last night i dreamt my father drowned the cat by Amy Sefton '10

last night i dreamt my father drowned the cat
it was almost worse that he hadn’t meant to
he’d intended to give him a swimming lesson
outfit him with cat goggles
flippers
a cat sized swimming cap to protect his pink and sensitive ears
he submerged him in the fishtank
with the sunfish who snapped at his tail
weaved in between his whiskers
swam fast and dodged his batting paws
and i forget what happens next but soon my father is holding our cats body
and it is limp
and dripping
and pathetic
and he looks so genuinely crestfallen that
in my dream
i am more worried for my father than for my cat
and my heart breaks for my father and not for my cat who is dead
because my father was careless and stupid
and forgot to buy a cat ladder
a cat snorkel
a cat sized life preserver
and i want to protect my father
from the rest of the family
and the other cat
who won’t be as understanding as i am
and don’t understand what it is to have a plan that falls apart at the end