Emma’s bedroom was dark. Kitty and Harp Seal were propped on the pillows staring into the quiet room. They lay side by side untouched since the bed was made before Em left for school.
“She’s not coming,” Kitty said. “She must be at Catherine’s tonight.”
“No, she’s not coming,” Harp Seal agreed with a sigh.
“We should get ready for bed,” Kitty said rolling over to pull down the bedcovers.
By working together, paws to flippers, they rolled down the coverlet.
“You have to sleep over there,” Kitty said pointing to the right side of the bed that paralleled the far bedroom wall. “I’ll sleep on Emma’ side.”
“Why do I have to sleep over there?” Harp Seal asked with a whine. “I want to sleep in Emma’s spot.”
“No, “I’m sleeping here and you are sleeping there,” Kitty directed. “I cannot sleep over there with the spiders.”
Harp Seal peered into the shadows along the edge of the bed and saw only the still flowered print of the bedspread. “What spiders?” he asked turning back to Kitty.
“You may not see them, but I know they’re there,” Kitty replied, fluffing a pillow. “We’re never on that side of the bed, so that’s where the spiders live. You know how Emma finds those spiders in the shower after she’s been taking baths for several weeks. The shower sits there unused for weeks and the spiders move in. She opens the curtain to go in and then there’s a scream when the eight-legged bugger is just resting in the shower all dry and cozy like he belongs there. Well, I’m not sleeping with the spiders on the unused side of the bed, so you will just have to do it.”
Kitty rested her head on Em’s pillow and snuggled the cover under her chin. Harp Seal looked carefully into the dark shadows one more time and nothing moved. He laid his head on the firm pillow and looked at the white ceiling. Pretty soon he heard Kitty snores, but he lay wide awake waiting for the tickle of eight pointy legs on his nose. Finally, his eyelids grew heavy and he dozed into a light sleep filled with jumping spiders leaping over seals to land on gray furry kitties.