Stacy's Cat (Electric Dreams Entry)

‘Where do I find a cat at three AM in the morning?’ was becoming an alarmingly frequent question Stacy found herself pondering.

It was Wednesday, she had work in the morning, and here she was, traipsing through the ghostly streets, looking for a cat. Not any cat mind. The cat.

She told her herself, she wouldn’t go looking again tonight. She had optimistically gone to bed at ten pm, and lain there, refusing to check the clock. The local church had thwarted her though, the clock tower chiming on the hour. She might had drifted off for a bit, but when she heard two tolls, she felt the bubble in her stomach and she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep.

She got out of bed, pulled on her jeans - previously discarded on the floor, and jumbled through a drawer to find a thick jumper. Then she waited. Sat at the front door.

She checked her phone every few minutes after that, willing time to pass her by.

At quarter to three, she’d pulled on her boots, slipped on her warm coat, and had gone outside.

It was becoming an addiction.

Ever since the first time. It had been an accident then, stumbling across the black cat, as she heard the distance church chime three bells. She’d been on the comedown side of drunk, and nearly home. Seeing the fuzzy black thing drop to the floor, and expose its soft tummy, she’d bent down to give it a tickle.

Her memory of the exchange was patchy at best, but it was like a distant dream slipping through her fingers. There was a moment, when she felt as though she had heard the cat. Not as though it was speaking, it wasn’t words that rang in her head, or a stray thought pushing into her own, but something deeper, bubbling up from her gut.

There was a hole in her recollection, she couldn’t remember what it was, what had happened next. As hard as she pushed, she could only recall that eventually, she’d walked away from the cat.

It was nearly five am by the time she got home and she’d just fallen into bed in a surreal daze. In the moment, as she felt asleep, she couldn’t recall it feeling like anything special had happened. She’d staggered down the last few streets to her house, and crawled into bed with her dress still on. It was like most nights out really.

Until the next morning.

Stacy woke up feeling renewed, refreshed like she’d never been before. The weighty, dull ache that haunted her limbs was gone, the heavy, groggy feeling with which she awoke, replaced, with a soft, foaming feeling of energy and optimism.

She didn’t need to drag herself out of bed, she found she slipped from the sheets with a willing readiness. Stacy pulled on her dressing gown, appreciating the familiar wear encasing her as she staring into the mirror, amazed at the reflection. The years of bags under her eyes had melted away, the worn grey tinge had vanished from her complexion and as she smiled, her entire face beamed back at her.

For the next week, everyone at work made some remark, asking what miracle potion - or man, had brought out her vibrancy. Her mother said it had taken years off her, and the more people said it to her, the more Stacy began to wonder.

She didn’t have a lot going on in her life, Stacy saw a few friends, her family, she had her TV shows, her gym membership, but there was a gaping hole. A gaping hole where obsession had quickly made its home.

She paused under the cold street light, pulling her mind back from the familiar path that still led her out into the night months later. It was three minutes to three. She’d know soon enough if it was another wasted night stamping her feet through the winter chill.

Her eyes chased dark shadows, looking for the twitch of a tail as she listened for the soft, cushioned crunch of a paw.

She waited, her breath snaking away from her in spectral, elongated wisps. Time moved differently under the blanket of stars, rushing and trickling as it saw fit. Now it had slowed, dripping down like sludging melt-water, still uncertain of movement in its liquid form.

She glanced at her phone, checking the time. One minute to.

This was it, if it was going to happen, it had to be now.

Nothing moved.

A preemptive despondency washed over Stacy, she always felt as though she fell short, and she would again. She would have wasted another night of what could have been good sleep, searching for a cat that was probably just a neighbour stray. Her mind turned against her. Stacy made a habit of underestimating herself, devaluing the things she did. She became caught up in the futility, the stupidity, of what she was doing; wandering around in the dead of night, hoping to see a cat.

A bush twitched on a street corner, a distant church bell rang out the first of three chimes, Stacy stared, transfixed, at the settling leaves, willing a black shape to move between them, her tempered hopes breaking free, soaring with the possibility of another encounter.

A small black nose pushed between the foliage, sniffing the air.

Followed by a pointed face, and spiny body. Stacy sighed a deep, desolated sigh as the hedgehog emerged.

She had known this was coming, that this was stupid, yet she still let herself get her hopes up. Every time she came out to look for the cat, it had been the same, nothing, no matter how much she wished it, and still she kept doing this to herself.

Dragging her feet along the pavement, Stacy wound her way home, moving between the rise and dim of sentinel streetlights.

She kept her hood high, the cold biting at her ears despite the fluffy lining. Her hands dove deeper into her pockets, cursing her for forgetting her gloves.

Her eyes on her shoes, Stacy didn’t see anything more then the green coat of the woman she walked into.

“Sorry!”

She ducked off the pavement as she walked round the lady.

“Did you see him then?”

Stacy didn’t look up, apparently having interrupted a phone call.

“Stacy?”

She stopped, turned to take in the black hair, the full length dark green coat and fine white leather gloves of the woman looking at her.

“Well? Did you see him?”

“I’m sorry? Do I know you?”

The woman swept her coat under her as she sat on the curb, retrieving a cigarette case from her pocket. Popping the brass clasp, she tipped the open drawer towards Stacy.

“Have a cigarette.”

Stacy wavered. The cold numbed her mind as she tried to think. She hadn’t told anyone she did this, they would have hit the roof to think of her wandering around the streets at night. An ebb of fear washed through her, competing with the rising intrigue.

Removing her hand from the warm sanctity of her pocket and taking one of the hand-rolled cigarettes, Stacy sat down. She pressed into her legs, trying to preserve her heat against the cold ground.

“It will take you months to find him again like this you know.”

The woman didn’t look at Stacy as she spoke, her eyes following the flame of her lighter as she drew a breath deep into her lungs.

“Him? The cat you mean?”

“Is that how you saw him? He walks many paths, that beautiful demon of a man.”

The fear, so well quenched by soft nicotine, sudden swelled inside her.

“Demon?”

“You don’t need to sound so worried, he’s just like us!”

“Us…?”

“Yes you know, we all have the same gift.”

The woman winked, her eyeliner exaggerating the gesture.

“Gift? What are you talking about?”

Stacy found herself inhaling hard on the slim cigarette, the harsh crackle of smoke easing her panic.

“Oh no need to be coy, I’m like you.”

A sense of dream like confusion began to seep through Stacy, and she found herself struggling to hold on to the moment.

“Fine fine, you need me to prove it right…?”

To her horror, Stacy watched, unable to move, the cigarette dripping sporadic ash onto her coat, as the woman pulled out a pocket knife.

“... What would prove it?”

“Prove what? What are you doing? I really need to get home!”

Stacy rose, dropping the smoulding butt of the floor, moving to walk away. A gloved hand reached out, grabbing her bare wrist, pulling her back.

A titan grip was cutting the blood flow to her fingers, and trying to yank it away, Stacy turned, to see the woman, with an exasperated expression, lift the knife next to her own exposed wrist. Centimetres away from Stacy’s hand.

“Please! Please don’t hurt me!”

Stacy, lost in the claws of fear, blurted the words out, tears running hot down her chilled cheeks.

Instantly, the woman let go of her wrist.

“Don’t cry, Stacy, no one’s going to hurt you, sit down, you seem so confused!”

“I am! I don’t know who you are, or what you’re talking about, and, you have a knife. And, I have to be at work in the morning!”

“Hey,”

The woman stood up, dropping the knife as she embraced Stacy.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I’ve scared you haven’t I? Gosh you are younger than I thought! No wonder he came as a cat. Oh pumpkin, I’m sorry.”

“Who are you?” Stacy blurted between breathes, “What’s going on?”

The heavy throb of time was catching up with her, tiredness only adding to her confusion, and she pulled away from the woman’s arms.

“I’m Nina, now, hush your tears, let’s get this sorted out.”

Nina sat back on the pavement, spreading her coat beneath her, pulling extra out to one side.

“Here, you sit on this bit, it’s much warmer than the cold curb.”

Her attention drawn by the ornate mother of pearl pocket knife, still spinning on the road, Stacy obliged, sitting down.

“Is the cat really a demon?”

“Well for a start, he’s not really a cat. But how much do you know? What have you been told?”

“Been told? Who would tell me anything?”

“Anybody, somebody, they couldn’t have been so cruel as to keep you in the dark your entire life. Someone must have told you something?”

“Something about what? What’s going on? I am still so confused!”

Stacy sank her head into her hands, starting to blame herself for her lack of comprehension.

“Here,” Nina withdrew her cigarette case, flicking it open, “have another.”

Stacy’s cold fingertips grasped the thin paper, lifting it to her lips as Nina offered the flickering flame of an embellished metal lighter.

“So you know nothing? Nothing at all about what you are?”

“What am I…?”

“Like me, like him, one of the few.”

“Few what?”

Nine leant in close, her red lipstick mouth lingering over the letters, as though speaking a forbidden word.

“...Immortals…”

Stacy laughed out loud.

“Yeah no, really, what is this?”

Wrinkles filled Nina’s forehead as she gave Stacy a concerned, probing look.

“Doesn’t it make sense, all the things you have been going through, the time slips, the impossible potential of everything laid out before you. Do you not feel it, in your very fibre, the endless vitality?”

“Time slips? Immortals..? Are you drunk?”

Stacy looked the woman up and down, noticing the wear on her coat, the frayed end of her brozen silken scarf. She had the fluid ease to her posture that so often came with alcohol.

“Time slips! You know? When time moves wrong, it jumps and you lose a bit, or it just runs wrong, like the days that last forever.”

Shaking her head, Stacy pushed away from the curb, standing up and pulling her jacket around her.

“Go home, get some sleep, you’re drunk lady.”

Stacy turned, walking away, her insides churning with a fearful sense of uncertainty.

“I may have the same gift Stacy, but I am not like him, when you see that, when you need me, I’ll find you.”

She tried not to hear the words ringing down the street after her, as shoulders raised against the world, she marched home.

That night when she got home, discarding her shoes in self-chastising frustration, Stacy promised herself, that was the last time she went looking.

---

For two weeks, Stacy kept that promise, and she didn’t go out at night.

She woke up still, but she just lay there in bed, resisting the wandering, yet still nagged by the curiosity. No matter how much she tried not to think about the cat, every thought, everything she saw, every path her mind trod, somehow led to him. She had to go back out, she knew she’d give in eventually.

It wasn’t hard for her to rationalise the woman away in the end. Stacy worked in a supermarket, wore a name tag, more people than she cared to think about knew her name. It was clearly just a drunken lady who recognised her, looking for someone to share a smoke, pass the night before she went home. She was never in any real danger, it had just been unsettling.

The more time went by, the more rose tinting she managed to apply to the memory, until one night, just after two, Stacy found herself once again swinging her legs over the edge of the bed by the light of her phone.

She couldn’t help it, something deep inside her couldn’t resist the allure of the cat. No matter how much she tried to push it out of her mind, she always had a vague awareness of him, there, ready to intrude should she give her thoughts a moment’s rest. Trying not to think about her late night walks, to forget and move on, haunted her. The more she fought not to think about it, the more she was constantly aware of the shadow it’s absence cast. It grew inside her, hooking into her until the urge to go out again became as painful as a physical itch just beyond reach.

She had to give in, she needed this.

It wasn’t just about the cat anymore, in a way, it had become about valuing something enough to let herself dream. She spent hours wondering about the possibility of the cat and the endless depths of the unknown. Something about going out in the dead of night felt reaffirming, and the secret activity had grown into something she treasured for what it was. The short stroll at three am, became a secret beacon in her life, something she could think about when she inevitably failed somewhere else.

She pulled on her jumper, nearly toppling the tower of clothes that had accumulated over it since her last excursion. Turning the phone screen away from her, she glanced the artificial light over the floor, seeking socks for her bare feet.

In a blink, she found she was stood at the front door, fully dressed; her coat zipped tight, her hands gloved, a scarf tucked around her chin.

She had no recollection of the moments that had led her from the bedroom to the front door. Tiredness was already wearing at her mind, and shaking away the temporary zone out as exactly that, Stacy opened the door in front of her.

As she clicked the handle, she heard the distant clock chiming it’s first bell, and in a sudden confused hurry, she flung open the door.

There, on the doorstep, twisting around after his tail, sat the black cat. A gush of recognition bristled through Stacy, chased by a warm, safe feeling. Seeing the light spilling out of the doorway, the cat pushed past her, making his way down her hall.

Turning after him, she caught a glimpse of the cat’s shadow, flickering between shapes as it stretched out behind him, as though possessing a life of its own.

Disconcerted, but compelled, Stacy closed the door. Taking off her coat, she found herself unable to resist following the cat, that no long looked so much like a cat, into her house.

This was one I wrote many starts to, and ended up only finishing this one. I might come back to the others, with a more physical accident leading to the revelation of being immortal, but it was really fun to twist the prompt up like this. The three prompts this time were: #1 your protagonist finds out by accident that they are immortal? how does he/she/they find out? How does this affect their life afterwards? What is he/she/they immortal #2 floccinaucinihilipilification #3 the story must include the sentence - “ Where do I find a cat at three AM in the morning ? ” - I went for focusing on the second two prompts, giving the character the trait of floccinaucinihilipilification (which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless) and really enjoyed thinking about a story that more focused on finding a cat.

This is my entry to the fantastic #electricdreams contest hosted by @tygertyger - there are still a few days left on this round so head over and give it a go it's a really great workout for the imagination.

Photo Credit by PxHere user Ricardo Daniel Guerra Ramos who only has a few other photos which are of beautiful landscapes! Well, apart from one not so appealing little bug eyed dude, although he is kinda cute really.

Thank you for stopping by, I have been off for Christmas, and it was my birthday yesterday! Wooo! Another trip round the sun, successfully completed another level of life. I am catching back up <3

Love and sparkle ~ Calluna