Fred couldn’t believe he had just stared at the cat taking a shit in his living room. Shaking his head he muttered to himself ‘at least it was in the litter box’. Walking over to investigate he saw that the area surrounding the litterbox had bits of gravel all over the carpet. The box itself appeared to be mostly undisturbed; only the faintest mound was to be seen with hints of her paw prints where she had stepped. Taking a cautious sniff Fred was relieved to find that it didn’t smell. At least that was one less thing to worry about. Looking around Fred tried to decide where to place the litter box. Flashing back to walking in on the cat, Fred grimaced. He didn’t want that to happen again and definitely not in the open where everyone could see. What if he had company over and the cat was taking a shit in the middle of his living room? No, just no. With that Fred headed back to the guest bathroom with the litter box in hand and placed it by the toilet it just fit in the gap between the toilet and the wall.
Standing back Fred looked at it and nodded “Yep where else should one use the facilities but in the bathroom. Perhaps he should get one for his bathroom as well. He faintly remembered an episode of the Cat Whisper saying you needed more than one litter box. With that in mind Fred resolved to get one when he next went out.
Once again leaving the bathroom Fred looked at the remnants of the litter on the floor and sighed. Heading back he went to the storage closet to grab his vacuum cleaner and proceeded to vacuum up the front room. Feeling an odd sense of satisfaction at the clacking rattle sound the litter made as it was sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. Checking over to see the demon cat on the bench window seat he was surprised to see the cat still sleeping seemingly not bothered by the noise at all. Moving the vacuum closer he stared to see if she would react at all but nothing. The cat seemed dead to the world, not even her tail twitched. Shrugging Fred continued his task vacuuming up the entire front room carpet until it resembled the neat rows of a freshly cut lawn. Turning it off and unplugging the vacuum cleaner he rewrapped the cord and emptied the container in the trash before putting it back into its place.
Sitting down he relaxed. Enjoying the peace at least for the moment before his stomach growling interrupted it. Oh yeah, Fred thought he still hadn’t eaten breakfast. Grumbling Fred lumbered back to his feet to scope out what he could fix for breakfast. Scratch that lunch. thought Fred as he stared at the Oven Clock that read 12:00. Was that right? Perhaps it was off. Walking down the hall he grabbed his phone from its charger and stared down at the device. It too read 12:00. Great God! Where had the time gone? Thinking of all the things that he still needed to get done and the deadline that loomed ever closer Fred felt his body grow ridged. His muscles tightened as his mental To-Do List grew. So too appeared the feeling that he wasn’t moving fast enough, wasn’t using his time wisely. The more he thought about the to-do list the more the feelings and thoughts intensified. Feeling the beginnings of a headache growing Fred made a conscious effort to relax. Loosening his tight grip of the phone that threatened to crack under the pressure of his hand he switched his focus to his breathing. Breathing in he held his breath for a slow count of five and let it out upon reaching 0. He did that over and over until he felt he had relaxed enough to feel something in his head other than the muddled frustration that had threatened to take over. “Okay. It’s all going to be okay.” Looking at his reflection he smiled but ended up grimacing at the snarl that was reflected back at him. Closing his eyes he breathed again and tried once more to smile. It worked this time although it looked extremely forced Fred decided he would take it. Looking into his own eyes he said aloud. “It’s all going to be okay. It will be Okay. I got this! I can do this! Yeah!” Giving himself a thumbs up he nodded his head in affirmation. He walked back to the kitchen wishing all the while that he believed himself.
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Scoping out his kitchen food supplies he decided to just fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some chips that may or may not be stale and grabbed the last and slightly bruised granny smith apple. Deciding against eating the last few pieces of the apple left untouched by the cats earlier, dine and...stay? He pushed aside the remnants of his breakfast, resolving to go shopping at his earliest convenience. Sighing another thing to add to the to-do list thought Fred as he sat down to eat. Staring out the window that the cat rested under he went over and over his mental to-do list. Not noticing that he was slowly crushing the bread between his fingers. Only wondering briefly why that part of the bread was a bit tougher to chew. Making quick work of his food. He discarded the bruised part of the apple and the core and the remnants of his original breakfast that the cat had left into his newly formed compost pile outside. Rankling his nose as he passed his pissed on mattress. His eyes watering from the smell. He resolved he would get the thing out of his backyard as soon as Wednesday Morning rolled around. Walking quickly by it he closed the door tightly behind him and took a deep breath. Before tackling his dishes. He glanced down at the cat’s dishes but decided against washing them as the cat appeared to have polished them clean already. Looking at the time he realized it was now 1:30 and he had still yet to complete the rest of his work.
Sighing, Fred walked to his room to wrangle up a pair of jeans before sitting down to write out his to-do list.
Demon stretched as she heard the scritching of a pen on paper. Blinking open her eyes she took in the sight before her and purred. Oh how she enjoyed the sun on her fur that coupled with a full belly and the house under her control she was as happy as she could be. Sighing she rolled over to her other side and went back to sleep.
Feeling more relaxed after writing out his list and more ready to face the outside world in a pair of jeans. He put on his most comfortable walking sneakers and began gathering what he needed to leave. “I got my phone, car keys and wallet. Am I missing anything,” muttered Fred as he began to head for the door. His mind moving onto what he needed to do first when he felt it.