To be in love

To own a cat is to be in love.
In love with every noise they make around you,
Every glance they make at you,
Every piece of fur they leave caught in your carpet
For your dad to yell at you to vacuum up.

To own a cat is to live in wonder.
In wonder of what you want to know they think,
What you think they know,
What they think of you.

To own a cat is to live in fear.
In fear of what they could be capable of
If ever their animalistic urges take over.
In fear of if they escape the safety of your home
And find themselves in the line of a metal beast headed towards them.

To own a cat is to be human.
You love.
You wonder.
You fear.

You are given the chance to observe
And to feed
And to pet
And to trip over
And to talk to
And to ignore
And to love
More than you have any other creature on the planet.

To own a cat is to be in love.
Let them know that.