To Walk In My Mind: A Collection Of Short Stories

Martha, the space knitter, and her trusted companion Carl, the cat

It was an ordinary day for Martha and her cat, Carl. She sat on her old, weathered couch watching an episode of "The Price is Right". Suddenly, her knitting needles began to glow. "It's that time again, Carl!" she spoke to the calico feline. He jumped into her lap eager to help.

She grabbed her knitting needles transforming the world around them. "Hold on, Carl sweetie. It looks like we're going pretty far back in time." She stroked the feline gently under his chin causing him to purr madly. The dust finally settled and Martha opened up her eyes to a very idyllic view.She settled into her chair to find a spool of yarn beside her-her new project.

She would have to concentrate all of her energy to fix the time and space holes in this project. Carl jumped out of her lap transforming into the size of a bear. Martha innocently patted his head "Do you want to go on patrol? Tell me if you see anything strange."

Carl meowed to express his understanding of what Martha had just told him. He liked to take first look at their new surroundings. It was his sacred duty to protect her. His fur stood on end as he smelled the ground. Something was very wrong here.

He growled in distress alerting Martha to the danger then took off running towards the danger. It took him about twenty minutes to locate the danger-a massive creature with a spiked tail. It munched on a tree completely oblivious to Carl's presence. Carl roared and the creature smashed its tail in Carl's direction.

Martha inserted her needle in the first hole and pulled apart the tangled mess. Carl snarled at the creature as the spikes on its' tail disappeared. Carl jumped on the creature's massive back. The creature wobbled side to side to get him to fall off, but Carl inserted his claws deeper.

The creature yelped helplessly as Carl slid down to its tail pulling apart its' flesh. Martha pulled the stitches tight fixing the first hole in the project. Carl licked his fur as the creature vanished. "One more to go Carl!" Martha shouted to him.

Carl sniffed the ground once more trying to identify more danger. There was no noticeable wrong here so he took off in another direction keeping his head low to sniff often.Martha busied herself with the tangles in the next hole. Carl pawed at a bubbling creek.

It was then that Carl picked up the scent of danger. It was in Martha's direction! She placed down the yarn and held up both of her needles like weapons. Danger? The thought made her laugh.

She was alerted to a strange sound to her right. She turned her head toward the noise as a small creature jumped into her lap. It began nipping at her left arm, but she stabbed into it with her hand's needle. She shooed it to the ground with both needles as she slowly stood up. Carl paced a few feet away from her.

There was a tiny group of the creatures at her feet! They began making the most obnoxious sound ever at the sight of Carl. He merely roared at the group and they scattered away. Obviously, they were terrified of his size. Carl licked at Martha's wounds on her left arm instantly healing them.

"Thank you, my dear" Martha praised him. She pulled up the yarn and her needles and went back to work again. She closed that hole finishing up the project. Carl jumped back into her lap transforming mid-jump back into his original size.