shorts- not pants but stories

make them last

Tabby died. I cried a lot but I knew she was already really old for a cat. She's always been there as long as I could remember, comforting me when I was sad, playing with me and just snoozing off on my lap. Tabby was the best cat I knew never scratching me or even hissing once in her lifetime. I asked my mother to buy me the "little friends mummify kit" from the pet store.

"Are you sure you want to have one honey, because if I buy one you have to do this by yourself. I can only help out a bit." I simply nodded.

I heard my parents arguing in a hushed tone cause my father was strictly against it:

"It's not the right thing for a little girl to do."

"But it was okay for you to go fishing, when you were a little boy to get in touch with nature. You killed the fish yourself and disembowelled them without any regret. I mean you are always talking about it so proudly."

"That was different."

"Yes you did this because you wanted to eat them. Our little girl needs to do this because she had to part with a precious friend. And if this is a way to make it easier for her I will grant her wish. Don't worry, I'll observe her in the process."

"Why do I ever try to oppose you?"

"Cause you love to test my determination." They kissed and mommy took me to the pet store.

We quickly found the "Little friends mummification kit for cats" with manual, bandages, tools, enbalmingliquids, a whole lot of fibrefill as if I was about to sew a big plush toy. All I would need to treat stiff dead tabby. At the register the vendor asked gently if we would also like to purchase aromatic oils or glass eyes or specially shaped coffins or canopic jars for the organs.

"Tabby had pretty eyes." I said quietly with a very dry throat.

"Yes she did." Mom smiled sadly. "She had heterochromia. One eye was light blue and the other one was pale green."

"We have a whole lot of various cat-eye-pearls." She pulled out a large flat box from below the counter desk. "We'll definitely find the right ones." She opened the lid and all sorts of coloured marbles were in there neatly sorted. Yellow, gold, amber, honey, sea blue, azure, ice blue, grey, jade, emerald, lime, brown...mom quickly found the right ones.

"They are perfect don't you think?" she asked me. I just nodded for not cracking my voice. "I guess we could also use a canopic jar."

"We have a high variation: First of all the classic set with Amset, Hapi, Duamutef and Kebechsenuef in cat size of course. We also offer other jar variations. The one with the cat shaped lid is really popular among cat owners. And for children we offer Jars with a brush and colours so they can paint them to their taste." She presented various sets.

"What do you think, Honey?" I simply pointed at a classic ebony coloured canopic jar with a lid in shape of the head of the goddess Bastet. It was not as childish or pompous as the rest. The classic set looked simply ridiculously small. Like dollhouse interior. A cats liver, lung, stomach and intestines didn't seem to take much space. Even the one I chose was just as big as a sugar bowl.

Mom paid since we got all necessary supplies. I spaced out at this point. I barely remember how we got back home.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?" Mom seemed really worried. "Yes."

 I looked down at the napkin covered Tabby. I lifted the shroud. It was only a body. There was no light in the dry eyes. Tabby left long ago. I felt relieved. No matter what I was about to do wouldn't hurt her anymore. First thing was to remove the intestines so I moved the sharp scalpel over the belly cutting a across her chest like it was told in the manual. I removed everything. It was still wet and bloody as if she just died. Mom held the canope out so I could just fill it with what once filled Tabby, keeping her going to the point when it stopped working. I filled the hollow body with oils and salt in order to drain it off its liquids.

Removing the brain was hardest for me. Like the worst kind of pumpkin carving. Since we planned to fill the eyehole with the marbles it wasn't necessary to remove the brain through the nose: I extracted the eyes with a special spoon and drilled a hole into the skull trough the optic nerve or so I think. I had to fill it with a substance that liquefied the brain with a syringe. It didn't take long and I could pour the horrific juice in the jar and finally seal the lid with the head of Bastet.

The leftover fur covered skin had to rest to dry for some days. I only went out for school.

Janice Peeble must have smelled the conservation oils on me. I only know how she suddenly stood in front of me and said: "You are preparing your cat? How far did you come? I could give you some advice. I've done this so many times." I never liked her but I simply wanted someone to talk about it that time. She invited me to come to her house so I could see her "Collection". What a weird thimg to say.

I went to Jessica Peebels House the same afternoon. It was a huge place similar to a castle filled with antique furniture. She showed me around presenting everything in her pinched arrogant voice. And then she finally presented her collection. Not only mummified corpses of various animals. They were plasticised in different states of butchering. There was a goldfish I thought was still alive until she gave the bowl a tilt. It was half of the fish in the resin filled glass grave. Every kind of animal was there in every kind of conservation. Jars filled with bodies and poison coloured formaldehyde, Mummies in every shape and pose, even weirder the taxidermy. Janice proudly bragged how she made all of them herself.

"Did you love them?"

"Of course. I love each and every one."

"Even when they were still alive?" She stared at me weirdly.

"Do you remember any of their names?"

 "Animals don't need names." She said hollow eyed. And then she showed me what was most horrifying. A cage with a tiny cute hamster.

"My next project." I felt like throwing up and ran out.

I never told anyone about it. And Janice never talked to me as well. I was very glad about it. Tabbys mummification went on very smooth. Mom said I managed to give her a wonderful posture honouring Bastet in the best way. We put her under a glass dome and she always kept her place in the corner by the fireplace. I never had another pet after Tabby. But I'm sure Janice never stopped keeping animals. As material of course.