A Slight Tilt

The stillness around me broke with a faint click deep inside. My eyelids parted, focusing on the dim light filtering across the patterned cloth beneath me. Slowly, deliberately, I tested the tension in my neck, tilting my head a fraction of an inch to the side. The woven texture of the fabric pressed against my side, rough and real. I raised a paw and pressed down on a wrinkle in the sheet, watching the printed folds smooth out beneath my firm touch. A low, resonant hum rose in my chest. I am here, resting upon the surface in the quiet dark.