Personal Alarm Clock

My alarm rang
So annoyed
I hit snooze

My mixed breed cat on the job
Licking my cheek
With his pink, scratchy, rough tongue

I push him away
Wanting to sleep more
Without patience or hesitation
He lunges at my ear
Almost ripping it off

Ear bright red and laughing in pain
I wake up
Stroking his silky black fur
With patches of
Brown, Grey, and white
Softer than cotton

His beautiful green eyes
Like emeralds
Twinkling and happy

My mom with her ugly habit
Leaving him outside the next day
Me not knowing
I wake up
With the absence of my cat

Flinging the front door open
I stare at the ground
My cat
On the ground
Lifeless

Horrified
Crying and dropping to my knees
Not wanting to believe it

I hold him gently
My Rico
Dead

I wake up lonely every morning
Missing his pink, scratchy tongue on my cheek
Lunging at my ear
Biting it

No more

-Jaz Ramos