After Forever

by Krystal McLaughlin

  The lights turn green almost simultaneously and I ready myself to pounce as if the medical truck is the sneakiest mouse I’ve ever seen. When the truck reaches below my position, I pounce, landing hard on the top of the small truck. I have no time to assess the damage as the larger, trailer wielding truck comes up alongside and begins to pass me. Taking a deep breathe, I throw myself at it and slam harshly into the side of the trailer, barely keeping my claws dug into the metal.

  Gasps assaulted my ears as I clambered to the top of the trailer as it made its way away from the museum. So much for not being seen… I think with a sigh.

  As the truck stops at a red light about a mile from my destination, I slip on the grappling claw again and torpedo myself up to the closest roof on the correct side of the street.

  It only takes me a few minutes to find myself atop the hotel next to the museum. Lucky for me, the hotel is a lot taller than the museum so getting onto the museum will not be a problem.

  Once I have the grappling claw back in place, I watch the tri-hook sail down to latch onto the framing of the multi-faceted windowed dome of the museum’s roof. Popping open a pouch on the right side of my belt I pull a thick scarf out. After securing the pouch, I loop the fabric over the grapple line and wind it around both paws.

  I take a calming breath and talk myself up, then step off the hotel’s roof into nothing. I bit my tongue, literally, as I fly dangerously across the space between the hotel and museum, to prevent myself from screaming. I stick my slippered back paws out like landing gear and touch down on the roof on my butt skidding to a complete stop then retract the line.

  “That was quite an impressive landing.” A deep baritone voice says.

  I look up into the brightest green eyes I have ever seen. Those alluring eyes however apparently belong to a cop. “Crap!”

  I have to admit, the cop was kind of cute, in that “I’m going to make sure you never see the light of day again” kind of way. He’s bigger than I am, but more than a couple of inches. His fur is pitch black which makes the blue of his uniform shirt stand out all the more.

  I sigh in defeat as he grabs my wrist and hauls me to my feet. “Look I don’t know what you’ve heard about me but...”

  “Everyone knows the name Puss in Boots. You’re a legend.” The cop chuckles as he interrupts my rambling.

  “I see... Lovely…” I mutter lowering my head.

  This makes the cop laugh even more. He almost doubles over as he grabs his stomach while laughing at me.

  I growl, my agitation apparent by the harsh movement of my tail. “Just what’s so funny?”

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry… But you have to understand Puss, you’re a legend! I mean mothers tell stories about you to their kittens who refuse to clean their rooms! And to think, here I am meeting you in the fur!” The cop goes on and on.

  My whiskers twitch. I am not amused. “Look if you’re here to arrest me then be my guest. If not, then get the hell out of my way I have a job to do.” I say as I push the cop aside and study the aerial view of the museum through the glass.

  “Arrest you?! I’m here to help you! Is my disguise that good?” The cop, well fake cop, states.

  This new information halts me. A cock a brow and look to him in confusion. “How’d you even know I would come here?”

  He shrugs. “It wasn’t hard to guess. The Bone of Riches is the most valuable thing in the city, probably in the whole country.”

  “I see... What do they call you?” I ask curious to this overly intelligent feline. I mean he has to have a brain since he’s the only one that figured out I would come for the bone. Right?

  “It’s stupid... My name’s Shadow. I don’t know what my mother was thinking when she gave me such a common name.”

  I hold my tongue. Sometimes a normal name is better than a different one. Do you know the name variations there are for Puss?! Some of them would make a trucker blush. Instead, I nod to Shadow. “Nice to meet you Shadow. If you’re here to help, we better get a move on it. I don’t have much time to finish this job.”

  Shadow nods his head and slips off the roof. I pay him almost no notice when he leaves and only slightly wonder if he decided it isn’t in his best interest to help me after all. My suspicion is quickly shot to hell as I see his unmistakable form swagger into the room the bone is on display in.

  So it wasn’t a cop uniform. It was a security one. I think to myself. I have to give the kid credit, he used his head to get inside the building. Oh well. I find it’s much more fun to break in. I am a cat burglar after all.

  I hum softly to myself as I open the claw extension pouch and remove the diamond tipped claw. I slip it on then knock lightly on the glass of the dimly room’s roof. Shadow looks up and I gesture to the alarm panel to his right. The wiring is rigged to the window. He shakes his head no and draws a circle in the air.

  “Well duh! I know I’m cutting a hole in the glass, I however would like the alarm not to go off.” I mouth this to him with my sassiest expression and place my paws on my hips.

  Shadow shakes his head and again draws the circle in the air and nods his head yes. Then he draws a square and places his paws on the imaginary sides and shakes his head no.

  It finally clicks. The alarm won’t go off if I cut the glass, but touching the framing will set it off. I nod to him that I understand and root around in the pouch I had gotten the scarf from and pull out a glove which I slip onto the paw without the diamond claw, over the other glove already on it. This new glove has a huge suction on the pad part.

  I press the suction cup coated paw onto the window pane and then test how well it holds. Once satisfied, I take the diamond tip claw and cut a large circle around the stationary paw. When that’s done, I let myself fall off my haunches onto my back, a circle of glass comes with me. Damn I’m good!

  After slipping the suction glove back in the pouch, I open a pouch closer to my tail and pull out a long length of rope. I tie off one end to the central air exhaust vent and drop the rest through the hole. Shadow is watching me, I look at him stupid and gesture dramatically toward the entrance where he’s supposed to be keeping watch. I’m beginning to think the boy has a crush!

  I coil my form around the rope and slide down letting myself fall the last three feet to land gracefully on my feet. Did you expect anything less?

  Shadow comes up to me “The coast is clear Puss. No worries there’s only me and old Frisky here, and between you and me Frisky hasn’t lived up to his name in a long time. This should be easy.”

  As if to mock me, the alarm goes off. I shoot a narrowed glare to Shadow. With the alarm already going off, there’s no reason to be stealthy anymore, so I make a break for the bone.

  The bone is maybe the size of a chicken drumstick. It has the nicest shading of gold on it. The bone alone is worth a fortune! Using my slippered right back paw, I lift and side kick the glass display case housing my treasure. I snatch the bone and shove it unceremoniously into a vacant pouch on my belt.

  I start off racing toward my rope but I skid to a stop as I see Shadow has a gun pointed at me. I look at him mildly confused, really I should have known better, but we won’t go there.

  “Puss, drop the bone and lay down on the ground.” Shadow says in a calm, steady voice.

  “Do as he says Miss Boots, no one wants to hurt you.” An older male voice says. Putting two and two together I figure the voice must belong to Frisky.

  I turn my head and glance behind me. Sure enough, an old tom tabby cat that has be on the last day of his nine lives is standing there holding his gun on me with shaky paws.

  Well shadow’s behavior makes sense now. I decide I won’t let this kitten, let’s face it he may be bigger than me, but he’s clearly younger, get in trouble because of me.

  Taking a deep breath I resume my run, I know Shadow won’t shoot me. I don’t know how I know this I just do, call it a gut feeling.

  I hear both guns go off back to back. A sharp, burning pain be
gins in my back causing me to stagger. I look to Shadow slack jawed before realizing his gun isn’t trained on me. A few seconds later, I hear Frisky hit the floor.

  As I stumble passed Shadow, I grab the cuff of his shirt and pull him with me. The kid can’t stay here they’d haul him off as an accomplice.

  The pain is unbearable as I climb the rope back onto the roof. My breaths are rushed, god it hurts to breath!

  I don’t say anything to Shadow as I gather what strength I have left and race across the roof. I don’t even bother to look before throwing myself off it.

  I land in the bed of a pickup, not even a heartbeat later, Shadow lands beside me.

  “Are you okay?!” Shadow’s face is a mask of concern, it’s unnerving.

  “Do I look okay?!” I snap back. I don’t mean to be mean, but obviously Shadow has never been shot before.

  “Let me have a look.” He says.

  Before I can agree to this, he flips me gently onto my stomach. I hear him suck in a breath. To his credit, he doesn’t tell me how bad it is. He just goes to work. After a few minutes I don’t feel much pain anymore, just some pressure and aching.

  “What did you do?” I ask quietly.

  I can almost feel the nonchalant shrug I’m given. “Got the bullet out. I don’t even know how Frisky hit you, I was banking on him missing.”

  “How did you know to make it stop hurting?” I’m quite curious by this point.

  Another phantom shrug. “I used to work in Nine Lives Medical. It was a long time ago though. Once I had to start stealing, I figured the knowledge would come in handy.”

  “I see... Well thanks.”

  Shadow refuses to leave. He insists that he has to monitor my wound and make sure it heals properly. I think it’s just an excuse.

  We arrive back in Dog Walk City just as the sun is starting to crest the skyline. I’m tired, cranky, and whatever Shadow did to make the pain stop is wearing off.

  When we get to Valdez’s warehouse I bang on the door as if my balled up paw has the ability to go through the solid oak.

  Not surprisingly, Filipe steps out of the doggy door and looks to me with those big watery mud colored eyes.

  “Where’s Valdez?” I demand in a harsh tone.

  Filipe shakes his head. “No…No... No Meester Valdez. Meester Valdez no here.”

  I growl low to the annoying dog and simply punt him out of the way. He issues a surprised yelp.

  I slip through the doggy door with Shadow right behind me. Filipe brings up the rear.

  It is just how Filipe said. Valdez isn’t here. There’s splatters of red and patches of orange fur scattered around though. I lower my head shaking it slowly. Damn mutt tricked me.

  My head still lowered, I ask Filipe in a dangerous voice. “Where is your master Filipe?”

  Filipe begins prancing in front of me like he has eaten a bag of jumping beans. “Meester Valdez no say. He only say for joo to gimme de bone.”

  I snorted. Did he really think he was the bone after all this crap?!

  “You tell ‘Mister’ Valdez if he wants the bone… He’ll have to come find me.” I say as I turn and slip through the doggy door.

  Outside the morning sun nearly blinds me. I raise a paw to shield my eyes from the glare.

  “Where to Boss?” Shadow asks.

  I am unsure if I like this whole having a side kick thing. Aren’t superheroes the only ones that have sidekicks?

  To answer Shadow, I shrug. “To find Valdez I guess...”

  Thus ends the story of how I acquired the Bone of Riches. I have no idea what I will do with it. At the moment it’s insurance that at some point I will see Valdez again and settle the score…

  Day and Night

  By: Kim Stevens

  ©2013 by Kim Stevens

  Leaning back on my hands, I close my eyes, and enjoy the sun warming my bare skin. I was stretched out on a beach towel, in the backyard, dressed in a pale blue bikini top and cut-off denim shorts.

  It was the weekend so I was spending every minute working on my tan. My iPod was beside me blasting ‘All Around Me’ by Flyleaf in my ears and a faint breeze made my long, unusually-colored hair dance around my shoulders. Since childhood, people had always commented on my hair color; even I thought it was an odd shade. My hair is waist-length and three hues of blond with a splash of primrose and a pinch of saffron.

  Tilting my head back further I felt the sun’s rays kissing my already freckled skin. I filled my lungs with the scents of mown grass and crisp air when all of a sudden the sun disappeared and a shadow lurked over me.

  “Hey!” I opened my eyes to see a strong jaw line, deep red lips, and dark teardrop eyes. His hair was chocolate brown and fell over his brow, cascading over his ears in adorable flicks and waves. It looked thick and brushed the collar of his leather trench coat. “Get out of my sun!” I sat up, glaring.

  “Hi, my name’s Orlie,” the boy said, a bright grin spreading across his face like wildfire. The sun illuminated his tall, lanky frame and it looked like he was glowing. “You’re Calista, right?” I blinked a few times, opening and closing my mouth like a fish. All words escaped me. “Are you alright?” his grin twitched before falling from his crimson lips.

  I swallowed. “I-I’m Cali,” I stammered. My cheeks were burning and it wasn’t from the sun. I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. “Orlie?” I met his dark gaze. Orlie knelt down beside me, his boots touching the edge of the beach towel. I noticed that his eyes were black-blue, reminding me of the midnight sky.

  “My mother had a thing for Orlando Bloom.” He rolled his eyes while resting his arms on his knees. The grin returned while his hand reached out towards me; thin long fingers picked up a piece of my wavy hair. “What an unusual color,” he mused.

  I batted his hand away then leaned back on my arms, the sun bathing me in its warmth once again. Orlie brushed a hand through his chocolate locks and I saw a flash of silver before the hair settled on his brow again.

  “Why are you here in my yard?” I squinted up at him.

  “I moved in next door. I saw you out here and I thought I’d come and say hi,” he said, sitting on the grass. He stretched out his long legs, crossing his ankles.

  “Where are you from?” I lied on my back while Orlie picked at blades of grass.

  “We’re from out of town.” He glanced at me and I saw silver specks peeking from under his dark hair. “I didn’t mean to offend you before when I made the comment about your hair.” his eyes flicked to my loose hair. “I’ve never see hair the color of the sun.”

  I abruptly sat up before climbing to my feet. “Did I say something wrong?” Orlie asked, frowning, and watching as I shook grass off the towel.

  “I-I have to go,” I said, turning and making my escape into my mum’s house.

  Slamming the door behind me, I peeked through the window, expecting to see Orlie still sitting in the yard. Instead, there was no sign of him and where he had been sprawled out; a silver glow was now glittering brighter than the sun.

  As the sun melted into the horizon, I hugged my knees, sitting on the window seat, and keeping my gaze on the two-story brick house sitting on the other side of the chain-link fence. Curtains covered all of the windows except for the window opposite mine which was uncovered, and dimly lit.

  From where I sat I could see a queen-bed with a dark comforter, a massive dark wood cupboard, and a desk. A closed door across the room, I guessed, led to a bathroom and the door leading into the bedroom was out of sight.

  I was replaying my encounter with Orlie, my chin resting on my knees, when I was snapped out of the memory by the creaking of my bedroom door opening. When I turned my head I saw mum’s head poke around the door.

  “There you are!” she said coming into the room. “How was your day?” Mum was still dressed in her waitress uniform as she perched on the bed, crossing her legs. Her dark-blond hair was free from its ponytail and she was yawning.

  “It was okay.”
I turned my back on the neighboring house. “I worked on my tan…” I rubbed a hand over my brown arm then turned it over exposing the lily-white underside of my forearm. I frowned at the birthmark that looked like it was glowing on my wrist.

  “I see the new neighbors have moved in,” mum was saying while running her fingers though her hair.

  “Really? I didn’t notice.” I rubbed a finger over my birthmark which always felt cooler than my actual body temperature. The birthmark was a jagged circle and in the middle was the shape of the crescent moon. The colors ranged from rosy red, pale orange, and a silvery-blue.

  “Earth to Cali,” mum said, poking my arm. “Hey! Calista!”

  “Sorry, what?” my cheeks grew warm while mum grinned.

  “What were you thinking about just then?” she asked, leaning her elbows on her knees. “Spill girlie!”

  I rolled my eyes making her giggle. “I was thinking of…” before I could finish my sentence I was silenced by an intense gaze boring into my back. Slowly turning, I looked over at the neighboring house, into the room opposite mine, which was now in complete darkness.

  “Cali?” Mum asked. When I didn’t answer she stood, sitting beside me. “Are you okay, darl?”

  I forced myself to look away from the window. “Yeah, I’m okay,” I mumble, keeping my eyes on my hands.

  “Are you sure?” she played a hand on my forearm. “You aren’t getting sick, are you?”

  “No, Mum, I’m fine.” I plastered a smile on my face as the intense staring grew stronger. Even though I couldn’t see anyone in the room I knew it wasn’t empty.

  When mum finally left to prepare dinner (her language for picking up the phone and ordering take-out) I swiveled around and gazed at the dark room in the neighboring house. The curtains slowly danced in the warm summer breeze as the full moon appeared in the dark sky, bathing everything in a silvery glow.

  I was rubbing my hands up and down my bare legs when I saw a movement in the dark room. A figure emerged out of the blackness, standing in the window, and being illuminated by the moon…no, it was his own silvery glow.