A Short Story Collection

Midnight and the New Cat

Another story based off my cat, Midnight.

One cool, fall day one of my humans walks into the house carrying something...is that another cat?

He looks to be a young male, only a 2-3 months old, and his fur is a creamy tan, except for his paws, belly fur, and nose, which are a pure white.

He had better not stay; nobody replaces Mittens! It's also not safe here for him. That thought sends me spiraling into my last memory of my brother.

~~~~~

It is dark among the deciduous and conifer trees; we are staying out of the house late. Together my brother and I are stalking a mouse behind a tall oak tree, all senses trained on the spot. Suddenly I hear a loud thump followed by a shrill screech ripping through the air. I whirl around on the leaf-covered ground to face my brother as our prey scampers away, only to find a trail of blood leading through quivering underbrush. Thinking Mittens was pranking me, I follow.

Why did he do that? We almost had our prey! I'll teach him a lesson. As I bound after my brother I come to a small clearing and find that Mittens is lying in a pool of his own blood with a large shadow standing over him.

"Run!" Mittens mews weakly, before taking his final, shuddering breath.

So I turn tail, just as the monster raises its head to look at me before charging. I manage to get away; my fur is completely black. My poor brother; his paws are white. No, were white. They're probably blood red by now. Either way, they must have given him away.

I tear through the doggy door that leads to the interior of our home of warmth and safety. In my heart, Mitten's spirit lives on.

~~~~~

I force myself back to the present. I have to make my humans take him back to his original owners; I can't let him stay.

So when my humans introduce me to him I hiss, buck away, and run, even if I am twice the size and weight. However, my humans are persistent and over the next week I give up and adopt him as my own. If you can't get rid of him, you might as well love and protect him.

They name him Apollo, and eventually he's nicknamed Spaz. What a little bundle of curious energy. He likes to play with me too much; Apollo doesn't know how to leave his elders well alone every once in awhile, despite my protests. Eh, I'll try and be patient. After all, I don't want to hurt him. I just hope he doesn't learn to use the doggy door any time soon, and when he does I'll keep an eye on him, every step of the way!

A little is made up because my family didn't find any trace of our other cat, Mittens. We also have no idea how he disappeared, but this is what we think happened. This is also just a guess at what goes on in Midnight's head.