Guess what’s happening on the 1st July? Well, many different things may be happening on that day, but it’s a really special day for me because I’ll be releasing Cats Wild on 1st July! My newsletter subscribers will be receiving a nice newsletter edition of the eBook at 7 am GMT on this day, and you can join them by heading to my home page and subscribing! But if you’re interested in getting a taste of Cats Wild today, you can keep reading and check out an excerpt from the first chapter today.
Cats Wild – Excerpt From Chapter One
Three days has never seemed like such a long time before. I am sure that once, when I roamed the streets searching for safety in the midst of danger, three days would have been nothing. The flick of a tail, or the blink of an eye.
But while I’m sitting by the front door and watching Sophia look out of the dusty front window from the top of a bookshelf, I feel like I’m turning to dust with every second that passes. Each one is longer than the last. Time is playing tricks on me, but I can’t stop it. In many ways, I am powerless.
When I’m also meant to be leading our tribe and keeping us all safe, being powerless is the worst feeling in the world.
I sigh, picking myself up off the floor and pacing in front of the bookshelf. I don’t want to startle her out of her wait for Joseph to return, but my body will go numb if I sit on the hard floor in front of the front door for much longer.
Kicking out a spot for myself within all the rubbish only reveals a tough, uncomfortable carpet beneath.
“How many days?” Sophia asks, her little voice travelling down to me from the top of the bookshelf. It only increases the heavy feeling inside my chest—especially when her mother’s eyes peer down at me, distracted from her wait.
“This…” I try to choose my words carefully, but there’s no easy way to talk about our situation. The rest of the tribe has come to terms with it, or I hope they have, but Sophia?
Her daydreams persist. She sees Joseph when the rest of us only chase his shadow in nightmares. It would be cruel to say that he’s never coming back, but we have to be realistic.
Realism doesn’t exist in her comforting daydreams. I only wish that I could experience them too and hold the same strong beliefs that Joseph will return to us.
But I’ve been alone for too long to believe in lines of thought like that anymore. I waited. I stayed with the tribe for as long as I could. Of course, I’m not leaving them—I will never leave them for as long as we all want to stay together.
The house, and any hope of Joseph returning to us, is what we’re all leaving behind.
Hesitant, I ready my tongue again. “This is the last day, Sophia.”
She nods, but there’s an unreadable expression on her small face. Her whiskers twitch before she returns to her vigil by the window.
She has sat there ever since we discussed leaving the house, and I have accompanied her throughout that time. No matter what, I want her to have a good upbringing and turn into an adult cat who her mother would be proud of.
‘No matter what’ has been severely tested recently, and may be tested further, but I’m holding strong. I made a promise. Giving up on Sophia is not something that I’m prepared to do.
But giving up on Joseph returning is something of a necessity. We’re running low on food and can’t remain here much longer. There’s also, I’ve realised, the lurking issue of human authorities showing up to the house.
In the case of that happening, I am almost certain our united tribe would be separated and scattered. I can’t let that happen.
Many things rest on my shoulders, which is partly why I rejoice in the peace of our current situation. I curl up on the ground, not quite closing my eyes. Trying not to feel the sharp plastic prodding my left side, I keep my gaze on the small kitten at the top of the bookshelf.
She’s grown. I can’t escape the fact that she isn’t the same kitten I carried here to Joseph, small and afraid. She hasn’t finished growing yet, of course, but her legs are so much longer, and her body is scrawny but lanky—it used to be round and small, easy to pick up and hold close to my chest. Now, it wriggles and giggles and demands various stories before falling asleep. That is if she doesn’t sleep in her own den.
It’s not negative. I know it isn’t, and I fight to remind myself of that every day. She is growing up, but she’s not growing away. Everyone in the tribe loves her and Tess… Tess loved her too, when she was still with us.
We all want the best for her. If we can protect her, we will.
Enjoyed the excerpt? Why not check out the first book in the series, Cats Alone?
(available on Amazon!)
Oskar Leonard 