The Strangest Thing About my cat...

The strangest thing about my cat...

is that she's not actually my cat. Venus Diana is my little sister's cat. But, when I sit down on our porch in the cold dawn hours, she sidles up to my leg and purrs as if I am her favorite person in the world. 

As I sip my steaming cup of coffee, she somehow appears in my lap, radiating warmth into my shivering body. Once she's settled, she slits her eyes to the rising sun and lies like a marble statue, save for the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

When the sun has cleared the horizon, and I am compelled to leave this tiny pocket of stillness, she leaps off my lap and bats playfully at my feet as I step over the threshold of the door.

Maybe I do not really own this cat--

but I think she would disagree.