Last night my brother’s cat, Carl, decided to sleep in my room, I live in a garret with no door so he can trot right in whenever he feels like it. Around 11:30, just as I was dozing off, he began to meow.

Carl has a very irritating meow.

I assumed he wanted to be pet, so I turned on the light and called him over to the bed. No, he wanted to sit beside the bed and meow at me. Finally, after much meowing on his part and complaining on mine I got out of bed, thinking his food or water must be empty.

He led me to window at the top of the stairs, sat down, and meowed some more. I wondered if he wanted the window opened (I almost never close that window during the summer because the garret gets pretty stuffy), maybe it unnerved him.

I opened the window, and Carl put his front paws on the sill so he could look out into the woods. I put my elbows on the windowsill and tried to see what he was looking at.

We just stood there, looking out at the woods and taking in the soft night air. Every once in a while Carl would look at me and meow, then look outside again. We watched the evening for a good five minutes or so before I decided to go back to bed.

Carl was just lonely, he wanted somebody to share the night with.

Last moon of Summer
Apple of my eye
Standing under heaven
Take a coin from the sky
A coin to pay the ferryman
His reed-boat sailing west
She’ll sleep through bitter Winter, now
Lay Summer down to rest.