Short Story Soup

Felines and Feathers

A/N - This short story was for the Take Your Pick Challenge (May 2021)

***

My cat is weird. No, I get that a lot of people have weird cats, I've seen the YouTube videos, believe me. But Evinrude is seriously a strange one. Yes, he's named after the dragonfly in the Rescuers, who is named after a boat engine, and he's just as noisy. Like most cats, he has moments when he wants his snuggles, and those when he just wants to sleep in the sun. He plays fetch, which is actually kind of cool. He knocks things off counters, and he tries to steal any deli meat you're trying to make a sandwich out of. His favorite snack is a whole egg yolk because he can play with it and eats it when it no longer rolls.

But that isn't the weird part. Every Monday, and only on Monday, at precisely 3 AM he wakes up for a walk. Which means I must take him for a walk, because he is an indoor cat with insomnia. I would try to sleep through it, but there is no way to be in dreamland while a cat wrestles a crinkle ball on your head. So, a walk it is, or he'll wake my Aunt and I'd be dead. Being an indoor cat, I can't just slap a leash on him and go, so I got him one of those cat backpacks with a window for him to look out from. So far, that works, and he seems to be enjoying it.

I don't mind too much, because over the last few months of this habit, I've grown used to it. We don't have a normal pathway, since I'm still exploring my new town, but we keep away from the major roads because the cars freak him out and stick to the side roads and bike paths. Tonight, I decided to walk through the graveyard that is down the road from me. There would be no traffic at this time of night, and that was key to getting Evinrude calm. I popped my headphones on, put a music mix on a low volume, and headed out.

Summer, even at night, in South Carolina is warm, but I like that. The insects were out in force but having learned my lesson I had taken the precaution of dousing myself in bug repellant. Crickets were chirping their butts off, which always made Evinrude twitch on my back, like he needed to go hunt them down. The graveyard was peaceful, nothing was moving, and the air was still. There was a small road through the cemetery, and it was a very calm place to walk, if you ignored the gravestones and what was beneath them. I was glad I had given it a shot.

Until I saw the eyes.

Normally, light reflecting off eyes at night isn't a big deal. It could be a squirrel or racoon, and they'll scurry away, or a bird that takes off when you get to close. But these were different. They were low, right next to a raised tomb, and when I saw them, they rose, up and up. They were attached to a long neck, wish a bulbous body sitting down on the ground. My mouth went dry with fear, and I froze in place. What was that? It wasn't moving towards me, but it was staring, seemingly studying me, and I was getting more and more paranoid.

I started to edge backwards, keeping my eyes pinned on whatever this monster was, and then stumbled over the curb of the little road and started to fall backwards. A pair of arms steadied me before I fell, and I whirled to see a girl staring at me with a smile on her face.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. "I mean, sorry, thanks. Oh, fuck I need to sit." And I did. Right on the grass, keeping my eyes on those of the creature.

The girl sat next to me, sighing contentedly. "Isn't she beautiful?" She murmured.

I assumed she was talking about the creature, but I had no idea how she could say that. "Umm... yeah, I guess so."

"I come here every morning to see her." She continued.

I turned to look at her, tearing my eyes from the creature, and in the dim light I could see that she was adorably cute. She had a little button nose, and shoulder length dark hair, though I couldn't get much more detail in the darkness. "So, you're a monster hunter?" I questioned.

She giggled in response, and I had to smile at the sound, like a little stream trickling down a hillside. "No, I'm not. She's an emu."

I turned my head to look again, but I couldn't see enough in the darkness to see. But I could imagine the sitting body, and a long neck with a head on top. I started to breath easier knowing what it was. "So, what is an emu doing here in the middle of South Carolina?"

"Oh, there are several emu farms in the state, she must have escaped and wandered here." She said with a shrug. When she mentioned that, I recalled seeing several signs for emu and ostrich farms on the drive up I-85 to my aunt's house, I had just never paid too much attention to what that meant.

"And what makes you think it is a she?"

"She's on a nest with 3 eggs in it." She nodded at the emu, not that I could see any nest in the dark.

I had to admit, this was an interesting experience. I would have never expected to run into an emu, let alone have a conversation with a pretty girl in the middle of a graveyard before most people are awake. "So, what brings you to the graveyard so early? Besides the emu of course."

"I work at the Krispy Kreme in town, I have to get there early to make donuts. This is just a daily detour on the way." She explained with a wide smile. "And what brings you here?"

"I'm walking my cat." I said blandly, hooking my thumb towards the backpack.

She leaned back to look in the little window and squealed in delight at the little face looking back at her.

"So, if I came here tomorrow at this time, I might see you again?" I prompted. It was hard to tell in the faint light, but I thought that might have caused her to blush.

"Well, you could do that. Or you could just come to the donut shop if you wanted to see me again." She turned to look at me with a grin.

"And who would I say I was looking for?" I needed a name!

"You would say you're looking for Allison."

"And does Allison get a break?" I wondered with a smile of my own.

"She does. Usually around 9 when the rush dies down."

"Well, if this Allison person hears that she has a visitor named James looking for her, I hope she could come share a donut and talk a bit." I suggested.

"I think she just might, she'd probably like that quite a bit." She said, nudging my shoulder with her own.

"This turned into a pretty amazing night." I sighed.

"I have no complaints." She said with a smile of her own.

"Can I walk you to work?" I asked softly.

"Yes, please. I'd like that." She replied softly.

I stood up and held out a hand to help her to her feet, and we set off to her work, we never did let go of each other's hands, and it felt like a perfect beginning. I wasn't sure where this was going to go, but I had hope, and I had a feeling that Evinrude was going to get a lot more 3AM walks in the future.