The Cat

If you’re following me on Instagram, Threads or Facebook, then you might have seen an excerpt from the unconventionally formatted short story ‘The Cat’ on your feed this week – if not, don’t worry, because in this post you can read that short story in its entirety! It’s from my upcoming collection ‘Purgatory, Fangs & Rabbit Trails’, which focuses on short stories concerning afterlife, whether that’s purgatory, vampiric second life or godly interventions in varying forms. This story falls into the last category, and I hope you enjoy it!

The Cat

There is a cat on my face. It is sleeping.

Indeed.

I don’t want to wake it up.

You won’t.

How can you be so sure?

She has been sleeping for a long time now. You will not wake her, little one.

Little one?

All beings are little, to me.

I’m not as small as the cat, though.

Not nearly as small, no.

Yet you still call me little?

It wouldn’t be true to call you big, little one, not when one such as I am looking down at one such as you.

Looking down, still?

Yes. Always down. You are so small.

But I thought I was on your level now. I thought… I thought this was it. The big one.

Even if we stand upon the same ground, I am looking down at you.

And you’re looking down at me now?

Yes.

You can see the cat on my face?

Yes.

Can you take the cat off my face?

Can you not?

I don’t want her to be mad at me. Cats have claws.

You should have no fear of mortal injury, now. Your flesh is as mine is—ethereal, eternal. Unblemished.

You got rid of my freckles?

I did nothing. You were brought to me, after you… took your leave.

You can’t even say it, can you?

It does not need to be said, between us. We are both knowledgeable of the incident, through different eyes.

‘The incident’?

I refuse to speak any further of it.

Is that emotion that I’m detecting?

You are mistaken.

No, no, I’m sure that I heard a flicker of guilt behind those stoic words of yours.

You know I could do nothing.

I know. But I also know you wish you could have done something.

Let us speak no more of it. You are here, now, and in remarkably good spirits, too.

Did you mean for that to be a pun?

No.

Too bad.

Is there a reason for your positive mood?

I have a cat on my face.

You do. She is everything to me.

Frankly, I am offended.

You are a different everything, little one.

Now I feel like you’re saying it on purpose.

I do not know what you are insinuating.

I thought you knew everything.

That is a common misconception. I can see everything—that I wish to see. I can hear everything—that I wish to hear. I know everything—that I wish to know.

You don’t wish to know what I’m insinuating?

That was a jest. I thought you would appreciate it, in your good mood.

Funny. Yeah, I like it. You having a sense of humour is good, y’know? You should keep it.

I will try.

Can you move the cat?

Your form has physical aspects to it still; you can interact with her, as she interacts with you. You can remove the cat from your own face.

I don’t want her to hate me.

She won’t hate you.

But she’s sleeping.

She won’t wake up. She has slept through some of the greatest and most terrible events in your history.

…I still don’t want to move her.

You would be able to see me, if you removed the cat.

…

I see. You are afraid.

I am not afraid! Who said I was afraid?

I did.

You’ve still gotta work on that sense of humour.

It is normal to be afraid, little one.

There you go with the ‘little one’ stuff again. I’m not little, okay?

To me, you—

I get it, I get it. You’re like, bigger than my possible imagination and all that.

That is not what I was going to say.

What were you going to say?

To me, you are small. That is all.

I think you’re lying.

I am not lying to you. I think you should remove the cat from your face.

I think she’s comfortable.

You cannot be comfortable with a cat on your face.

I didn’t say that, did I?

Fear is a normal reaction. She was scared too, once.

But not now?

Now, she sleeps. On your face.

I noticed.

A place from which you should move her.

I don’t think so.

I have prepared for you. You should find the surroundings to be comfortable. Familiar.

I don’t really want familiar.

You don’t wish to be reminded of home?

No.

I… did not anticipate this. I did not think your home would cause you pain.

That’s alright. I didn’t either, until a second ago.

Is there somewhere that you would like to see?

Elsewhere. Anywhere. Nothing that I know. Nothing that I’ve seen before.

I understand. It shall be so.

I mean, you’ve seen everything, right? Everything you want to see, and all that. I haven’t. So just make it look like some place that I’ve never even thought of. Some place I couldn’t name. With different colours and sounds and fucking wallpaper. Don’t make it the same. It can’t be the same.

I understand.

Do you?

I sympathise.

Right. Because you can’t empathise. Because you’re so fucking big.

I can make myself smaller, if that would help. I had assumed you would want to see the image that I described for you.

… yeah, you were right. I don’t want you to change.

Even if it would make you more comfortable?

Look, how do you have the fucking time to do this?

To do what?

To be here. Talking to me. Looking at me with a cat on my face. Don’t you have like a herd of other people around here somewhere?

They are content. You are not.

I am fine. Look, you should just go and check on them. I’m sure someone will need you for something.

You need me, for this.

I don’t want to move the cat.

Would it be easier for you if I moved the cat?

Yes! That’s what I’ve been asking for this whole time.

I do not understand. You will see the same scene, whether I move the cat or you move her.

But if you do it, then it’ll… I don’t know. It’ll be different. If I have to do it…

You are afraid, and this is the form in which you need your comfort.

Has anyone ever told you that you should be a therapist? Because I think you have an amazing career ahead of you. You could charge top rates, honest.

You are using humour to deflect from the situation at hand.

Keep going! You’re getting better with every line.

…I am going to move the cat.

…okay.

She is going to continue sleeping.

You’re sure?

I know this.

Okay.

You will see a scene entirely different from your home, which your eyes have never seen before.

Not like some creepy shit from a horror movie, though?

No.

Okay.

And you will see me.

Yes.

You are prepared for this?

I… no. But I guess it’s gonna get worse the longer I put it off for.

It will not get easier than it will be in this coming moment.

Okay. And you didn’t catfish me, right?

I don’t understand.

You didn’t lie to me, when we were talking? About… you?

I did not. I told you what you wished to know, little one.

Please stop calling me that.

Are you ready?

Just do it. Move the cat. Make sure you don’t wake her up.

She is sleeping.

…you wanted to help, didn’t you?

I cannot interfere in such things, not in any meaningful manner.

You couldn’t even talk to him?

No. He belonged to another.

Okay. But you wanted to?

You know this.

I… yeah. I know. I just wanted to hear you say it. To make sure.

Little one, your name was etched onto every celestial body, written in my guilt—my regret. My wish to change what could not be changed, and cannot, now, ever be revoked. I am sorry. It was beyond me to interfere.

But you watched.

Yes.

You stayed with me.

Every moment.

Until the end.

Your last breath.

And you waited here for me?

Until you came.

Delivered, right?

Moving is not my place. Keeping is.

And now we’re here, right? The end of forever.

The start of eternity. I’m going to move the cat now.

Yes. Do it. I want to see you.

You will.

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