Cooper drank some water and nonchalantly walked into his parent’s bedroom. Sunlight seeped in through the small gap in the curtains. A long rectangular strip of bright yellow warmth lay on the floor. It rose from the floor and onto the soft white bed in the middle of the room and then ran up along the wall on the other side. Cooper liked this time of the day. The perfect time for a quick snooze before lunch. He walked towards the rectangular strip and lay on the floor. His head rested directly on the yellow warmth on the floor and the rest of his body lay in the cool shade beyond it.
This is perfect, he thought and closed his eyes. Sleep embraced him immediately as it usually did. He dreamed of various things. He played with a friend, he chased some cats, he dug some holes, and he ate some chicken. That made his mouth drool onto a small puddle right below his head. His mother would scold him later for ruining the rug, but right now he was asleep and all was well.
The yellow strip moved across his head and then across his body as time went on. It moved across his legs and then slowly faded out. A cold breeze swept in through the window and rustled the curtains. It danced across Cooper’s face making his nose twitch. He opened his eyes slowly. It was not warm anymore. He tried closing his eyes again but no luck. He will have to wait one more day for the perfect time.
Cooper stood up and stretched. Brown hair stuck to the rug in a couple of places below him. His mother would scold him for that also later. He yawned a couple of times, licked his front left paw, and walked back towards the door. A movement to his left stopped him in his tracks. The room was slightly dark but he was sure he saw something. He walked back a little. There it was again. He walked forward, slowly and carefully. He saw it again from the edges of his eyes. He turned his head and stared at the brown eyes staring back at him.
Cooper’s heart thumped against his chest. He let out a faint whine, and moved slightly back. The face in front of him also moved back. For a second, Cooper thought of running. Run right out of the room and jump onto the safety of Mom’s lap, but then he remembered the cats. What if the cats saw all of that through the window? His reputation, which he had tirelessly and painstakingly built over the last few months would all be gone in an instant. The alley cats feared him. He had to keep it that way. So he stayed and stared at the face. The face also stared back. It blinked when he blinked. It twitched when he twitched. Cooper moved his tail and the stranger moved theirs too.
Weird, Cooper thought. Electrons fired left and right in his thumb-sized brain. His ears twitched as god-level computations happened below it. The stranger’s ears twitched as well.
Maybe he’s also computing, Cooper thought.
Cooper felt his head getting warmer as it tried to comprehend the situation. He could feel the realization inching nearer. He could almost grab it with his paws. Almost.
But that’s when he heard it. That familiar sound of plastic rustling. And then the sound of pellets hitting the bottom of his bowl. And then the sweet voice of his mother calling out to him.
Cooper’s thumb-sized brain stopped god knows what it was doing. It ordered his legs to run and Cooper ran out. Cooper’s moment with the mirror, his moment with the knowledge of something greater than himself, would have to wait. The chicken needed his attention first.