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Would it help you, when our so-called “zoomies” disturb your sleep, to know that they serve a purpose? And I don’t mean the derisive “practice hunting.” We aren’t practicing. We are hunting something. The only issue is, we don’t yet know what.

 I don’t know how to best describe it. There is nothing to see, smell, or touch. Only a feeling. When it passes through you, there is a shiver, but no chill. When it is near, it raises the hackles. I know you have felt it too. I’ve seen you react to it, although you always invent some other explanation. Harry did not understand it at first either. He thought it was just a cold spot or a draft. But it moves. Sometimes with us, sometimes against us. We do our best to keep it away from you, at least until we understand it better.

I know my argument that an unseen entity has taken up residence here is shaky at best, but I hope for two outcomes. One, that you have a satisfactory explanation for our behavior. Two, that we do our best to protect you, whether you appreciate it or not. Hopefully the following evidence as to where encounters most often occur, which you can correlate with your own observation, will strengthen my case.

The entity can most often be found in the bathroom, particularly the bathtub. You have noticed that we often zip in and out of the tub just before you turn on the shower and will stand (or sit) guard on the counter while you use the shower. I know you notice this because you always laugh when we do. We are making sure it doesn’t come back, that you get to shower in privacy.

It likes high places, too. It will often be up in the corners of the room, next to the ceiling. Sometimes it stays near the water damage in the living room. Usually we try to chase it there, standing on the shelf by your door, pawing at the wall until we are satisfied that it will not disturb you for the rest of the evening. If we do not chase it up by the paint bubble, it will hover over you all evening, whether you’re reading, crafting, or just watching TV. We are cats. We know this hovering means it is ready to pounce.

It also follows you into the kitchen. You wonder why Harry is always at your feet while you are cooking or washing dishes. He has developed the hunting instinct, too. His favorite place to trap it is in the tiny gap under your kitchen cabinets. When you see him sitting there, staring at it all day, that is what he is doing.

Our most important job, however, is to guard you at night. We don’t know what this thing could do while you sleep. You will notice that one of us is nearly always in bed with you throughout the night. Yes, there are times when we leave you alone, but we always remain close by. I prefer to stay right by your head, just to be sure. Harry stays at your feet, on alert in case it comes too close.

Those nights when we race through the apartment, jumping from dresser to bed to floor, waking you up in the process, those are the nights we can feel it. I know you don’t like to be woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of us chasing whatever it is back to the ceiling bubble or the cabinet under the sink. I know that sometimes it takes too long for you to fall back asleep, leaving you groggy and grumpy the next day. I can only imagine the alternative is much worse.

-Dash

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