Short Story

A Point of Mew

by Melania Paszek

The dangling Thingie from the Fluff is making me angry, why does it dangle? I poke and scratch. But it keeps dangling. Stupid, fluffy Thingie.

The Tall One is not back yet. I’m hungry. But I don’t know how to get to the Food Box up there. I can’t reach that high.

I only hop on the Watching Spot. The Watching Spot is so that you can watch, but not touch. Sometimes you can hear Sounds, but not as loud as in the Screaming Box. The Tall One likes to watch the Screaming Box for hours, in different times of the day. I understand. The Box is not very pretty, but it has a lot of pretty things in it. Colorful and loud. I don’t know how it all fits in there. One time I tried to look inside the Box, but there was no Hole to show what’s inside. I will find out. One day. It could be an adventure.

The Watching Spot shows a lot of Tall Ones. Sometimes they walk with Small Ones that look a bit like them and Little Ones, but not ones like me — the Loud, Wiggly Ones. Tall Ones call them Dogs.

I hear the Thumps! And the sound of the Gate Opener! Tall One is here! I hop off the Watching Spot, to the Soft Sitting Spot, to the Down and run to the Gate.

“Hey, you! How’s my favorite honey?”

See how happy she is? Told you that Tall Ones like us. I say hello and she strokes my head, making Happy Noises.

“You’re probably starving, huh? Poor Moony, let me fix you something. . .”

The Tall One takes off her Second Skin and Walking Thingies. Wait, where did she go? Oh, she’s back. I yawn and scratch the scratchy place behind my Hearing Hole. The Tall One is going to the Food Room! Wait for me!

“Hurry up, please!” I moan. “You were gone so long. . .”

“One sec, Moony. Patience, sweetie.”

“Just no Salmon, please. The last time my tummy hurt because of that stupid fish.”

“Stop nagging, Moonsie! Be nice!” the Tall One is looking in the Food Place — crinkle, crinkle, clink, crunch, crank! I hear a hollow bong — she found the Food! I rush her even more.

“Oh, you’re horrible today! Gimme a sec!” says the Tall One. She takes her dark Head Fur and does some magic and turns it into one, long Head Fur. She does that a lot. I like it.

I go sit by the Eating Spot. The Tall One washes her hands. Then, she takes my Food Thingie and opens my Food and puts it into the Thingie. She’s making Nice Sounds. They are like Sounds from the Screaming Box, but the Tall One doesn’t open her Eating Hole at all. I like it when she is happy. She is not happy a lot. She is usually not happy or she becomes angry or. . . she’s Nothing. Then, she sits or lies on the Soft Sitting Spot and looks at the Screaming Box or the Thin Silver Box. I shout at her and sit on the Sitting Spot or even try to play with her. Sometimes she reacts. Sometimes it’s like I’m not there, for a long time. Some days she doesn’t get up from her Sleeping Spot for a very long time. It’s weird. I don’t know why she does it. But that’s okay. I do that too sometimes. Then we are both in our own Sleeping Spots or both in hers.

We don’t talk in the same way, but she understands me — most of the time. Thanks to this, she didn’t give me the Salmon in my Food. I get Chicken. Chicken is yummy, so I try to make a happy face like she does and I say thank you. My friends say that saying thank you is stupid, because then we let the Tall Ones know we are grateful. So we lose some power over them. But I like my Tall One. She saved me from the Bad Place. I want her to be very happy. So I let her know when I am happy.

My Food is yummy, but I can’t eat any more. She made more than usual, the Food Thingie is almost full. Tall One doesn’t like when I leave Food, but she knows that I will eat the rest later. I try not to waste Food, though I know we have lots of it in the Food Box. I didn’t finish my Food a few times. I know it makes the Tall One sad, so I don’t do it if I can.

The Tall One is gone, so I leave the Food Room too. I think I will go to the Watching Spot and then maybe. . .

BANG!

I hop and hide under the Four-Sticked Thing in the Big Room. What was that? Is the Big Water falling outside? That was horrible, so loud! I hope the Tall One didn’t get scared like I did. . . Sometimes she gets scared when she watches the Screaming Box, but I think she likes it, because then she usually makes Happy Noises. I need to check the Noise. But it’s so scary. . . What if it’s the Sucking Beast? Or something worse? No! I have to be brave. For my Tall One. For adventure. I slowly put my leg out from under the Four-Sticked Thing. See? Nothing to be scared of. Okay. Next leg. The Scary Noise came from the Sleep Room. I need to get there. . . but carefully. Maybe there is a Monster somewhere out there. Okay, you’re almost there, Moony. . .

Why is the Tall One laying so weirdly on her Sleeping Spot, on her tummy and her face? Oh, maybe she wants to play! She wanted to scare me, bad Tall One! I hop onto the Sleeping Spot. . . wait. It’s wet. And it smells. . . I tap the Tall One’s back.

“Wake up! I heard some Noise, we need to see if it was a Monster!” I say. Is she sleeping? But the Noise was so loud, it would have woken her up. . . Then I see something shiny on the Sleeping Spot, near the Tall One’s Eating Hole. A horrible smell is coming from it. I saw this Shiny Thingie in the Screaming Box. They use it to. . . oh no. Oh no. I keep touching the Tall One.

“Come on, wake up! Let’s play! We can go Out if you want! I don’t like it too much, but I know you do! Or let’s watch the Screaming Box? Tall One? Meg. . .?”

That’s how they screamed at the Tall One. Meg. I liked it.

“Meg!”

I finally realize that the Sleeping Spot is soaked with Blood and that the Tall One can’t be woken up. I keep on repeating her name until other Tall Ones break the Gate. I walk after them and keep repeating what happened, the Noise, the Shiny Thingie. But they can’t understand me as well as Meg — no one listens to a silly little black Cat, meowing at them. They scream a lot. There are so many Tall Ones. More than I have ever seen. Everything is so Loud. And then, everything is very, very Quiet.

Appeared in Issue Spring '19