Never finished this...

---

I awoke the next day to find the jaguar’s spot empty. I sat up and looked on the floor around my bed, thinking I may have accidentally pushed him off. Not spotting it, I noticed my bedroom door open. I figured he must have gotten up early for some reason, so I got out of bed and decided to start my Saturday morning. I put on some fuzzy slippers, they looked like wolf paws, and pushed my bedroom door open, and make my way down the hall. My slippers make a swish-swish noise as they shuffle across the floor. I rub my eyes as I walk into the living room, and see the top of the jaguar’s head just above the edge of the leather sofa. He’s looking out the window, watching the rain drizzle down the glass door. I say “Good morning.”
The jaguar turns his head to me, stands up, plods softly over to me, sits down in front of me on his haunches, then looks up at me.
“Good morning. I trust you slept well?” he asks.
“Yes, thank you. You make a good pillow.” I reply with a smile.
“Thank you.” He says with a slight nod of his head.
I chuckle softly and give him a rub on the head before going over to the kitchen. He follows me with enthusiasm and watches as I get out a bowl, a spoon and a box of cereal. I fill up the bowl, then go over to my couch, and sit on it, putting my feet up so they don’t have to touch the floor. I grab the remote and flick on the news. The jaguar hops up onto the couch on my right, and sits, looking at the television.
“What is this device?” He asks, looking to me.
I swallow my spoonful of cereal, and then clear my throat with a cough.
“This is called a television”
“What does this” He seems to struggle with this new word, and it comes out protracted and awkwardly electronic sounding.
“tel-a-vi-ziu-n do?”
I think about it for a moment, then say
“Well, it lets people across the country, or around the world watch what are called programs.”
“Are these programs similar to computer programs?”
“Well, not exactly. I don’t control them, the networks do…”
“And what kind of program is this?”
We’re watching a national news network.
“This is a news program. It tells me all sorts of information about what’s happening around the world. I like to watch it because I like to learn things a lot.”
The jaguar nods and begins to watch the news with me as I eat my cereal.
About fifteen minutes pass before he remarks that
“There are a lot of problems going on in the world.”
I nod my head.
“Yup. And it’s too bad people can’t seem to fix problems for themselves. They always want to rely on someone else to do it for them.”
“That is quite unfortunate” The jaguar replies.
“Yes, quite.” I say back.
The rest of my breakfast goes on in silence. Every once in a while the jaguar would ask a question, and I’d answer it as best I could. It was nice having someone, er, something to talk to in my apartment. Sometimes it got lonely.
I finish my bowl of cereal and flick off the TV. I stand up and walk to the kitchen, the jaguar in tow. I wash out my bowl with him watching curiously as I work the faucet and scrub the dish clean before I dry it off and put it in my cabinet. As I heave a sigh after washing the dishes, the jaguar says
“Now what do you plan to do?”
“Well, it’s about ten o’ clock” I say, looking to my wall clock.
“it’s about time for me to take a shower.”
The jaguar says nothing, but follows me as I get my towel and things ready to shower. I take the shower and dry off in the shower stall and wrap the towel around me. I step out and see the jaguar sitting on its haunches by my sink. He looks me over curiously. I suddenly think about it and ask
“Do you need to be washed?”
The jaguar lifts up a paw and looks himself over.
“A cleaning would be beneficial at this time.” He says to me.
“I take it that means yes.” I say, eying him weirdly.
He says nothing, but nods and proceeds out of the bathroom.
I shut the door and dry off completely, then get on some lounging clothes and step out of the bathroom, turning out the lights. I go to the laundry room and see the jaguar sitting beside the washer. He turns around, showing a tag on his thigh. I lift him up and set him on top of the washer and read the tag.
“Seems simple enough.” I remark.
“Do you need to shut off before you go into the washer?”
“I do not. I will shut off automatically when the water starts.”
“Alright.” I say as I put him in the washer. I add the detergent and fabric softener into the drum.
“Well, have a nice bath.” I say to him.
He nods and I close the lid and set the washer.
Twenty minutes pass before I hear the washer beep and I lift him out and put him on the lid of the dryer. I read his tag again and follow the directions and put him in with a dryer sheet to keep him from getting all static cling-y. The dryer beeps some time later and I lift him out, all warm and soft. I give him a nice squeeze and put him down on the floor. His spots are very radiant and his fur looks very sleek and shiny. He wakes up and looks to me.
“Thank you. I feel much better.” He says to me.
“No problem, buddy. You look much better, too.” I reply with a smile.
The jaguar nods.

Later on in the day, I realize I haven’t checked my email in a while. I go into my computer room and pull up a chair to sit on. I log on and check them with the jaguar by my side, when I receive and email that concerns me. I turn to the jaguar and say
“This one’s gonna take me a while to read and reply to. D’you think you can occupy yourself for a while?”
“Yes.” He says back.
“Thank you.”
The jaguar turns and pats softly out of the room, and I take care of business. A half hour later, I log off and shut my computer off. I push the chair out from under me and walk out into the living room. I see the jaguar looking out the window onto my small balcony and I notice he watches intently as things happen outside. I approach him from behind and sit down next to him.
“Have you ever been outside?” I ask, the jaguar turning his head to look at me.
“I have not."