Cat Tales Issue #3

by Steve Vernon

  “How old is he?” she asked

  “Close to six months, I’d guess.”

  “I’d like vaccines, worming and flea medicine done too,” said Brenda. “As well as a thorough exam.”

  “I’ll add that to the records,” said the receptionist, returning the kitten to the carrier.

  “Do you want him microchipped?”

  “Yes, please.”

  He was wide awake now and mewing.

  “Don’t worry honey. I’m sure you’re hungry and scared. I’ll go out and buy you some really good food and a nice bed. And some toys for tomorrow. You’re going to love your new home.”

  The receptionist said, “You’ll need to keep him immobile for a few days. If possible. We don’t want him ripping out any stitches. Toys in a few days. And he’ll be ready to pick up after four.”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

  Brenda stopped by the expensive pet store and bought some grain-free cat food, wet and dry, and a soft cat bed. There were some nice cat towers and toys, but she decided to come back for those when she had more time. There was no hurry.

  The movers had everything loaded in three hours. She locked the garage and both doors, then slid the key in through the old mail slot.

  “Goodbye old house,” she said, patting the front door.

  The sun was blazing by this time. It was a lovely seventy degrees out her phone told her. How had she ever lived without a smart phone?

  The movers were going to pick up some fast food for lunch and volunteered to get some for her. She decided on a cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake. She never ate that sort of food anymore, but this was an auspicious day.

  Her new life was beginning.

  As they were getting into their truck, one of the mangy unshaven and unwashed from next door came over.

  “Hey man, have you seen a orange kitten? He might have climbed in your truck?”

  “No, we would have noticed,” said Joe.

  “How about you ma’am?”

  “I saw it earlier, when I went for my walk. It was in your yard.” She stared at him, making eye contact.

  He looked away.

  “I told Twyla we should’na’ got a cat.”

  Then he turned and walked down the block farther, yelling, “Boomza. Boomza, come on boy.”

  Brenda got in her car, which she’d parked on the street earlier. She waited for the movers to pull out first, putting her head down on the steering wheel.

  “Buck up old woman. Those people can’t take care of themselves, they had no business getting a kitten. You’ve saved that kitten’s life.”

  What kind of name was Boomza, anyway?

  She drove to the cottage and hauled in her suitcase from the car, then the litter box and cat litter, putting the cat things in the tiny laundry room. Well out of the way for now. She unlocked the sliding door to her little fenced garden. The fence was a solid eight feet high. No space beneath it either and it was sitting on concrete. As long as the kitten didn’t climb, he’d be enclosed, but cats climb. She could make some modifications. Have someone put wire going from her cottage to the top of the fence. Make it one of those catios she’d seen online. Then he could go outside and play in the garden with her.

  When the movers arrived, Bob handed her the bag with her food and they began unloading furniture. She ate at the tiny kitchen island, sitting on one of the stools that came with the cottage, while pointing out where things should go.

  She hadn’t had a cheeseburger in years. It was so good. Greasy, but good. The chocolate shake tasted divine.

  It took just an hour for them to unload everything from the truck. By that time, she had a few boxes emptied, which they took to get rid of for her. And all the refrigerator contents were put away.

  She paid them and they left. Her cottage seemed to be wall to wall boxes. It was three in the afternoon.

  She had labeled the boxes when packing. In half an hour, she had the bed made and her clothes all put away at least. She set up the litter box in her bedroom for now, so she could keep an eye on the kitten. And put the cat bed on the floor near her bed.

  Then she went to pick him up.

  She had to wait for the three people ahead of her to pick up their pets. The clinic smelled medicinal. Not like the anti-bacterial soap one smelled at hospitals, but like some sort of medicine she couldn’t name. Maybe flea medicine.

  When it was her turn, she paid. Quite a hefty sum.

  The operation had gone well, the receptionist said. He’d been neutered, chipped, de-fleaed, wormed and microchipped. Quite a day for the little guy. When they brought out the carrier, he was mewing and a bit groggy. He rubbed against the finger she stuck through the metal bars.

  “You know,” said the receptionist, “we have a couple of extra cats in the back who are also strays. We always have one or two and let them have the run of the place. They calm the cats who are stressed out. One of them has taken quite a shine to this little guy. If you’re interested in having two cats, we give them to our clients for free. They’re all vaccinated and microchipped of course. It’s nice for a cat to have company when their human is gone.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it. Can I meet this cat?”

  “Sure, I’ll let Jennifer take you back. You can leave your carrier here. I’ll watch over him.”

  Brenda followed the Vet-tech, Jennifer to the back room. There were a few cat carriers lined up on a metal table. Cats mostly groggy and sleeping, although a couple were meowing loudly, complaining about being at the vet.

  Sprawled in front of the carriers was a large, long-haired black cat with golden eyes. Bathing as if it didn’t have a care in the world.

  “This is Ebony. At least that’s what we call her. She’s neutered and vaccinated and has impeccable manners. We think she’s about a year old. She really needs a home where someone is around to give her attention. We’re only here ten hours a day on weekdays and four on Saturday. She gets desperately lonely.”

  “And she’d get on well with the kitten?”

  “She was nuzzling him and he was purring back. They’d have fun playing together, when he’s recovered from surgery. There’s only about a year’s difference in their ages.”

  Brenda stepped closer to the table. She petted Ebony and the gangly teenager put her paws around Brenda’s neck and climbed into her arms, purring madly.

  “Oh you are lonely, aren’t you?”

  The cat’s fur was fine and silky and she obviously loved being petted.

  “We think she’s part Norwegian Forest Cat. She does need to be brushed regularly, but then so will your little orange kitten.”

  “I’ll take her home and give it a try. It’s a very little cottage with a garden that I’m going to have to have enclosed.”

  “She’s happy being an indoor cat. She just needs a person around.”

  Brenda bought another pet carrier for what must have been a premium price from the front of the vet’s office, and they gave her a towel to put in it. All the clinic employees came out to say goodbye to Ebony.

  The vet tech helped carry the carriers out to Brenda’s car.

  The two cats meowed at each other the entire drive home, which seemed interminable.

  It was just a short walk from the parking lot to her cottage, but Brenda made two trips. The carriers were heavy. She brought in the kitten first, then Ebony, setting the carriers in her bedroom and closing the door. She let the kitten out first, setting him in the litter box. Then opened Ebony’s cage. They explored every inch of the bedroom, occasionally walking past each other and touching noses.

  Ebony used the cat box first. The kitten probably didn’t have anything to eliminate. Had he eaten all day?

  “That’s right, I promised you a good meal.”

  She left the room and went out to her tiny kitchen. It took her a while to find the box with the dishwashing sponge and then to wash the bowls. The can opener was in another kitchen box. The cats were exploring around the
pile of boxes in the center of the living room. Her cottage even smelled like home now. A mixture of the wood used in the paneling and floor, the freshness of the air coming in through the open kitchen window and a scented fir candle sitting unlit on the kitchen counter.

  How much food would they eat? The woman at the pet shop had suggested leaving their food down for only half an hour. Feeding three times a day till the kitten was older. Ebony would probably get an extra meal for a while.

  Brenda set the bowls down at the end of the kitchen island, putting a water bowl nearby.

  “Dinnertime kitties,” she said.

  The two of them had already launched into their bowls like a couple of starving dogs.

  Brenda went and rearranged the pillows on her brown leather love seat. She sat sideways, putting her feet up across it.

  The middle of her living room was filled with one layer of boxes, down from two.

  But she was safely ensconced in her new home. Which would be much less work to keep up than a two story house with a large garden. She had a tiny postage stamp of a garden now and two new friends. She had a family now.

  This was going to work out fine. And all because she’d been willing to leave her old life behind. And commit a slight misdemeanor.

  For which she’d never get caught.

  Old ladies were invisible. Especially during eclipses. She smiled. At least invisibility was good for something.

  Ebony jumped up on her lap and after a couple of pets, began bathing herself. The kitten, who still needed a name, jumped up on Brenda’s legs and did the same.

  The combined purring was deafening.

  Eclipse, that’s what she’d name him. His yellow fur glowed in the sunlight, streaming in through her living room window, like the sun’s corona.

  Brenda smiled and leaned back against the pillows.

  About the Author

  Linda Jordan writes fascinating characters, visionary worlds, and imaginative fiction. She creates both long and short fiction, serious and silly. She believes in the power of healing and transformation, and many of her stories follow those themes.

  In a previous lifetime, Linda coordinated the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop as well as the Reading Series. She spent four years as Chair of the Board of Directors during Clarion West’s formative period. She’s also worked as a travel agent, a baker, and a pond plant/fish sales person, you know, the sort of things one does as a writer.

  Currently, she’s the Programming Director for the Writers Cooperative of the Pacific Northwest.

  Linda now lives in the rainy wilds of Washington state with her husband, daughter, four cats, a cluster of Koi and an infinite number of slugs and snails.

  * * *

  Her other work includes:

  Continental Divide

  Horticultural Homicide

  Poison Passion

  Bibi’s Bargain Boutique

  All her work can be found at your favorite online bookseller.

  * * *

  Get a FREE ebook!

  Sign up for Linda’s Serendipitous Newsletter at her website: www.LindaJordan.net

  * * *

  Visit her at: www.LindaJordan.net

  She can be found on Facebook at:

  www.facebook.com/LindaJordanWriter

  Metamorphosis Press website is at: www.MetamorphosisPress.com

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2021274.Linda_Jordan

  * * *

  Writers love reviews, even short, simple ones and honest reviews help other readers find the book. Please go to where you bought this book, or Goodreads, and leave a review. It would be much appreciated.

  Bundle Copyright

  “Cat Tales Issue #3” copyright © 2019 Kydala Publishing, Inc.

  Published by Kydala Publishing, Inc.

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