The only life
The heat was chewing Molly the cat from the inside. It wasnt the first time, but about fifteen days earlier shed stumbled across a patch of lowlying grass, already wilted and brushed by the first, timid frost.
Molly devoured every blade she could find, gnawing down to the stubborn roots in the hard earth. It lightened her, so much that she almost forgot how dreadful it had been. And now, once more
She couldnt locate that grass again, and even if she did, it probably wouldnt help much. Still, a soothing herb might at least mute the scorching, relentless blaze that smouldered somewhere deep in the belly of her cramped cell.
Who said a cat has nine lives? She has just one small, unnoticed, but warm, wrapping its waves around anyone shes managed to love. That life cant be resurrected, but it can be given away, if the cat so wishes.
Molly wanted She clung with all her paws to that tiny sliver of life and refused to simply lose it to eternity. She began scouting the streets for other people who had already misplaced theirs.
They werent any different from the rest of us they walked, talked, ate, and slept. But whatever kept them tethered to this world had slipped away, dissolving into the void. With that loss came the end of another life. The bereft turned into the Others.
Those whod lost a child, a lover, parents, or loyal friends; those fed up with life, with God, with everything theyd once trusted. They simply drifted on, becoming walking shells, like androids flesh without purpose, only capable of chatter and chewing.
People rarely notice them, but cats see them and steer clear. The Others have no place for a cat. Yet now Molly herself started seeking them out.
She slipped into a busy spot near a bus stop, took a quiet perch, and tried to stay invisible while watching. Around her were warm, lively folk with their own worries and joys. Molly waited, growing weary and ready to give up, when a sudden chill brushed her heated spirit.
A woman young, pretty she blended into the crowd, but Molly felt her. She sensed a cold vacuum, a ringing emptiness, a despair that had melted away. Molly sprang up, startled by the icy grip, and lunged at the womans foot.
Emma Clarke didnt understand where the cat had come from a bright speck suddenly under her shoe, a highpitched squeak, those big, beautiful eyes glued to her.
Emma bent down, just to give the cat a pat but Molly, her front paws wrapped around the womans wrist, clambered up her arm and halted at the shoulder. Pressing her nose into the crotch of the coat and digging claws into the fabric, she wasnt about to let go.
The Others didnt mind; it was easier to hitch a ride with a cat than to chase one down the street. Emma didnt resist she had no strength left, and neither did Molly. If Emma had wanted to, she could have brushed the cat away without effort. Two exhausted souls had found each other.
That night, unchallenged, Molly slipped under Emmas blanket. She didnt know what to do, so she followed instinct, inch by inch, settling on the cold body. Her own heat urged her onward Molly needed to make the most of the fleeting warmth.
On the fourth night Emma awoke to a whisper of the child shed never known, a baby taken at birth, retreating into the shadows.
Ill wait for you, Mum but not now. Its good you let me go! Emma forgot what it felt like to break into a sweat, to feel fear, regret, pity even any feeling at all. The cat, lying on her belly, stared at Emma with eyes that glowed like tiny lanterns.
Good heavens, youre hot, Emma muttered, patting the cat. What a solid, warm belly you have. She winced with each touch; the cat let out a thin, wheezing whine.
Molly was angry and disappointed. Shed almost given away her life when, suddenly, Emma jerked awake and began kneading the cats already sore belly. The torment was now unavoidable Neither a strangers life was saved, nor did Molly have the strength to keep her own.
Who said cats have nine lives? They have only one, which they can hand over if needed. But Emma didnt need Mollys life.
Just a few more hours, and we couldve saved her, a veterinarian soothing a sobbing woman whispered, after the latter burst into the clinic in the dead of night, interrupting a quiet night shift.
The shock will pass, Ill keep an eye on her, and youll be able to take her home. Stop wailing You made it!
Cats dont have nine lives. They have just one, which they may give away if they wish. And if youre willing, you might even get that life back the very one she shared with you.
