When he wakes up, Travis is covered with the comforter. He’s still in his jeans and t-shirt, and sees Melissa across from him in the bed, also sleeping in one of his t-shirts. Travis puts his head up on his hand to watch her. Her layered black hair is still smooth and shiny, and the look of contentment on her face lifts him up. As he moves to pull the covers up over her shoulder, she opens one eye slightly and then she grins.

He says, “Good morning.”

“Nooo.” She snuggles down into the covers and pulls them over her head. “Go away.”

Travis puts his arm under the pillow and lays his head back down.

Peeking out from beneath the covers, Melissa giggles. “I woke up at about four this morning and was halfway tempted to leave, but I didn’t know where the hell I was.”

Travis makes a face. “You were gonna’ ditch me?”

Melissa nods fecitiously, the comforter wrapped around her like a shawl. Then she smiles more sweetly and says, “I’m not used to just going home with complete strangers.”

“Oh, I see. I’m, like, totally used to that.”

“Oh really?”

“Oh yeah. I’m a slut.”

Melissa bats her hand out for a moment, long enough to make contact with Travis’s shoulder, and then slides back underneath the covers.

“What? I said I’m a slut. How can you possibly take offense?”

“You were implying that I was one.”

“I was not.”

“I was kidding anyway.” Melissa giggles again, and then brings her head up out from under the covers for a moment to listen more closely to a very strange sound emanating from the living room. Travis hears it too, and before Melissa can ask, he replies, “No, no. Hide, hide.” He slides underneath the comforter, and without really thinking about it, Melissa does the same.

“What are we hiding from?” she asks the darkness between their noses.

Travis can feel her breath, and replies in the general direction of the question, the Screamewling Fuzzfart. He can feel Absinthe leap up on the bed, make his way across the mattress, little bastard, walking up Travis’s leg. After a moment, Absinthe crosses the bed and tests his weight on Melissa’s thighs.

“Oh my god!” Melissa hollers and squiggles around in the bed, shifting up against Travis. She had thought Travis was kidding about something coming for them.

With all the sudden movement, Absinthe takes his cue to jump off the bed. He sits on the floor, and starts screaming his lungs out.

“Relax,” says Travis. “I was just kidding around. It’s just my roomate’s cat.”

Melissa looks around the bed for the cat, and hears it screaming from the floor. She pulls herself over the side to look at it. “I thought it was a rat or something.” As soon as she looks at the kitten though, the cat screams at her. “Aw…” Melissa replies, “I think we hurt it.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Travis says. “He does that every morning.”

Melissa looks perplexed as Absinthe screams again. She sits up in the bed and looks at Travis. “Are you serious?”

“For ten minutes, you watch. It’s a God damn ritual or something.”

By the time Absinthe screams a third time, Melissa catches on. “Oh my God. That’s awful.” She looks at the kitten as it claws its way back up to the top of the bed, sits down and lets out a disheartening, “Eeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyaaaa-aaahhhhhhhhh!”

“Aw…” Melissa’s sympathy’s are renewed. “It just wants attention.” Travis just rolls his eyes as she reaches out to pick the kitten up. It promptly falls on its back and claws vigrously at the approaching hand with all four paws. Melissa pulls her hand back quickly. “Good Lord.”

“Told ya’.”

Absinthe rolls on his side and stretches lazily, using all of his relaxed muscles to push forth yet another scream, followed by two more quiet ones, a little unsure of something, directed at the opposite end of the bed. Travis sits up, bows his legs out underneath the comforter, picks Absinthe up despite protest, and folds his legs and comforter around the kitten. Absinthe screams from inside the soft bear trap, but the noise is pleasantly muffled.

“I only do this when I have guests or a hangover,” Travis reassures Melissa, who is already laughing. “What?” Travis asks.

“I’ve never heard anything like that.”

Travis rolls his eyes. “I’ve only been having to put up with it lately because Nick’s gone. He usually gets up before I do.”

“What did you do to it?”

“Nothing! I swear! It just started doing it one morning, and now it always does it.”

“Probably because you fed it, and now it thinks it has to do that to get fed.”

“No. Even when you give him food he won’t stop.”

“Really?”

“Really. As soon as he hears that someone’s awake, he starts, and then about ten minutes later, he stops.”

Melissa laughs again.

“It’s not funny,” Travis says desperately.

“It’s hysterical.”

“It’s punishment.”

“For what?”

“I wish I knew. I would fix it. I swear I would.”

Melissa shrugs.

“Watch this,” Travis says. He puts his hands on either side of the clam shell trap that he’s made with the comforter, and waits for Absinthe to scream again. As soon as the cat does, Travis pushes it back and forth, making the scream vibrate like an engine.

“Stop. Stop it.”

“He doesn’t mind,” Travis replies.

“That’s terrible. Quit it.” The request sounds genuine the second time, and so Travis stops in mid-shake.

“He really doesn’t mind,” he says, and opens his legs, revealing a much enthused Absinthe on his back, trying to claw his way out of the cave. Picking the cat up underneath the forearms, Travis lifts Absinthe whose body stretches down lazily beneath him, long and sleek. Absinthe blankly looks around the room with wide eyes and then screams at the wall near the bed. “See?” Travis offers. Melissa looks at the cat distastefully at first, but then, it’s a kitten and she pets him. Absinthe lets her this time.

Travis puts the kitten down and after accepting a few more friendly scratches, Absinthe walks out of the room without a sound.

“Is he done?” Melissa asks.

“Yup. That’s it. Next show’s tomorrow morning.” For a moment, he wants to ask her if she’ll be there, but then they both sit upright, facing the doorway, confused. Neither has any idea of what they are supposed to now. “You want some breakfast?” Travis asks.

Melissa hesitates, feeling that maybe she should just leave.

Seeing her reaction, Travis says simply, “It was just sleeping. It’s just breakfast.”

“All right,” Melissa replies and she starts to get up.

“No, no. My treat. Stay in bed and sleep some more. I’ll just be ten minutes.”

Read the whole thread: Carousel Cowboy

Characters and Places: absinthe, Animals, awkward, Melissa Keller, morning, Travis Fleeting