. Groaning, she rolled onto her side. He grumbled, circling around before flopping down at his mother’s feet. Despite his best efforts, purrs sprang forth from his chest at the comfort of the blanket, rumbling softly as he hatched a plan. It had been at least ten minutes since feeding time had come and gone without any wet food appearing in his bowl. Any longer and he could starve to death!

Perhaps Percy’s mother was confused about when to wake up and feed him. It was Cold Time, the time when the world outside their home was full of white fluff that fell from the sky, and Percy’s favorite spot by the window was chilly. All that bright stuff made it hard to tell when feeding time was if your tummy didn’t tell you, and his mother’s tummy clock must not work as well as his. He would need his sister for his plan to work, but he had grown quite comfy, and she had her own four legs.

“Dinah!” Percy yelled. “It’s an emergency, you have to come in here right now!”

“What do you want?” Dinah squeaked. Her meows were always so meek, and Percy couldn’t understand why she didn’t just speak up. She took time to stretch as she walked through the doorway.

“Hurry up! Mom is still asleep. She always wakes up for you,” Percy grumbled.

“Oh, so now I’m allowed on the bed?” Dinah asked. “Yesterday you told me it was your territory.”

“Just tread carefully,” he said, knowing full well she could finish any fight he started if she wanted to.

Dinah leapt onto the bed with grace. Percy tracked her movements carefully, eyes narrowing when she flicked her tail into his face. She crept onto their mother’s shoulder and sniffed at her nose with a soft chirp. Groaning again, their mother opened her eyes.

“Aww, Dinah,” she mumbled. She turned slowly onto her back again, allowing Dinah to curl up on her chest.

“No, no, no,” Percy protested, “You’re supposed to wake her up, not take a nap!”

“Why would I do that?” Dinah asked, licking a paw and wiping her muzzle. “She’s petting me.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” Percy asked. No response. “You silly sister. You ruin all my best plans.”

He stood up, arched his back, and licked the fur on his back to ensure it was all in the right place. As usual, his sister couldn’t be trusted when it came to food. What kind of cat was she anyway, preferring grazing on dry food throughout the day? Sometimes Percy suspected Dinah wasn’t a true tabby cat after all. He’d heard his parents say that orange cats were usually more crazy about food, but Dinah did not have her priorities straight. Maybe Percy was an orange cat at heart, or maybe his parents were wrong and grey tabbies were the ones who really knew what was what. Percy certainly thought he did--but he had wasted enough time thinking about his sister. She may not have known it, but she’d done exactly what he needed her to do.

Without another meow, Percy launched himself onto his mother’s chest and swiped at Dinah’s tail, making her hiss. His mother jolted back awake.

“Percy!” She shouted, as Dinah pounced away with another hiss. She only fought if she thought it was worth it. “Stop fighting your sister!”

“I’m hungry!” he meowed.

“What do you want?” his mother sighed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“I. Want. Food!” Percy yowled.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and slid her slippers on. Percy jumped to the ground and paced back and forth in front of her, meowing and rubbing against her legs. His mother pet him a few times from head to tail, stopping to scratch under his chin. That felt heavenly. He purred even louder than before. If she just kept petting him, this morning would get better and better--

Hold on, she still hadn’t addressed the food! Percy backed away from her hand and sat, tilting his head to the side and holding eye contact with his mother.

“Did you forget about my feeding time?” He asked. He wished his purring would stop, this was an important question and she needed to take him seriously.

“You’re so cute, Perce,” his mother cooed, reaching to scratch him under the chin again.

He batted at her hand and meowed again. What would it take for her to listen? She laughed and shook her head, then headed off. Finally! Percy chirped happily, bounding off after her. He followed her all the way to the… bathroom? That wasn’t right.

“Mom!” he yelled.

“Percy, what’s gotten into you?” she laughed. She reached for a blue stick and put some of that yucky smelling stuff on it before putting it in her mouth. Percy had tried biting that poky stick before; it tasted awful, and he got yelled at for it. He couldn’t see what his mother liked about it, and it certainly wasn’t important right now. At risk of being repetitive, he rubbed against her legs again with meows and chirps. Maybe she misheard him before.

Dinah slipped past Percy to jump up on the counter and rub against their mother’s arm. Their mother gave her a little head pat, then rinsed the stick with water and spat out the yucky stuff.

“Oh, I bet you’re hungry. Aren’t you, girl?” She asked, scratching behind Dinah’s ear and giving her a kiss. “And you too, Percy!”

Him too? Too? He had told her so many times! Percy meowed in annoyance and glared at his sister, who was likely pretending not to notice him. He bumped his mother’s leg with his head.

“Alright, alright,” she laughed. “Let’s go get your bowls.”

“Oh boy, oh boy!” Percy trilled. His plan had actually (basically) worked! He trotted off. running figure eights around his mother when she went too slowly for his liking. “Hurry up, I’m starving!”

He was on the kitchen counter before she even reached the room. He had to make sure she filled the bowls right, but it seemed like she was taunting him. Putting the bowls on the counter, cracking open the can, grabbing a spoon to dish the food with… she did them all so slowly it drove Percy mad, and he simply had to say something. His meows were more than necessary to speed the process along, and he knew it. Though, his mother never did seem to appreciate his encouragement.

“Patience, Percy,” she chuckled, spooning out the last bit of food to top off his bowl. “Come on buddy, let’s go!”

He didn’t need to be told twice, he was off. When he looked back, his mother was still not there yet. Was she on her way? Had she forgotten where the food mat was? It had been several seconds, where was she? “Mom!” he shouted.

“I’m on my way, mister sir,” she called back. “Hold on just a second.”

Just a second? It had been so many minutes since feeding time, Percy thought he may never see food again. A second sounded far too long of a wait for--

“Food!” he bellowed, digging straight into the bowl that was set in front of him.

He scarfed it down faster than his stomach could register that he ate. That wasn’t nearly enough for him! He knew where Dinah’s food mat was, though, and surely she wouldn’t mind if he ate some of hers… would she? It was time to hatch another plan.