Literacy: A Short Story

I don’t know how long my cat has been able to read. Maybe it’s only been a couple of months. Maybe it has been a few years.

He had always curled up beside me whenever I was reading in bed. The sound of the drawer of the bedside table opening was like a signal for him. He knew that’s where I kept the books I was reading. As the drawer closed I would hear him pattering down the hall.

He would look up at me from the floor. Then I would say, “Come on,” and he would say, “Meow,” and jump up onto the bed. I would hold the book with one hand and pet him absently with the other. Our nightly ritual had been going on for years.

Then last night I was reading a scary story. It was a real page turner. The lights were all off except for the small lamp on the bedside table. I had the blanket tucked around me and he was purring at my side.

It was an intense part of the book. The creature was stalking the main character and she was trying to figure out how to escape. I started reading faster and flipping through the pages quicker because the heroine was in such a dire situation.

Just as I was about to turn a page, my cat used his paw to stop me. Suddenly I realized my cat was reading, too. He hadn’t finished the page yet. He had leaned forward over the book to see from a better angle.

We finished the book a couple of hours later. It took me a bit longer to finish than normal because he doesn’t read as fast as I do.

I don’t think he could read when we lived in our old apartment about five years ago. But it’s hard to say for sure because I was still in college then and mostly read boring text books. He seems to like books with a suspenseful plot. Paranormal romance is another of his favorite genres.

I’m pretty sure he could read a few weeks ago when I was finishing off that werewolf series. I kept finding him lying on the book. He would flip it open and sit on it. I was really into the series, so I took the books with me to read during my lunch break. I guess he had to catch up on what he had missed.

Thinking about it now, he must have had a hard time holding the book open. Maybe I should get him a digital book reader for Christmas. It would be easier for him to push a button than to try to flip pages without thumbs. Plus, he is kind of slowing me down. It was so torturous having to wait on him to finish the page before I could flip to the next one.

I guess I can pull out some of the books I have read this year and see which ones he finished and which ones he didn’t. That will give me a better idea about when he started reading. I wonder if he would be interested in that book about shape shifters I saw in the book store the other day…