《The Hijinks of Fred and Demon》


 Prologue

    Fred was a writer. Particularly fantasy, sci-fi adventures. He was well known in the fan-fiction industry as the guy whose material you just had to read. Normally, Fred was prompt and well ahead of his self-prescribed deadlines. He reveled in his writing and smirked at those who struggled with writer¡¯s block.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you write? What¡¯s wrong?! Losing your edge!?! Did you even have one!?! Chicken! Loser!! Waster of space!!!¡±


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 Is That Me!

    Now Fred was not a cat/dog person. He had never before had a pet but he figured it wouldn''t be too hard. Plus, he¡¯d read on a Writer¡¯s Block Busters¡¯ forum, that pets helped to soothe and quickly end writer¡¯s block. Fred, thinking this just might cure him, quickly looked up the closet shelter, with a fostering program. After all, he had no intention of keeping the animal afterwards. The closet shelter turned out to be Fallen Angels Animal Shelter.


    Quickly jotting down the address he rushed out of the door.


    Only to rush back into the house quickly slamming the door to cut off his neighbors'' scandalized shrieks. Fred wondered what had gotten into the woman. Glancing down at himself he saw that he did indeed have clothes on but¡­ what were these? Fred rushed to the bathroom and looked at himself for what felt like the first time in several months.


    He had on clothes alright, but what he had forgotten was that they were the same old basketball shorts and college t-shirt from two weeks ago. But, that wasn¡¯t the worst thing. He gazed in abject horror at the visage in front of him. It was a man that he didn¡¯t even recognize. Instead, he resembled the town¡¯s resident homeless lush, Old Man Dayne.


    His once carefully coiffed and gelled hair and beard had gone wild, evolving far beyond unruly, to a seven generation magpie nest. Only, instead of a collection of shiny objects to attract a female, his contained evidence of all the various activities, from foodstuffs, debris from his gardening phrase, dust bunnies from his cleaning fix, to paint, from his, break the block, through colors phrase.


    Needless to say, Fred was a mess and so far from the cultured and distinguished man he had been. It was no wonder he wasn¡¯t recognized by his neighbor of 5 years. Granted he had never before spoken to the woman so there was that too.


    He felt an emotion that he had not felt since he was a child, shame. Shaking his head, Fred muttered, ¡°No, naw man. I ain¡¯t goin out like that.¡± With his view unobscured by feelings of failure, he tackled his latest project, himself.


    He got clean.


    Washed his hair and thought about trimming it, but decided that he would be fine with the rugged manly look. With that in mind, he looked up images of black guys with long hair.


    Swiping through he found that most of the guys¡¯ hair was way longer than his and the texture was different too. Going back to the top he typed in a different search black guys with medium length hair.


    Huh, it seemed that the sponge look would fit him best, but he didn¡¯t have a sponge for his hair, unless.


    Dropping the phone on the counter he quickly dipped down and opened the cabinet door under the bathroom sink and rummaged through his nephews hair supplies. Yes, there it was, a sponge.


    He remembered his sister saying something about it. He hadn¡¯t paid attention, but he had remembered his nephew working his small hands in circular motions on his head to create the pattern and being proud of his success.


    Smiling, he grabbed the sponge and set to work. After he had gotten his hair to a suitable spiky interval that reminded him of King T''Challa from Black Panther he began to work on his beard.


    Looking up beard styles he was mildly alarmed by the various different styles, narrowing it down to three, the bald man beard, the barely shaved beard and the friendly mutton chop. While the friendly mutton chop looked like it would fit his writer persona best he wasn¡¯t sure he could pull it off with his current barber skill set. So, barely shaved beard look it was.


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    Kneeling down again, he reached into the very back of his sink cabinets and pulled forward his clippers. They were still in the box that they came in, only missing the Christmas wrapping paper. Blowing the dust off it he opened it and read the instructions. Deciding he had better watch a YouTube tutorial.


    Scrutinizing the video twice and once more for luck. He whispered a prayer, plugged the clippers in and turned it on. Taking a moment to adjust to the vibrations, he took a deep breath and began carefully, methodically, trimming his beard. Until it resembled the guy in the YouTube tutorials'' barely shaved beard. Satisfied, he inspected the young man in the reflection and nodded in approval.


    While he wasn¡¯t the stylish cultured person that he had been, he no longer looked like Old Man Darnel at least. If he was honest with himself, he actually liked the way he looked, sort of like a skinny hipster. If he looked close and squinted as he flexed his arms he could see the budding of a muscle. He laughed, all he needed now was a beanie hat. Pausing for a minute to think, he realized, he just might have one.


    Muttering to himself he opened his closet doors and pushed his clothes, which were now, thanks to his recent efforts, organized by color, type and occasion, to the right, where the Christmas gifts of old rested. There he found what he was looking for. A pink checker patterned shirt, a gift from his brother, jeans with holes in the knees, another gift from his brother and there right on the shelf above a beanie hat. This time a gift from his sister. He remembered when he¡¯d opened the gift. What were her words? Aww yes,


    ¡°A hat to cover up his growing bald spot.¡±


    As if he would ever go bald. The Muckeneer men never went bald, although.., they did have a nasty tendency to die young.


    Best to not think of that now, he thought and focused on putting on his new outfit.


    Checking himself out in the shirt (the jeans didn¡¯t fit and the hat covered his majestic hair, so just no) he had to admit he looked good. The hipster style suited him. Maybe his siblings were on to something¡­ okay maybe his brother, but definitely not his sister.


    Nodding to himself he had a vague sense he was forgetting something. ¡°I am clean, got pants, socks, shirt, shoes, car keys, phone, belt¡­. What am I forgetting? Shrugging, he would figure it out later.


    Just as he stepped outside a gust of wind hit him. ¡°Haa''ekkSHIEW!!!!¡± sneezed Fred as he recovered, another gust of wind rushed past, throwing the sneezed out droplets of spittle and hot air, back into his face. That whiff of his breath just about knocked him to his knees.


    ¡°Aww Gawd..¡± wailed Fred coughing as he tried not to choke on his own breath as he rushed back into the house. Where he made a mad dash to his bathroom and got down to the business of not only brushing his teeth and tongue, twice. Quickly followed by, no less than, three rounds of alternating flossing and gargling with mouthwash.


    Satisfied, he worked up his nerve and did the age old breath test, cupping his hand over his mouth huffed and sniffed. Minty Fresh. Sighing in pleasure, and smiling with his now, pearly white and sparkling teeth, he sauntered out the door. Whistling to himself. Waving half heartedly at his neighbor, who cautiously waved back, as he walked to his car. Which due to its recent, detailed cleaning, and waxing, shone a brighter silver than the day he brought it, and started for Fallen Angels Animal Shelter.


    He arrived in seemingly no time at all, traffic being light. Most people were at work during this time of day, especially on a Monday. Yet, even though it was later in the afternoon, the sun mercilessly beat down on him, and the air seemed to shimmer over the cracked asphalt of the parking lot. He walked quickly to the forlorn looking building and hoped that it looked better on the inside then it did on the outside.


    Upon entering, the first thing Fred noticed was the welcome chill of the air conditioner, as it worked to cool down his sweat covered body. He took a moment to appreciate it and simply soak up the coolness. Taking a deep breath, his nose instinctively wrinkled, at the pervading musk of so many animals in close proximity. Although he couldn¡¯t see them, he could definitely hear dogs barking and felines wailing and was that a bird squawking? Briefly, he wondered if this was a good idea, but before he could turn around, the door closed. Setting off a loud Ding Dong that resounded throughout the building.

 Fallen Angels Animal Shelter

    For a moment there was silence. It didn¡¯t last long before the barking interwoven with plaintive meows and other unidentifiable animal noises increased in both volume and pitch as the door to the back opened to admit a woman. And what a woman she was. She was short and stacked just the way Fred liked ¡®em. Her hair was shiny and black fell in a long undulating wave down her back. Her eyes were the prettiest brown he had ever seen and her skin was a deep dark rich hot chocolate, the kind he loved to drink. ¡®Wow!!!¡¯ thought Fred momentarily stunned he missed her greeting and had to ask her to repeat it. Shaking his head slightly ¡°wha¡­ uhh.. Sorry the heat...um could you repeat that¡­ Smiling she repeated herself as she came fully into the room up to the counter


    ¡°Hi and welcome to Fallen Angels Animal Shelter. What can I help you with today?¡±


    ¡°Uh yeah¡­ umm yes¡­ so I¡± his voice cracked and he cleared his throat trying again. ¡°Ehh emm¡­ yes I came to see about your fostering program. I was thinking of a small dog or cat that is already house train. I mean uhh... trained. I uh, would love to have a companion at my home. Been lonely because I am alone. Not like no one wants to be with me type of thing but you know because I am single not that that is a bad thing or anything but like you know. I am just single right now. Heh, heh hmm¡­¡± pittered off Fred as he mentally shouted at himself to ¡®Shut up. Shut Up! Shut Up!!¡¯


    The lady seemed unperturbed by his verbal spillage and simply nodded her head. Seemingly excited at the prospect of having a new foster parent in the fold.


    ¡°I am so happy to hear that¡± she enthused. ¡°If you would just take a moment to fill out this paperwork.¡± She handed him a clipboard with a small stack of papers and a pen. And nodded at a seat right by the tall and vibrantly green plant in the corner.


    Smiling Fred took the papers and took the seat she indicated. He looked up to see she was not paying him any attention. Her gaze now fixed upon the desk computer where she typed furiously away. Her brow furrowed in concentration. Sighing at the visage she made before him Fred turned back to the clipboard in his hands and began the long and tortuous process of filling them out. Name? Easy enough Fred Muckeneer. Address 1234 Platesouras Place, Dinosaur, Colorado 81610. And so it went with Fred filling out the basic information at least for the first page. After that the questions were of the type he expected. What type of animal are you interested in? What age group are you looking for? Are you okay with an animal that has special needs? Yadda, yadda, yadda. He was able to fill these out with ease. Cat or Dog. 2-3 years old. No. No to an animal with heartworms, etc. but it was when he flipped to the last question that Fred seriously considered leaving. But before he could stand there she was asking that oh so innocuous question with that beatific smile,


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    ¡°How is it going? Do you need any help with anything?¡±


    Fred could no more resist her than a moth, its¡¯ ladylove light. So instead of walking out Fred sat there and read over and over that question and wondered just why the air conditioner was no longer working to keep him cool. The question wiggled and rattled, jiggled and prattled all throughout his mind;


    Why have you chosen to foster an animal? Please explain in detail as your response will have an effect on the decision to allow you to be a foster parent.


    There was no blinking cursor this time. But nonetheless the blank lines seemed to waver before his eyes just like the sweltering parking lot. His breathing became ragged. His heart beat thundered in his ears. Sweat gathered at his temples pooling together before sliding down his face, falling down to leave it¡¯s final mark on the world by adding to the spreading stain of moistness on the paper.


    It was then that he noticed it. It was the biggest and blackest cat that he had ever seen. It padded unhurriedly from behind the desk where the lady continued to type and headed towards him. He could only watch from the corner of his eye as it sauntered over to him. Only daring to look at it fully as it first jumped onto the potted plant, then the table. Then pausing to stare him fully in the eye daring him to move the cat put first one paw then the other on first his leg and then the paper where she laid down and promptly rolled over and turned her head at a seemingly awkward angle and stared up at him with her tongue partly poking out of her mouth.


    Fred only stared down at the cat wondering just how bad it would look for him to shove the animal off his lap, throw the papers at the pretty lady and walk out. As the probability of the lady going out on a date with him battled with his desire to get the cat off his lap and not face the empty page the cat did it.

 Demons Choice

    Demon


    Demon wanted out of this hellhole. She wondered yet again just how she had allowed herself to be caught in such a place. Thinking back she remembered aww yes the kittens. If only she hadn¡¯t had the kittens to slow her down. Yet those were the breaks as the humans like to say. HOOOMANS!!! scoffed Demon in disgust... anyway they came for her and her current brood during the hottest part of the day. There were three families there that day with 21 kittens between them. They were all feeding the hungry kitten here and there and cleaning their broods just as normal when it happened. The humans came with no warning. Although the earlier appearance of fencing and human scents in the time before should have been a clue. Cleo, the oldest mother, had warned them after all but no one listened. After all she was just a scruffy old thing and barely able to feed her young. She was WEAK. Demon and the others were strong. And ultimately foolhardy. It had been too late. They came and enclosed the area and then pulled up the ceiling and picked them off one by one. Enclosing them in small cages. Demon paused in her licking of her fur as the memory of the terror and fear for her kits rippled through her causing her fur to puff up. Shaking herself she turned on her side and began grooming her tail.


    When the man first came in. She had paid no attention. After all, people coming and leaving sometimes with animals or leaving animals was the norm. However something about this man caught Demon¡¯s attention. There was the usual explosion of ¡®I am available hormones¡¯ that all male humans seemed to spray when faced with the short female human. Unlike previous male humans this man also smelled of arrogance, desperation and fear. It was a mixture that Demon had not come across before. It appealed to her on a level that she had never before felt. It reached beyond the basic needs of food, safety and shelter to... to... something ancient and exciting. Something that demanded she pay attention to the man that he would be very important to her.


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    So she watched from her vantage point of the wall ledge and stared at the man. She watched as he did as so many other humans had done before. Sitting down playing with the miniature stick thing with the papers. She gazed with rapt attention as he rolled the papers over the wooden board one by one until he stayed on the final page and simply stared. She waited eagerly for him to turn the page but he didn''t. After a while she got bored and went back to cleaning herself. But then the smell of the man hit her.


    He smelled wrong somehow. The desperation was still there and so too was the arrogance but it was being overwhelmed by the anger, fear, and underneath it all pain. Normally smells of humans didn¡¯t bother her or at the very least she could ignore it but not this time. This time the smell lingered and seemed to follow her no matter how much she shifted and turned her body. Finally she could take it no more.


    She stood stretched with her tail in the air and gave a quick shake of her head. Then daintily jumped from one wall level until the next. Until she was on the floor. Walking underneath the swing door she padded across the floor to the man. He acted as if he could not see her. But she wasn¡¯t fooled. No one could ignore a magnificent cat such as she. Thus she put a little extra swagger and menace into her steps. She prowled to the man and calculated her approach. She jumped onto the delicious smelling plant and paused for a moment to savor the feel of the dirt beneath her paws before jumping onto the slippery table and making her way towards the man. He was finally looking at her fully. She smiled to herself and sauntered over to him. She looked up and stared him fully in the eye as she put first one paw and then another on the paper. Continuing until she was fully in his lap. She turned for a minute looked him in the eye and then laid down and purred. She was proud of her purr. She used it to soothe many a fussy kitten over the years but this was the first time she had used it on a human. No one could resist her purr. She smiled to herself, settling comfortably on the human male.

 Guess I Have A Cat?!

    Fred


    Fred was astounded the cat had just laid full out on his lap and now it was making a god awful rumbling sound. He briefly wondered if it was sick and how much trouble he would get into for throwing the cat off. Just as he reached out to the cat to enact his mental desire, he realized that there was something off. He stopped and wondered at what it could be. Furrowing his brow he assessed his senses and realized that there were eyes on him. He slowly looked up to find the woman had stopped typing and was staring at him in open astonishment.


    He looked to the side to see if anything had changed but no it was still just him and now the cat. He glanced at the feline that had overtaken his lap and realized his hand still hovered above it. He slowly moved it forward and lightly stroked the cat''s head. The cat didn¡¯t flinch. It just rumbled louder and looked back at him and blinking slowly with its tongue poking out. If he was honest it was kind of cute. Only kind of. He heard footsteps and looked up to find the woman had left her station and was walking slowly towards him. At least it felt like she was walking. It just happened to be in slow motion. When had the world narrowed down to just her. He openly stared as all other thoughts in his mind were blown away. Leaving only one behind. ¡®Oh. My. Gawd!¡¯ Had he thought her pretty before. No that word paled in comparison to her real beauty. She was a Goddess! A fully stacked Goddess not one of those who was but a wisp of a girl but a woman. With all the curves to go with the status. He felt mesmerized just by the movement of her hips and breast as they swayed gently from side to side. Huh the Goddess was talking. What had she said? Why did his mouth feel wet? Was he drooling? Had he drooled before this Goddess? FUCK!!!


    ¡°Umm ¡®cough¡¯ yeah sorry I was thinking about¡­. something. Could you repeat that?¡± Fred asked as he discreetly tried to wipe his face. Only to find to his dismay that there was indeed a little drool. Thank God it was only a little. Or should he say Goddess. Focus barked Fred¡¯s mind. ¡®Yes focus. What had she said?¡¯ He played back her words. It was something about the cat purring¡­. Oh yeah how had he gotten the cat to purr.


    ¡°Uhhh I didn¡¯t do anything. I was just sitting here and she came up to me¡­¡± That¡¯s a weird question, thought Fred, why would she ask me that¡­ wait.... ¡°Why is she diseased or something?!?¡± Fred froze just arresting the desire to shove the cat off his lap and run screaming to his car, drive home, jump in the shower and wash the diseased cat germs off in scalding hot water.


    Oblivious to Fred¡¯s struggles she continued. ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s just that this cat is really particular. She has actually been with us for quite some time and we were afraid she would never find the right home or I guess we should have been looking for the right person instead but it looks like she has now.¡±


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    ¡°huh what do you mean?¡±


    She smiled at him, her eyebrows raising in a silent answer.


    ¡°Uhh wait¡­ me¡­.nonononono¡­.I am more of a dog person you see and I um¡­ was looking for something more...young.¡±


    At those words Demon turned back over and decided to use the man¡¯s pants leg as a scratching post.


    ¡°YEOW!!!¡± yelped the man. ¡®Serves him right,¡¯ thought Demon as she dug a little harder and held on as the man jumped up and began hopping from one foot to the other trying to get Demon to drop off him.


    ¡°Oh look,¡± said the Goddess, ¡°she must really like you. She won¡¯t even let you go. You two are just too precious for words.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ are you¡­ huh..?!¡± cried Fred as he tried not to let the tears of pain that welled up behind his eyes slide down his face before the Goddess.


    ¡°Yes, Yes this works perfectly. Our little MoonCake is actually part of our special that we have going on.¡±


    ¡®What,¡¯ thought Fred, ¡®is going on? Can¡¯t she see that I need help. Lady get this cat off me. Is the cat moving? It''s freaking moving.¡¯


    As Fred continued to dance around Demon grew tired of hanging from his leg and began to move up towards his head. It looked like the perfect place to perch and it looked significantly more stable than his legs appeared to be. She was none too careful about her claws. Secretly delighting in the gasps of pain and squeals that the man voiced as she made her way to her destination.


    Mentally Fred screamed Oh my Gawd heeeellllpppp!!!. Out loud he said ¡°Ooooohhhh really... What special?¡± ¡®What are you saying you freaking idiot not another word. Tell her to get this crazed animal off you. Get it off. Get it off.¡¯ But just as he went to voice his mental thoughts she said it.


    Looking into his eyes and leaning just a little forward with her hands pressed against her ample bosom making her breast poof up just that much more as she smiled and said,


    ¡°MoonCake is a special cat and we would love for you to take her as a foster. It would mean ever so much to me. You would be helping us and giving her the person she needs.¡±


    Of all that Fred only heard, love, so much to me, needs. ¡°Oh yes,¡± breathed Fred.


    ¡°Wonderful, said the lady, standing up straight and clapping her hands. We are so very happy. I will just take your paperwork and let me get her carrier and favorite toys. It will only take a moment. And with that she snatched the clipboard from his hands, turned and headed into the back.


    ''What just happened?'' thought Fred. Before he could question it too much she was back.


    "Here you go,¡± she said as she handed him a carrier filled with toys, blankets, several cans of cat food and a folder of papers labeled cats. Glancing at the clipboard in her hands, ¡°Fred. There is already food in there and her favorite mouse toy as well as a blanket and a list of do¡¯s and don''ts. If you have any questions or concerns at all just give us a call. Our numbers are in there too." As she talked she guided Fred to the door being careful not to touch ¡®MoonCake¡¯ as she lay comfortably on her perch around Fred¡¯s shoulders.


    "Have a great day, well,¡± looking down at her watch, ¡°evening now." She smiled and waved at him as he stood in the parking lot.

 Demons my name. Making you pay is my game

    Meanwhile in Fallen Angels Animal Shelter


    Michelle peeked out the window at the man and the cat and shivered. Roger came behind her and encircled her in his arms. ¡°Everything okay love?¡±


    ¡°Yeah baby you know that cat.¡±


    Chuckling Roger asked, ¡°What cat are you referring to we have a lot of cats here babe?¡±


    ¡°You know that Cat¡­ Demon¡± whispered Michelle quietly.


    ¡°Oh yeah, her. What about her?¡± Asked Roger while superstitiously looking around to see if she was nearby.


    ¡°Well that guy who was just here.¡±


    ¡°Nnnoooo you didn¡¯t¡±


    ¡°Yes I did.¡±


    ¡°Babe.¡±


    ¡°What, that cat is evil. Straight Evil! And you know I don¡¯t say that kind of thing about animals but that Cat has some issues even the Cat Whisper would be hard pressed to fix.¡±


    Sighing and scratching the back of his neck Roger looked down at his wife and admitted the truth. ¡°I agree. There is something not right about that cat. I mean I swear every time an accident happens she¡¯s right there. That time the book from the top shelf almost landed on my head. The time I almost fell onto the bed of nails. The time the grounding wire almost electrocuted me. Babe if you hadn¡¯t been there I am sure I would¡¯ve been dead by now. And it hasn¡¯t just been happening to me. Jamal and George had those accidents too and now they are-¡±


    ¡°I know Roge, I know, I am glad we have insurance for all our staff.¡± Turning in his arms Michelle hugged him just happy to be in his embrace as they gave comfort to one another each determined to ignore the niggling feelings of guilt in the back of their minds.


    Fred


    Fred found that driving with a cat around your neck was a perilous situation one he would prevent from happening in the future. As it was the cat, MoonCake. Pfft, MoonCake, for this cat?! More like Queen of the Damn or what was that weird girl from that weird family called? Uhhh it was some day of the week. Monday, no Tuesday, no Wednesday, No Saturday. Yeah that sounded right Saturday. Wait no that wasn¡¯t it either. As Fred pondered the right name for the character. Demon was having the time of her life.


    She was finally out. She was free. Now all she had to do was get rid of the man. But where she had no qualms in setting up little situations for the other men. She felt that something. That initial something that had drawn her to Fred was still pulling at her. Insisting that she pay attention to the human male. Sighing Demon yawned and meowed with delight as the human male tried to inch his jugular away from her teeth. While she wouldn¡¯t try to get rid of him right away. She wasn¡¯t above having a little fun now and again. Grinning to herself as only a satisfied cat could, Demon relaxed on her human male perch and enjoyed the ride.


    Fred was sweating by the time he got himself and the cat home. This cat was truly a menace how had he chosen such a creature. Oh yeah boobs.¡¯ Thought Fred pausing in his task of gathering all the supplies to take into the house to reminisce of the woman''s boobs puffed up ever so slightly by her pressed hands.


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    An indignant Meowrr from MoonCake got him moving again.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah I¡¯m moving. Hold your whiskers.¡± grumbled Fred as he got the rest of the cat supplies he¡¯d picked up from his quick run to the Super-Duper Store from the back seat of the car. Slamming the door closed with his foot. He made his weighted way to the door where he struggle-juggled until he had enough clearance to grab his key and open the door.


    He wasted no time dropping everything on the floor just out of the pathway of the door. Happy to be out of the heat and back into his air conditioned and recently clean home.


    Leaning back to stretch he paid no attention to the offended yowl that his newly acquired pet gave as it slipped off its perch and landed on the floor with a quiet thud. Glancing over his shoulder he wasn¡¯t surprised to see that she had indeed landed on her feet.


    He smirked down at her only for it to be replaced with a yelp of pain as the cat swatted out at his leg, claws extended, catching skin.


    ¡°Ye little Demon!¡± yelled Fred as he hopped on his uninjured foot. While he held his other leg in an attempt to put pressure on the bleeding scratch.


    Mildly pleased that the human had said her name Demon stared up at him. Holding his stare for a full minute until he broke contact. ¡®Just like that dominance established¡¯ thought Demon. Deciding that he had learned his lesson she sauntered away. It was time to check out her new domain.


    Cursing and muttering dire predictions of the cat¡¯s future, Fred limped to the bathroom and quickly found and applied alcohol and a band-aid to his cut. Sighing he turned and stared at the man whose reflection looked back at him in the mirror.


    What had happened to him? Was it not just this morning that he had left here all confident and ready to tackle his writer''s block. Instead he had freaked out answering a question on fostering an animal. Something as simple as a paragraph that required no more creative thought than saying the alphabet. Yet he had choked. Not only had he choked, he had almost wigged out. Had he really considered throwing the papers at the woman, not just any woman but a Goddess? Honestly if it hadn¡¯t been for the stupid cat then.. then what. Shaking his head, Fred contemplated his life. He would have continued to contemplate his life while staring at himself in the mirror had it not been for the loud crash of something breaking. Running out the bathroom he skidded to a stop at the kitchen entrance and stared at the wreckage.


    In the time that he had been in the bathroom it seemed that every single drawer, and cabinet door had been opened. Flour was everywhere, airtight containers of cereal had been mixed with the flour creating a parody of a giant bowl of cereal and milk. The 3 bean casserole that he had left out with the intention of eating it later had been partially consumed by the cat. Who was nowhere to be seen. How the hell had the Demon Cat down all this. He hadn¡¯t even been in the bathroom that long. ¡°No no no¡± wailed Fred as he took a careful step into the kitchen only to pause and look down to see that his vase that he had painstakingly created over the course of three months, fired in the kiln and waited with baited breath hoping this time it would make it out whole. And when he finally let that breathe go at seeing that it had made it through intact, celebrated by buying an assorted flower creation to match. It was now scattered all over the floor, the vase broken into pieces and the water mixing with the floor to create a vastly unappetizing cereal dough. Fred wanted to weep. He had worked so hard. So very hard to get that vase right. To get it to its final stage to paint the intricate pattern on it and now all his hard work was for nothing. Nothing! Fred breathed taking in the smell of the spreading nausea inducing odor of the food mixed together and got angrier with each flour laden inhalation.


    ¡°Meowrr,¡± called the Demon Cat. ¡°Meow, meow meowrr.¡±


    Fred felt himself running. He didn¡¯t remember making the conscious decision to do so but there he was. He felt like he was having an out of body experience and just watched himself as his body chased the cat throughout the house yelling and screaming expletives. The cat managed to stay several feet ahead or turn before it could be cornered. He watched as his body careened off walls. Banged into the couch, tables and chairs. Cringing as he jumped over an ottoman and missed his landing falling on the floor so hard as to shake the walls causing the last of the hanging Hugo awards to fall onto the floor with ominous sounding cracks. He laid there for a while too winded to get back up and realizing there was no way he would catch the cat and just breathed.


    Demon


    Demon watched from her perch atop the shelving as the exhausted man panted on the floor. He was, interesting, this man. Leading him on a chase was quite fun. Too bad he was so out of shape. No matter, she would work on that. Thinking of her next set of plans she licked her paws and cleaned her body of the white dirt that seemed to be all over her. While wondering when the man would get up and clean up his home. Really some people just didn¡¯t know how to be tidy.

 Disaster Zone

    Fred woke with a start realizing quickly from the pain and discomfort that he was lying on the floor. Why was he lying on the floor? Why were his legs on something that made them at a higher elevation then the rest of his body? If it was night, why were the lights still on? Opening his eyes he was startled to find his home looked ransacked. I¡¯ve been robbed, he thought as he tried to jump up. However this process was quickly aborted when his back protested quite loudly and rhythmically with sharp spikes of pain that it was not a good idea. Slowly and carefully mindful of his aches and pains he lowered his feet from what he realized was his front room ottoman and rolled over onto his stomach. Taking a fortifying breath he got to his hands and knees groaning at the stretch of muscles and tissue that had been compressed into odd positions and stood coming up to his full height.


    Carefully stretching his neck from side to side he looked around to find that all the lights in the house seemed to be on, showcasing the mess of his home. Pictures frames were knocked off walls, tables and chairs lay scattered about. His prized collection of Gorillaz figurines lay scattered all over the carpet. Books that had been carefully placed for the maximum eye-catching appeal had been tossed aside and now lay sprawled open on the floor amongst the other casualties. Fred wondered how he could have been robbed and not remember it. Surely he would remember someone.


    ¡°Meow, Meow, Meow¡­¡±


    Was that a cat?


    ¡°Meow Meowr, Meowrrr!!¡±


    Why was there a cat in his house? Wondered Fred as he walked closer to the sound pausing to look in dismay at his destroyed kitchen. Perhaps it was his neighbors. They had an orange tabby that liked to shit in his garden.


    ¡°Meoowww!¡±


    ¡°Alright I¡¯m coming!¡± yelled Fred as he picked his way through his broken glass littered on the hallway floor glad he still had his shoes on.


    ¡°Meowwwwww!!!¡±


    ¡°Coming, coming, coming,¡± muttered Fred as he picked up the knocked over table and the potted Raven ZZ plant that he had brought only a week ago. Staring blankly at the dirt for a minute before shaking his head and continuing on into his bedroom where he paused in the doorway and blanked in a disbelieving stupor at what he saw.


    Feathers floated in the air cascaded slowly to the ground coming to rest amongst its fallen brethren coating the floor, tables and bed turning the rustic modern room into a white mockery of a wonderland. The plundered and thoroughly plumed pillows lay still on the floor their casing ripped open, their empty bellies on display. His comforter which he had specially designed for his room¡¯s aesthetic had been scratched and torn from hell to back. A rank odor of the likes he had never before encountered prevaded his room.  He took a step into the room and stumbled barely catching himself on his bedpost. Looking down he discovered his shoes laying like decimated prey whose dying struggles told a tale. Bits of their buckles, strings and leather creating a trail of unsuspected horror that led back to their once organized home. Fred followed this trail and could only gasp in horror when he found his hours of work color coding and season placing of his clothes had been undone. His clothes lay all over the bottom of the floor covered in patches of fur. What wasn¡¯t covered looked to be ripped and torn into shreds. A mockery of their former forms


    ¡°Meow?¡± Questioned the cat.


    Oh yes, the cat. Turning slowly around he found the demon cat was sitting sphinx like on the bedside table. So still that he had mistaken it for the lamp that no longer rested on the table but was now lay on the ground it¡¯s lamp cover askew. Fred stared at the Cat and watched as it stared back and blinked at him.


    ¡°You¡± growled Fred as he pointed in rage at the cat. ¡°It was all YOU!!!¡± Fred felt anger like he had never before experienced well up in him. A tidal wave threatening to engulf him and pull him under its deep fiery depths. Oh how he wanted to sink into it and, and, and what? What was he going to do? Fight a cat? An animal that was not nearly as smart as humans and clearly nowhere near his own intelligence. Sighing Fred dropped his finger and walked backwards until his back hit the wall and sunk onto the floor. What was he doing? Where was he going? Was this his life? Was he looking at his future? A life where he chased after a cat? Got angry at an animal for only following its natural instincts. Because let''s be honest Fred thought to himself, ¡®it wasn¡¯t the cat that knocked over the table and chair or the picture frames from the wall. It wasn¡¯t the cat''s fault that he had left his bedroom door open or that he hadn¡¯t cat proofed his home.¡¯ Groaning Fred leaned his head back against the wall hitting it with a thud. The sound and bit of pain felt satisfying to him so he did it again and again and again. Just a little harder each time.


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    Demon


    Demon watched the human. It was hilarious to watch his reaction to the devastation that she had wrought. He had awakened before she could truly complete her plan of taking a crap in his shoes, but oh well. It was alright she had thoroughly soaked his bed so it was of no real concern. Only a bit of extra if she was honest with herself. She grinned and watched as the man stumbled about sending puffs of feathers in the air with each step. She willed herself to not react to them although the desire to chase was strong. No, she would show the feathers that she was the boss later. First she had to see what the man would do. But just as Demon tensed to run while the man shouted and pointed at her she smelled it. The smell that she didn¡¯t like. The one filled with pain and fear and sadness. The one that pulled at something ancient in her. She watched in curiosity as the man sat in the feathers and hit his head against the wall. It was a strange behavior, one she had never before seen in humans. Briefly she wondered if the man might be diseased. She remembered coming across rats like that. The rats that the other rats avoided and predators knew not to eat because it didn¡¯t smell right and acted crazy. But no, there was no foam coming from his mouth and he smelled like a human male except for the extra layer of scent.


    Watching the man further to see what he would do Demon felt dismay to find that he was only continuing his behavior. Perhaps she had pushed the man too far? Feeling slightly bad Demon jumped from the table to the unsoiled parts of the bed and walked closer to the man. Stopping to sniff every couple of steps to see if the scent had changed. It didn¡¯t so she continued on landing softly onto the floor from the bed and gliding through the feathers until she reached his side. The man seemed oblivious to her presence. That just will not do, thought Demon. So she jumped into his lap. Stretched her body until her paws rested on the man''s shoulder and put her face directly in the path of his and meowed.


    Fred


    Fred opened his eyes and stared into the face of the demon cat. He knew when she had climbed onto his lap but felt no desire to acknowledge her presence. Not even when she dug her claws into his shoulder. But the meowing directly in his face with the cat''s breath that made his eyes water and his nose want to shrivel up and die were not things that could be ignored.


    ¡°Meowrrr,¡± yelled Demon. ¡°Meow, Meow Meow!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± soothed Fred and before he truly thought about it he found himself petting the demon cat. To his surprise the cat stopped yowling in his face and actually laid down against his chest and started to purr. ¡°How can you be so very, very evil one minute and loving the next? You''re a little Demon aren¡¯t you?¡± asked Fred as he continued petting the cat. Musing on that thought Fred sat there petting the cat he started to relax. He closed his eyes, deciding to ignore the room, the smell and the lights and just breath. He breathed as he stroked the cat and didn¡¯t think. Just kept his mind blank. He succeeded for quite some time, that is until the demon cat bit his hand and scratched him as it ran away from him.


    ¡°Yeow!¡± yelped Fred as he jerked his body in a delayed reaction to the pain. ¡°What was that for?¡± He asked but when he looked around the cat was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Fred looked around his destroyed room and decided that there was no time like the present and besides he wanted to sleep sometime. So Fred climbed to his feet. Taking his time as the back of his head was tender and his butt numb from resting without moving from the hardwood floor. Standing to his full height he stretched. He took a couple of steps and paused. Something about him was different. What was it? Fred looked around, nothing had changed, everything was still a disaster but he wasn¡¯t angry about it anymore and the suffocating heaviness that he had felt earlier was gone.


    ¡°Huh maybe there is something to having a pet,¡± muttered Fred as he began the arduous process of cleaning up his home. It took him 5 hours but he was finally done. The mattress was outside and would be taken with the rest of the trash on Wednesday. The feathers had been painstakingly cleaned up with the help of a broom and vacuum cleaner. The empty casings added to the trash pile. So too were the bed coverings.  The shoes and clothes that were salvageable were placed away and the closet firmly shut while the rest joined the trash pile. He went room by room cleaning, turning out the lights of the finished areas and closing them off to the cat. Finally he reached the kitchen. He was so very tired and all he wanted to do was sleep. He debated about going to sleep but couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it with the flour coating all the surfaces, the cabinets continents spilled all over and the food still left out.


    Sighing he grabbed a towel and began with the easy part, putting the can goods away after a good wipe back into the cabinets. By the time that Fred had finished cleaning the kitchen he felt like his eyes were burning and his stomach couldn¡¯t make up its mind, whether it was nauseous or hungry. Turning out the light in the kitchen Fred stumbled into the living room and sat in his favorite chair. Exhausted he put up the leg rest and pushed the button to lay the chair back. Reaching over he grabbed the couches¡¯ blanket and ignoring the muffled meow of protest covered himself with the blanket and passed out.

 Beginnings of Communication

    Demon


    Demon had watched the man as he had cleaned moving from perch to perch as he moved through the house. It was odd. The man wasn¡¯t yelling at her. Trying to find her and even when she had shown herself to him he made no efforts to chase her or even swat or kick her. She didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. It had never before happened especially after having laid one of her plans in motion. It was a bit unsettling if she was honest. So she watched while sitting on the comfy blanket on the long fluffy chair as the man cleaned up the glass from the floor and rehung the frames that were unbroken. Righting tables and chairs and overturned lamps. She watched as he grabbed the loud sucky machine and chased it across the floor. She watched as he sat down in the chair and put up the bottom part and leaned it back. She watched with curiosity quickly followed by indignation as he grabbed the blanket and pulled it from under her. Meowing in protest. She jumped to the top rest of the long fluffy chair and watched as the man turned off the last light source and went to sleep. She watched steadily as the man slept, blinking occasionally as he shifted and snorted. As the sun rose and as the sounds of the day beginning began. She watched until the sun reached her spot and made her too sleepy to move. She watched until her eyes blinked and didn¡¯t open again, having given over to sleep.


    Fred


    Fred awakened when the shaft of light that peeked between the cracked blinds burned into his eyes. Stretching and yawning he looked dazedly around wondering why he was sleeping in his front room when he had purposely spent a good deal of money on purchasing a high quality foam mattress that conformed to his body and helped with his sore and tired back, the culmination of years of poor posture while writing. Looking to his right he paused when he came face to face with the demon cat. Oh yeah that¡¯s why. He squinted and stared. She appeared to be sleeping but who knew with an animal such as she.


    He waited for the rage and anger that he felt the night before to arise but found to his befuddlement it still seemed to be absent. Instead all he felt was a sense of tiredness. Where had all of it gone? Sighing, Fred realized he really didn¡¯t care. He was more concerned with his bodily needs at the moment. With that thought forefront in mind he sat up and groaned at the twinges in his back, neck and arms. Pressing the button to put the chair back into a chair format. He stood and stretched before creakingly walking to the restroom. Where he relieved the pressure on his bladder, after which washed his hands before walking back into the front room to go through a quick run of his morning yoga routine during which his bones creaked and cracked back into place. Sighing in relief at being back to his smooth gait he stood to his full height and shook himself before walking lithely to the restroom where he began washing the flour from his body and washing the feathers from his hair he walked back into his room. Relieved to find that the smell from last night was blessedly absent. Grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a Big Bang Theory T-shirt featuring Sheldon. He walked barefoot into his newly cleaned hallway, through his living room and into the kitchen where he stopped short. There she was sitting perched on the kitchen counter, her head bent cleaning herself while her tail flicking lazily behind her. Fred stared, debating on what to do but in the end decided to ignore her. What else was there to do? So entering the kitchen he moved around the cat like it wasn¡¯t there and went about the process of fixing a quick fried egg sandwich with a chopped granny smith apple and tap water in his favorite Star Trek glass featuring Uhura.


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    Demon cleaned herself as she watched the man move around the kitchen grabbing things out of cabinets and muttering to himself. He acted as if he did not see her. HER. As if. ¡°hmpfh,¡± sniffed Demon and paused in her cleaning to watch the man with interest as he cracked some eggs and stirred them before cooking them in a pan. The smell colored the air reminding Demon of her own hunger. When was this man going to open her food? She was quite hungry. Starving actually. Perhaps the eggs were for her. Yes, that was it. The eggs were for her. Since that was the case she could be patient. So she sat almost perfectly still replicating a regal cat statue of old if not for the impatient flicking of the tip of her tail.


    Walking past her Fred sat at the table and began eating, staring into space and wondering what he was going to do today.


    Demon couldn¡¯t believe the nerve of the man. How dare he sit and eat the food meant for her? How dare he pretend he couldn¡¯t see her? She didn¡¯t want the stupid eggs anyway. Just as she turned to jump onto the kitchen island her stomach gave a mighty growl. The likes of which she had not had since she had been on the streets. Stopping, she licked her paw and stared at the man. Perhaps the man only needed a little encouragement. Perhaps the man¡¯s sight failed him and he just hadn¡¯t seen her. In that case she would get up and close and make sure he saw her and heard her complaints. It was time to remind the man who ran this home. Jumping to the floor she prowled over to the man. She stood for a few minutes and calculated the best approach. Smirking, she went for it, claws extended.


    God damn it!¡± yelped Fred dropping his sandwich, as he tried to jump up, only for his thighs to hit the table quickly landing him back into his seat. Pushing away from the table he glared down at the cat now in his lap. ¡°What the hell was that for? Are you trying to turn me into a pin cushion you freaking ¡­ CAT!¡±


    Demon smiled to herself. He definitely saw her now. Standing on her hind legs with her front paws on his chest. She made sure to dig her claws in as she leaned her face directly in his and yowled her hungry. ¡°Feed Me Human! Feed Me! Feed Me! Feed Me!¡±


    Fred didn¡¯t know what had gotten into the damn cat. One minute he¡¯s enjoying his meal the next the cat is climbing him like a tree and screaming in his face. As much as he just wanted to ignore her, the pain from her claws into his shoulders could not be denied.


    ¡°Meowrrrr! Meowrrr!! Meworrr!!!¡±


    ¡°What! What do you want, you Demon Cat with the stinky breath? Yelling in my face is not going to induce me to move faster.¡± Winced Fred as he stared back at the cat wondering how he was going to get her off him.

 Awkward Pincushion

    This isn¡¯t working, thought Demon. Granted the man definitely saw her but he seemed to be missing the message to feed her. Perhaps more pain was needed. As Demon began to flex her claws deeper into the man''s flesh a wuff of the eggs billowed by her. Pausing, she thought better of her original plan. If the man wasn¡¯t going to give her her own food she would just take his. Yanking her claws from his flesh she ignored his grunt of pain as she turned in his lap. She jumped to the table and sniffed the food before nudging the bread aside and making quick work of the eggs.


    ¡°Hey¡­ Hey! No, NO! Bad Cat! BAD CAT!¡± yelled Fred while waving his hands in a shooing motion. The demon cat didn¡¯t so much as budge. Just glared up at him managing to growl while eating his breakfast. ¡°Unbelievable,¡± muttered Fred. As he leaned back in his chair with a huff and watched as his breakfast disappeared before his eyes. Un-Fucking-belivable!!!¡± staring at the cat Fred couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be mad. He was just tired and annoyed with himself. He should¡¯ve realized the problem. After all, all living creatures needed to eat to survive. ¡°I guess you were hungry too, huh?'''' Sighing, Fred stood and went to take a look at the supplies that the Animal Shelter had given him. Rummaging through the bags he quickly located the cat food. Sparing only a glance at the cat who had finished his breakfast and was now just watching as she licked her chops in lazy satisfaction. Shaking his head Fred ignored her and focused on locating one of his old bowls from college that had managed to stick with him. He found it in the very back of his dish cabinet. It was a bit dinged up but it would work. Rinsing it off in the sink and drying it with a clean dish towel he opened the can of the cat food and dumped it in. Looking around he decided to place the bowl of food on the kitchen floor by the wall. That should work.


    Demon quickly jumped from the table to the floor and beelined it to the bowl. The eggs were good but not enough. Finally the man was doing as he should. Wasting no more time she quickly began to eat. Heeding the needs of her body.


    Fred stared at the cat wondering what was off. ¡°Oh yeah guess you will need something to wash all that down with. Thinking about the other cat¡¯s needs he resolved to get the litter box set up before the cat decided to destroy something else of his with her lethal urine. Freezing he realized that he hadn¡¯t found any poop in his cleaning. Horrified, he whipped around to stare at the cat. She stared back at him as  if to say what is wrong with you then went back to her food. Shaking his head Fred reasoned, no, no, no, no  if she had pooped he would have smelled it. So nothing to worry about. Breathing out a relieved sigh Fred moved just a touch quicker eager to get the cat''s things set up. He needed nothing else destroyed.


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    The man gave her another bowl, this one with water. Demon was pleased she didn¡¯t relish having to drink from the man¡¯s tall glass but she would¡¯ve. A cat¡¯s gotta do what a cat¡¯s gotta do after all. Smiling and purring to herself she continued eating pausing every two bites to breath.


    Fred was dumping cat litter into the cat litter pan and deciding where to place it when he felt it. The cat was winding around his legs and purring. Holding absolutely still he stared down at the cat astonished. Was this the same demon cat that he had brought into his home? Perhaps this was the key to taming her. A little food, a little water and she mellowed out quite nicely. Perhaps he could train her to be-  ¡°Awww you Demon cat!¡± yelped Fred dropping the litter pan paying no attention as litter spilled onto his living room floor. Hopping on one foot he tried to catch hold of the other to see if he was bleeding again. ¡°Freaking Bloody Demon Cat!¡± Roared Fred as he limped to the bathroom.


    Turning on the bathroom light he flipped the toilet seat down and put his injured leg up on it so he could get a better view. Breathing a sigh of relief he found that he was in fact not bleeding but that his leg now sported some red bruising in the formation of cat¡¯s teeth. Rolling his eyes in annoyance Fred washed the area and put some rubbing alcohol on it just in case. Deciding while he was there he might as well check his other cat inflicted wounds. Quickly dressing his chest wounds and other legs scratch marks he ignored the pressure of tears welling in his eyes at the sting of the alcohol and finished his task. Looking down at himself he reflected that at this rate he would end up looking like a pincushion after all.


    Shaking his head he put his shirt back on and tugged his pants legs down and headed back out turning off the light behind him to see what the cat was up to now.


    Demon sniffed the cat litter pan and decided it would do. Stepping into it and relishing at the feel of the gravel under her paws she made her way to the center and circled once twice three times before squatting with her tail in the air and let the poop that had been simmering out.


    Oh Oooh well this is awkward thought Fred wondering if it was weird to head back into the bathroom.


    Aww yess¡­ Looking up she stared into the eyes of the man as her body rid itself of its accumulated waste. Only breaking off contact with him to finish her task. Quickly moving up she used her back legs to shuffle some of the gravel onto the poop until she was satisfied her scent had been covered. Stepping off the gravel she gave each paw a shake before going to a spot in front of the window that she had scoped out yesterday that promised to be warm and soft. Jumping up she turned kneaded the area a bit before settling down to groom herself. Making sure to pause every once in a while to take in the view of the birds and squirrels running around outside. It wasn¡¯t long before she had finished her grooming and dozed off to sleep dreaming of the day when she would get out there and show those birds and squirrels who was the boss.

 So much to do so little time

    Fred couldn¡¯t believe he had just stared at the cat taking a shit in his living room. Shaking his head he muttered to himself ¡®at least it was in the litter box¡¯. Walking over to investigate he saw that the area surrounding the litterbox had bits of gravel all over the carpet. The box itself appeared to be mostly undisturbed; only the faintest mound was to be seen with hints of her paw prints where she had stepped. Taking a cautious sniff Fred was relieved to find that it didn¡¯t smell. At least that was one less thing to worry about. Looking around Fred tried to decide where to place the litter box. Flashing back to walking in on the cat, Fred grimaced. He didn¡¯t want that to happen again and definitely not in the open where everyone could see. What if he had company over and the cat was taking a shit in the middle of his living room? No, just no. With that Fred headed back to the guest bathroom with the litter box in hand and placed it by the toilet it just fit in the gap between the toilet and the wall.


    Standing back Fred looked at it and nodded ¡°Yep where else should one use the facilities but in the bathroom. Perhaps he should get one for his bathroom as well. He faintly remembered an episode of the Cat Whisper saying you needed more than one litter box. With that in mind Fred resolved to get one when he next went out.


    Once again leaving the bathroom Fred looked at the remnants of the litter on the floor and sighed. Heading back he went to the storage closet to grab his vacuum cleaner and proceeded to vacuum up the front room. Feeling an odd sense of satisfaction at the clacking rattle sound the litter made as it was sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. Checking over to see the demon cat on the bench window seat he was surprised to see the cat still sleeping seemingly not bothered by the noise at all. Moving the vacuum closer he stared to see if she would react at all but nothing. The cat seemed dead to the world, not even her tail twitched. Shrugging Fred continued his task vacuuming up the entire front room carpet until it resembled the neat rows of a freshly cut lawn. Turning it off and unplugging the vacuum cleaner he rewrapped the cord and emptied the container in the trash before putting it back into its place.


    Sitting down he relaxed. Enjoying the peace at least for the moment before his stomach growling interrupted it. Oh yeah, Fred thought he still hadn¡¯t eaten breakfast. Grumbling Fred lumbered back to his feet to scope out what he could fix for breakfast. Scratch that lunch. thought Fred as he stared at the Oven Clock that read 12:00. Was that right? Perhaps it was off. Walking down the hall he grabbed his phone from its charger and stared down at the device. It too read 12:00. Great God! Where had the time gone? Thinking of all the things that he still needed to get done and the deadline that loomed ever closer Fred felt his body grow ridged. His muscles tightened as his mental To-Do List grew.  So too appeared the feeling that he wasn¡¯t moving fast enough, wasn¡¯t using his time wisely. The more he thought about the to-do list the more the feelings and thoughts intensified. Feeling the beginnings of a headache growing Fred made a conscious effort to relax. Loosening his tight grip of the phone that threatened to crack under the pressure of his hand he switched his focus to his breathing. Breathing in he held his breath for a slow count of five and let it out upon reaching 0. He did that over and over until he felt he had relaxed enough to feel something in his head other than the muddled frustration that had threatened to take over. ¡°Okay. It¡¯s all going to be okay.¡± Looking at his reflection he smiled but ended up grimacing at the snarl that was reflected back at him. Closing his eyes he breathed again and tried once more to smile. It worked this time although it looked extremely forced Fred decided he would take it. Looking into his own eyes he said aloud. ¡°It¡¯s all going to be okay. It will be Okay. I got this! I can do this! Yeah!¡± Giving himself a thumbs up he nodded his head in affirmation. He walked back to the kitchen wishing all the while that he believed himself.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Scoping out his kitchen food supplies he decided to just fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some chips that may or may not be stale and grabbed the last and slightly bruised granny smith apple. Deciding against eating the last few pieces of the apple left untouched by the cats earlier, dine and...stay? He pushed aside the remnants of his breakfast, resolving to go shopping at his earliest convenience. Sighing another thing to add to the to-do list thought Fred as he sat down to eat. Staring out the window that the cat rested under he went over and over his mental to-do list. Not noticing that he was slowly crushing the bread between his fingers. Only wondering briefly why that part of the bread was a bit tougher to chew. Making quick work of his food. He discarded the bruised part of the apple and the core and the remnants of his original breakfast that the cat had left  into his newly formed compost pile outside. Rankling his nose as he passed his pissed on mattress. His eyes watering from the smell. He resolved he would get the thing out of his backyard as soon as Wednesday Morning rolled around. Walking quickly by it he closed the door tightly behind him and took a deep breath. Before tackling his dishes. He glanced down at the cat¡¯s dishes but decided against washing them as the cat appeared to have polished them clean already. Looking at the time he realized it was now 1:30 and he had still yet to complete the rest of his work.


    Sighing, Fred walked to his room to wrangle up a pair of jeans before sitting down to write out his to-do list.


    Demon stretched as she heard the scritching of a pen on paper. Blinking open her eyes she took in the sight before her and purred. Oh how she enjoyed the sun on her fur that coupled with a full belly and the house under her control she was as happy as she could be. Sighing she rolled over to her other side and went back to sleep.


    Feeling more relaxed after writing out his list and more ready to face the outside world in a pair of jeans. He put on his most comfortable walking sneakers and began gathering what he needed to leave. ¡°I got my phone, car keys and wallet. Am I missing anything,¡± muttered Fred as he began to head for the door. His mind moving onto what he needed to do first when he felt it.

 Back to Reality

    Buzz, Buzzz, Buzzzzz!


    Patting his pockets he quickly found what he was looking for he pulled out his phone and stared at the name displayed there before giving an audible sigh and answering it.


    ¡°Hey,¡± greeted Fred. ¡°How are you doing today Mary?¡±


    ¡°Not well Fred. Not well at all. Do you want to know why I am not doing well?¡± asked Mary¡¯s hoarse smoke damaged voice down the phone.


    ¡°Uh no not really.¡± replied Fred as he gave the sleeping cat a warning glare as he crossed the living room to the front door.


    The cat paid him no attention, fawning sleep.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a new manuscript in my email. Nothing rushed over to me via courier early this morning. Not even a phone call to explain the delay or asking for more time. You know what that makes me Fred.¡±


    ¡°Uhhh noooo?¡±


    ¡°Very pissed Fred. Beyond angry and thoroughly, thoroughly irritated.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh so sorry to hear that¡±. Said Fred as he tried to quietly slide the chain lock off the front door. His body tense as he tried to move without making too much noise.


    ¡°I just bet you are sorry to hear that Fred! If you aren¡¯t you will be. If you don¡¯t produce a new manuscript on my desk by the end of the month then they will want their advancement back Fred.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t do that Mary I¡¯m the best author they have besides I told you I am working on it and it isn¡¯t even due yet.¡±


    ¡°Phfft what world are you living in Fred. This is a dog eat dog world. You produce or they find someone else that can.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Fred stiffened. ¡°No one will be working on my stories except me Mary. It¡¯s in the contract.¡±


    ¡°Contract, smalltract. You think these people care about your little rights. They will steamroll right over you.¡±


    ¡°Mary-¡±


    ¡°You gotta stay on top of the game and the only way to do that is to be ahead of the game¡±


    ¡°Mary!¡±


    ¡°You know I only push you because you work so well under pressure¡±


    ¡°Actually Mary¡±


    ¡°You are the best client I have and I just want you to keep succeeding to reach new heights.¡±


    ¡°Mary!!¡±


    ¡°You know when I first received your original manuscript I knew you would go far. You remember what I said to you in our first meeting¡±


    Sighing Fred leaned his head against the door with a soft thud. Turning it to the side he stared at the now unlocked chain as it swung gently back and forth, back and forth. As he listened to Mary. His mind went back to the first time they had met.


    He had been so surprised and pleased that such a well known agent such as Mary had chosen him. He could remember being fresh out of college still living at his parents place and so very excited and nervous that he was finally advancing forward. That his dream was about to become real. That he would be paid to do what he loved. This dream was quickly dashed by the cold bucket of water called reality that Mary dumped on him.


    It was hard to take in that he might never make it. That she was only going to pitch one of his works and so he had to make a choice as to what and if it failed she would drop him as a client. It was devastating to learn that he would have to give up control and rights over his work. So soul destroying in fact that Fred refused to do it. Even then he knew just how important it was to maintain rights over one''s work.


    Yeah he remembered that first meeting all right. The pressure, the feeling of dread of watching as his dreams speed beyond his grasp of ever being able to be accomplished. Of going back home and silently crying under his blankets and ignoring his parents'' worried knocking. Of his sister and brother finally getting him to see that all hope was in fact not lost and it just meant that he had to buckle down and work hard if he was to accomplish his goal.


    Which he had and now look at him.

 Can you hear me now?

    ¡°Fred.. Fred¡­ are you listening to me Fred.¡±


    Standing up straight Fred wiped his face from the gathered sweat and answered with a long drawn out sigh, ¡°Yeah Mary I am listening to you and Yes I know I have to work hard to stay on top. I am going to get a manuscript to you before the due date. However, you calling and putting pressure on me is not helping.¡±


    ¡°Not helping! Not helping!! Excuse me kid, I thought I would just try to remind you of the stakes and make sure  you remember the rewards.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I got that Mary. But-¡±


    ¡°Excuse me for just wanting my best client to succeed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but Mar-¡±


    ¡°I just want you to remember it¡¯s not just your reputation on the line here Fred. I have to pay my own bills as well and if you are not producing then I gotta find someone else who will.¡±


    ¡°Mary!¡±


    ¡°Kid you know if you are having trouble we could always hire a ghostwriter. You know some of the greats do it from time to time. How else do they publish a story once a month? No one is that good. Hahaha!!¡±


    ¡°Mary¡± hiss growled Fred. For once there was silence on the other line. Broken by an indignity drawn breath that blasted the silent reproach of ¡®What!¡¯ across the phone line.


    ¡°Yeah kid?¡±


    His voice a breath above a guttural growl of seriousness and authority said ¡°Hear me when I say this, no one works on my stories but me! I will have the manuscript to you. Don''t suggest that to me again. Do you understand?¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Yes, that''s the fire I¡¯m looking for!¡± yelled Mary.


    Sighing Fred felt the anger that had welled up once more beat a swift retreat back to it¡¯s home once more defeated by Mary¡¯s seemingly obtuseness and enthusiasm. Shaking his head he gently began to twist the lock making sure it didn¡¯t creak. Before turning his attention to the door handle. Vaguely listening to Mary as she ¡®tried to light a fire under him¡¯ as she liked to say. Giving vague uh huhs and yeahs at appropriate pauses. He focused on not letting the head pulsing throbs turn into a migraine and just getting out of the house.


    He gently turned the knob and bit his lip as he repeated gently, gently, gently over and over in his head. Pulling the door in he moved to the side still giving the expectants uh huhs and yeahs to Mary as he pulled the door open just wide enough to slip through without it creaking. Smiling now Fred looked out into the world ready to step forth and escape and narrow down his to-do list.


    Yet there was one thing that Fred had forgotten. As he stepped onto his old wooden porch it gave a ¡°Creak, creak creak CREAK for every single step he took. His body tensed as he listened to his victory sail away into the evening sky.


    ¡°Fred, are you leaving your house? I know you aren¡¯t leaving Fred. You need to finish the manuscript. You need to be at your desk pounding on those keys until I have a manuscript in my email. Fred!¡±


    Fred wondered how bad it would be to just hang up. Maybe he could fake interference. Did cell phones still have interference?


    ¡°Fred!!!¡±


    Before he could think too hard on it he made static sounds ¡°shh, oww crackle Mary. Shh, oww crackle. Can¡¯t hear. Shh owww crackle. Gotta go. Shh crackle bad shh later shh.¡±


    Pressing the end button on his phone and then turning it off. Fred stood for a while and stared blankly in front of him. Only to realize his neighbor was staring back at him with an accusatory look. He blinked, quickly muttering ¡°Crap, crap, crap, crap¡± under his breath Fred forced a smile that caused the woman to clutch her chopping shears to her chest. Dropping the smile, Fred settled for an awkward wave.


    Turning around he closed the door, locked it and creaked his way off the porch to his car. Muttering to himself about noisy neighbors and crazy agents and demon cats.

 Productivity Baby!

    Mrs. Washington stared at the car as her neighbor drove away. The young man seemed stressed. Coming out dressed like a hooligan, lights on to all hours of the night, yelling about demon cats and now pretending he had lost reception on the phone. Yeah he was heading for a mental breakdown. She smiled. It would be wonderful to watch. Maybe she would invite Mr. Paris over so they could watch the show together.


    Humming to herself she went back to shaping her bushes and cutting off the flowered heads of the cursed orange roses.


    It was well into the night before Fred made it back home. His car was loaded with his various purchases from the stores and his mind clearer than it had been in a long while. He sighed pleased that he had accomplished his to-do list and now all that remained was setting up the new cat stuff, fixing dinner and then writing. ¡°Yep I''m getting things done today!¡± cheered Fred as he pulled into his driveway.


    Demon watched as the car pulled up in the driveway. Her tail twitched in irritation. She was hungry and the man dared to leave her without any food. How inconsiderate, how rude. She thought she had broken it to him that she must be fed and that she was the ruler of this domain. How dare he not provide for her needs. That was alright she would fix that attitude of his. Smiling to herself she licked her paw and groomed brushed her ears, excitement ruffling her fur at the thought of the upcoming entertainment.


    Whistling to himself Fred hopped up each step. So very pleased with himself on not only had he completed his to-do list but a thrill of joy shoot through him every time he thought of hanging up on Mary. It felt good to get the last word. Smirking to himself Fred placed the bags onto the welcome mat. With his hands unburdened he ruffled through his keys until he found the right one. Inserting it in the lock he turned it and jiggled it for a minute until it unlocked. Pushing in the door he yelled out a ridiculous cherry greeting.


    ¡°Cat, I have arrived!¡± Hmm thought Fred it feels nice to come home to someone even if it''s just a cat. Picking up the bags Fred took two steps inside before giving a yelp of surprise as his legs slipped from under him. Trying to hold onto the bags and maintain his balance Fred swung from one side to the other trying without success to get his feet steady under him. Instead he ended up sliding down the wooden floor into the wall. Which he promptly bounced off of and landed on his butt with a crash. The bags slipping from his grasp landed sideways on the floor spilling their contents.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Demon watched the proceedings from her now favorite position on the ottoman. A Cheshire grin spreading across her face, culminating into its full form as the man fell onto his butt on the floor. Cackling to herself she thought this will teach him. So focused was she on the man''s sad attempts to rise that it took her several minutes before she realized that she had been sniffing the air repeatedly. A heavenly scent was permeating the area. What is it she wondered? She had smelled this before at the shelter but had never been able to find its origins.


    Sniffing, she tried to ignore it but... It smelled so heavenly. How could she ignore it? Standing she stretched first her front legs then her back giving each a good shake before jumping from the ottoman to the sofa and finally to the floor. Was the smell coming from the man? She crossed to the man paying no attention as he moved slowly and cautiously from his back to his front and using the wall as support to get to his feet while muttering curses under his breath. Instead she followed the scent, weaving effortless through the various items on the oil slicked floor until she reached the source of the smell.  With no hesitation she dived head first into the fallen bag, ignoring the man¡¯s angry squawking. The smell was indeed stronger here but she could see nothing that might be the cause; perhaps it was hiding from her. Well she was an apex predator after all. She would find the animal that scent belonged to and... and... ohhh, ohhh, this is nice. This is heaven. This is so MINE!


    Fred looked down at the cat whose bottom and tail were the only things visible from the opening of the big brown paper bag. He wanted to be angry. He should be angry, but watching that little butt and tail wiggle while hearing the bag rustle was too cute.


    ¡°Well I guess you found the catnip huh? I really shouldn¡¯t let you have it after this latest stunt you pulled. What in the world did you do this time? Moving carefully and using the wall for support Fred slipped and slid down the hall back to the front door where he turned on the light. To find himself covered in grease and most puzzling of all was the white fluffy stuff. Picking a ball of it from his pant¡¯s leg he squeezed it between his fingers. It felt springy, coarse and durable. He held it pinched between his thumb and index finger and used his other hand to try and tear it apart. It wouldn¡¯t yield. Shaking his head he threw the piece on the floor. Cautiously he sniffed his hand and was relieved to recognize the smell as baby oil.

 So much cleaning

    ¡°Okay. Okay I can deal with this.¡± said Fred ¡°Baby oil is not that bad and the fluffy stuff I can figure that out later too. Right now I gotta focus. He glanced over at the demon cat and saw that she had made her way out of the bag and was now rolling around on the floor with the catnip mouse. Her fur becoming enmeshed with the oil and fluffy bits she appeared to be, a magnet for the stuff.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I can so deal with this after I get the rest of the bags out of the car.¡± Fred turned cautiously around and walked out the door to his car whose trunk was still open and made two more trips carrying the paper bags from the car to just inside the front door. Making sure to not block the entrance or step on the oiled floor. On his last trip he checked the trunk wanting to make sure all items had been picked up. Finding it empty he closed the trunk and did a quick look through the window to see the interior of the vehicle. It was clean.


    Beeping on the alarm of the car Fred proceeded to the house to deal with not only the new mess but putting away the groceries and cat items and of course the Demon Cat. ¡°Okay¡± breathed Fred his peace from earlier long since having fled leaving him with the feeling of being tired. Onto the next task.


    With a sigh he stepped into his house making sure to keep a hand on the wall and close and lock the door. Then he stared at the mess on the hallway floor that now included cat fur, an oiled and fluff encased blitzed cat, the still intact bags, the contents of the two bags that spilled across the oiled floor. He still had to cross the floor to get into the kitchen to put the bags with their contents away. ¡°Ugghhh¡± groaned Fred as he felt his brows bunching up at the thought of all the work ahead.


    Giving one last groan Fred muttered his go to mantra, ¡°Don¡¯t think just do¡± repeating it over and over he commenced doing. First slip, sliding down the hall into the kitchen where he was relieved to find that the floor there was not covered in oil. He stepped out of his oil covered shoes and walked in his socks to the storage closet where he kept the mop, broom and dry goods. Grabbing the mop and bucket he filled the bucket with hot soapy and bleach filled water in the kitchen sink. Being careful to not let it splash on his clothes or breathe in the fumes. Once it was two thirds of the way filled he turned off the water and carefully moved it from the sink to the floor. He dunked the mop inside and made sure to thoroughly immerse it in the water. Swirling it a couple of times to make sure it was thoroughly saturated. Using the mop for steering he pushed both the mop and bucket past his shoes to the hallway.


    The demon cat was still blitzed out lazily gnawing on the catnip stuffed mouse. Her fur now having soaked up the surrounding oil could barely be seen for all the fluff now firmly attached to it. Chuckling Fred shook his head and bent over to lightly wring out the mop. He didn¡¯t want to take all the water from it as he hoped it would cut through the oil and clean the floor. Standing straight he lightly twirled the still dripping mop until it¡¯s ends spread out like tentacles from its central point and plopped it down in the middle of the hallway with a splat and began moving it in sweeping strokes across the floor. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    After five passes the mop was covered in fluff and oil. Okay here''s the real test, muttered Fred as he pulled the mop back towards himself and dumped it, fluff, oil and cat hair into the bucket. Giving it several vigorous swirls and a shake or two to get the most stubborn bits of fluff off he pulled the mop up, bent over and wrung it out, pleased to see that the oil, fluff and cat hair sloughed right off into the water. Blinking and sighing with relief Fred continued the process of mopping the floor. Making sure to avoid hitting the still intoxicated lil Demon as he continued to mop up the oil covered hallway. Occasionally he would nudge her to the side to get at the spots under her as she rolled over the floor. It was actually kinda of funny the way she slid across the floor seemingly at peace. After several passes during which he picked up the spilled items and bags from the floor and thoroughly soaked socks later he was finished. The hallway was now cleaned of oil, fluff and most of the cat fur. Except for the stuff welded into the demon¡¯s coat. Now he was just left with a bucket of now lukewarm dirty, oily and fluff filled water. Sighing in pleasure as he gazed at the hallway he dipped the mop into the bucket one more time and wranged out the water and oil in an attempt to get all the oil out. Putting the mop aside and nudging the cat to the side of the hallway out of the way of his path Fred picked up the bucket and carefully walked it done to the hallway bathroom. Sitting it down he lifted the toilet lid and seat before dumping the filthy water into the commod. Hoping against hope that it wouldn¡¯t stop up his plumbing system. Luckily the water, oil and fluff went down without a hitch. Breathing a sigh of relief he went through the process of rinsing out the bucket and mop until both were oil free and clean.


    Grabbing the now empty and clean bucket and mop he placed both back into the kitchen storage closet. Walking back to the hallway he stopped by his shoes and used his feet to peel off his socks. Once the water logged pieces of fabric were off he wiggled his toes and shivered at the feel of the air hitting them. It felt great to have the socks off his feet. He would put them and the shoes in the hamper later for now though he still had to put away the items in the bags and then deal with a high cat. Although if he was honest he didn¡¯t mind the high cat too much. Maybe when he washed her later she wouldn¡¯t put up too much of a fight. Scoffing at himself Fred shook his head as if he would ever be that lucky.


    He glanced once more at the demon and gave a bit of a cackle maybe just maybe but first he needed to put away the groceries and fix something to eat. He felt a bit of a headache coming on from lack of food. Fred crossed the still damp floor and grabbed the first set of bags with the items that needed to be refrigerated


    And set about putting first the groceries away followed by the new set of clothes, pillows, bedspread set and the various other knick knacks that had to be replaced during the cat¡¯s first rampage.

 Some people just cant handle their liquor

    So this is heaven thought Demon as she rubbed the intoxicating mouse over her face. ¡°I feel so happy,¡± purred Demon. She didn¡¯t even try to scratch the man for moving her to the side with the mop. Instead she just lazily watched as the man seemed to teleport about the house first appearing down the hall with a mop and bucket then appearing with bags and finally he appeared staring down at her while eating a sandwich. Demon felt she should be worried about how the man seemed to be moving about without her noticing or being able to track but really why¡­ it wasn¡¯t important. Nothing was important, everything was lovely. Had the walls always smelled of flowers¡­? When had she moved to a meadow? Was that a mouse in the distance saying something? Yes, it was. Nanana boo boo you can¡¯t catch me. Well Demon knew a challenge when she heard it. Smirking to herself she crouched and gave chase only to smash into a barrier. Huh, why had someone placed a wall in the way? Meowing in annoyance she found she quite liked the sound of her meowing and did it more and louder. This reminded her of a song the alley cats used to sing. How did it go? Oh yes, ¡°Death to the prey, may we always hold sway and not be caught by a human today!¡±


    Fred watched as his cat went crazy. Okay maybe the catnip wasn¡¯t such a good idea. He watched in both amusement with just a hint of concern while the cat first tottered to it¡¯s feet like a 21 year old frat boy who hadn¡¯t stood since first sitting down at the bar that early evening. Only as the last call goes out and it¡¯s time to leave the stool that he realize that all those beers had indeed had an effect. Causing him to wobble and stumble in the direction of the door only to trip over his own feet and fall head first into the wall nowhere near the door. For the very high cat in question it happened to be the hallway wall and just as those bystanders had done so too did Fred wince. ¡°Ohhh! that had to have hurt,¡± but he had to hand it to the cat; she was very spry. She got right back up and wobbled and stumbled about in a circle. As if trying to figure out what had caused her pain. Before she once more faced the wall and began Meowing at it at the top of her little cat lungs. Fred for his part only took another bite of his turkey and cheddar cheese sandwich pondering the cat, ¡®for such a small body she has quite a loud cry. Actually maybe not, after all babies had a very loud and annoying cry too so perhaps small things being loud was a matter of survival. Hmm that could be interesting topic to research¡¯ chewing both mentally and physically Fred walked around the wailing cat pausing only to pick up the abandoned catnip mouse on his way to his writing room where he firmly closed the door put on his headphones blasted some Skrillex and began to research why small things were loud and if it did have something to do with survival.


    After several hours crumbs on his desk and shirt were the only reminders of the turkey and cheese sandwich and his initial quest for knowledge long since veered off track as he first became distracted with Facebook, youtube, tumbler and finally in a last ditch effort his search for different kinds of focus sites and apps he decided it was time to call it a night. Stretching his tired body he took a double take at the clock. 12:00 am already whew where had the time gone. Standing he stepped away from the computer intent on going to bed in the guest bedroom. So intent was his focus on going to sleep that when he was yanked back and stood and his computer slid with him in preparation for a crash he couldn¡¯t at first figure out why. Until he saw the cord pulled tight. Lifting his arm he touched the headphones. Cursing he stumbled back to the computer and slid them off his head. Shaking out his neck. Trying to accustom himself to the loss of weight only to pause his body tensing as he heard the spookiest sound in his entire life. Screeee¡­ Screeeee¡­. Screeee¡­ ¡°What the hell is that?¡± muttered Fred, his eyes opening wide and sleep fleeing as the jolt of adrenaline flooded his body. Freezing in place Fred thought back. He had locked the door after the last trip hadn¡¯t he. He was 75% positive that he had. Screee¡­ Screee¡­ Scree¡­ The noises were getting faster and closer together. Swallowing, he tried to get himself to move. But the more he tried the tenser and ridged his body became his breaths escaping his body so fast it seemed as if he couldn¡¯t catch enough air to replace it. His brain growing foggy The noise continued on seeming to reach a crescendo and then it stopped. There was silence only broken by the harsh panting that he couldn¡¯t seem to stop. Then he heard it so quiet that he almost thought it was his imagination. But no there it was again a quiet and forlorn meow. Blinking he wiped away the sweat from his brow and began to rein in his panting as he turned to stare at the door. Was that- yes it was a paw swiping under the door. Meoowwwrrr came the soft cry. Okay, okay okay hah hah hah it was just the cat. All that fear and terror for nothing. Yeah whew. Deciding to see if the cat was looking into the room Fred bent down and making sure to stay out of range of the cats paw looked under the gap of the door. Mildly surprised to see the eye looking back it him. Spotting him the cat began Meowing in earnest. ¡°Okay okay,¡± muttered Fred the cat was acting just too pitiful now. Shaking his head he got back to his feet and made to open the door. Before pausing. Where was the catnip mouse? Spinning he searched his desk. Only to see that many of the items once atop it were now on the floor. Giving the spilled items a quick scan he saw his pens, his stress sheep and his notebook and a scattering of papers but no mouse. He had to find the thing. He couldn¡¯t deal with a high cat right now. Grumbling he bent down and riffled through the papers quickly hoping to feel the mouse under it. To no avail. Straightening he wondered just how bad could it potentially be if she got high again. A flashback to the cat videos he had watched earlier came to mind. Cats running around the house at breakneck speeds including their unsuspecting owner¡¯s head, their slumber unceremoniously disturbed. Yeah no he wasn¡¯t about to deal with that he had to find that mouse. Sighing he kneeled down and began searching in ernest. Ignoring the pitiful meows and determined scratching at the door as he straightened and put back into place the fallen items. After only a couple minutes when he couldn¡¯t take the pitiful meows anymore Fred found himself talking aloud to the cat through the door. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

 All Alone

    Despondently, Demon meowed at the door. She had been left alone for hours while the man hid in the room.


    At first she hadn¡¯t known or even cared.


    But with the effects of heaven finally wearing off and reality with a douse of pain setting in Demon for the first time in years not since those bad times had she felt the need for company.


    She wanted to be close to the warmth of someone even if it was just the man. She didn¡¯t understand what had happened. She didn¡¯t know why her face hurt and she didn¡¯t understand the images that were swirling around her head but she knew she didn¡¯t want to be alone.


    At first finding the man had been difficult.


    She¡¯d tried sniffing him out as she stumbled around the house but objects that she would normally navigate with ease seemed to move directly into path causing her to crash into them.


    Losing concentration.


    Wobbling into the kitchen, knocking askew one of the wooden chairs.


    Mildly annoyed, but unwilling to stop, she had continued on pausing at her water bowl.


    She was thirsty.


    Plus it was right there why not take a sip.


    Staggering over to the water bowl, Demon stuck her tongue out to take a sip.


    But what was this?


    She tasted nothing but air.


    What was wrong, she was right there! Why wasn¡¯t it working?Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Looking down she eyed the location of the water bowl and tried once more to take a sip.


    Air.


    Meowing and flexing her claws in annoyance she lashed out at the water bowl with her paw.


    This time she made contact.


    She felt the cool surface of the bowl as it skidded across the floor, bumped into the wall and splashed water over the brim. Spraying Demon and the floor with water.


    ¡°Arrggghh!!!¡± meowed Demon. Where was the man he should at least have come to see what had happened? Demon waited but heard no telltale footstops. No muttered words under his breath or the now common refrain of, Demon Cat.


    No, she heard nothing.


    Silence.


    Well that didn''t matter. She would figure it out but perhaps later after all there was a man to find and cudd...no she meant to say punish.


    Yes, punish. How dare he leave her alone?


    Grumbling, she tottered further into the kitchen thankful there were no objects jumping in her way this time even though the walls seemed to be moving positions. At one point she had thought herself trapped and wailed out her betrayal only when she paused for breath realizing that in actuality she was just in a corner and could just back up or turn around.


    Having explored as much of the kitchen as she dared, she tried to drink from the water bowl again.


    Eyeing the water bowl and licking her chomps the thought occurred to her, she was standing, the bowl was on the ground, she had forgotten to crouch.


    ¡°Ahh,¡± meowed Demon as she tried to look skyward to announce her annoyance but the spinning stopped that movement in its tracks.


    Okay, well now that she remembered she walked close to the bowl, careful to avoid the water on the floor. Crouching she lowered her head in preparation to stick out her tongue, only to realize her face was now enveloped in water. Giving a watery yeow that came out ¡°bblbrrrmm¡±. She jerked her head up and sneezed. Shaking her head several times while backing away. She backed into the kitchen chair causing it to topple over. The sound caused her to jump up with hair puffed out tail straight and hissing.


    After several moments after the world stopped spinning and her brain was able to switch from fright to annoyance she realized she had enough. The man wasn¡¯t in the kitchen. The water was playing tricks and she was so very tired, still thirsty and deep down a hidden voice whispered, lonely.


    Where was the man?

 All Alone 2

    Perhaps he was in the living room. He had, after all, slept in the fluffy chair. Perhaps he would be there again.


    She stumbled determinedly out of the kitchen across the hall into the living room. Walking up to the fluffy chair she found that the foot board wasn¡¯t up and no feet rested on the floor in front of it. The fluffy chair sat uninhabited.


    A feeling of which she hadn¡¯t felt in quite some time tried to engulf her but Demon refused to wallow in sadness. No she would find the man.


    Walking over to the long chair she looked up and tried to gauge the distance for jumping. However this proved to be impossible to do because of all the spinning. So instead she tried climbing.


    Digging her claws into the fabric of the big long fluffy chair, she pulled herself up, stretching and pulling.


    After doing that for several minutes Demon wondered why she hadn¡¯t made it to the top. Surely she had covered a lot of distance by now. Looking down she was surprised and miffed to find that she was actually still on the ground. She had been sitting there with her front paws hooked in and her back legs still on the ground. With no idea how to climb any higher at the moment and not feeling like the effort was worth it she gave up. Deciding instead to use this opportunity to knead the long fluffy. Why not? She was already in position.


    Demon had no idea how long she sat there kneading the long fluffy chair. She knew that it was only much later after she had kneaded herself to sleep that she awoke stretched out on her side by the long fluffy¡­ couch. Yes that was right. Stretching, she realized that she felt much better. Perhaps this time she would locate the man.


    Putting her nose to the air she opened her mouth and grimaced while taking in a deep breath. She smelled the water, and a faint hint of turkey, bread and cheese in the air. Of course the smell of the man was everywhere but¡­ Pausing, she took in another grimace breath. There the man''s smell was concentrated in the small room with papers and books. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Yes, she remembered now, that his smell was most fragrant there. Pleased with her discovery, her tail whipping in the air in triumph she took her first couple of steps. She was pleased to discover that she was sturdy on her feet. No weaving or stumbling, finally, she was back to normal.


    Well¡­ almost.


    She still felt that should she move too fast she would be back where she started. So walking at a leisurely pace she sauntered to the room. Walking out of the living room and into the hallway. Pausing only briefly to stare at her water bowl in the kitchen.


    Should she chance it?


    No, not right now, first find the man. Down the hallway she walked until she came to the room.


    To her surprise and amazement the door was closed.


    How could the door be closed?


    Sitting down, she curled her tail over her front paws as she contemplated it.


    Was this supposed to be a message from the man?


    Was he saying he didn¡¯t want her there?


    Why had he left her?


    Feeling the pang of sadness from memories of old. Demon stood and shook herself. Puffing up her fur.


    No, she would not think of those times. Plus, this man, while still in need of training, was nothing like the one who should not be named.


    Turning away from the memories, she eyed the door handle. It was smooth and round. She might be able to open it. She had, after all, seen plenty of humans  open doors like this. She had of course opened doors in the past, just not ones like this. It was time to find out if she could.


    She bunched up her body crouching low in preparation for the jump. Once she had gauged the distance and the height she jumped and slammed face first into the door. Missing the door handle by full body length instead sliding bonelessly to the floor a confused tangled puddle of limbs and body.


    ¡°Meowwrrrr,¡± moaned Demon. Laying on the floor she decided to stay there until her face stopped hurting and the world stopped spinning.


    Closing her eyes she slept for a while comforted with the knowledge that should the man try and escape she would be able to block his way.

 All Alone 3

    Demon woke slowly to find herself still on the floor in front of the room door. The man was still inside. She could smell him and hear rustling around along with repetitive clicking and clacking sounds.


    How had he not come out yet?


    Why was he still in there?


    She wanted him out here.


    Now!!!


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Stretching, she rolled to her feet. She would make him come out. Perhaps she should try to open the door again.


    Eyeing the door, Demon decided she would groom first. It had been a minute before she had done so and after all the bumping into walls, chairs and being splashed with water she probably looked a fright.


    Perhaps the man would be out by the time she finished her grooming and she wouldn¡¯t have to show him the error of his ways by opening the door herself.


    Yes, thought Demon and what would be even better was if she hacked up a hairball and placed it oh so inconveniently in his walking path.


    Grinning wickedly at her plan, Demon began to groom herself, quickly, losing herself in the unsuccessful effort to get rid of the oil and white fluff she found at odd intervals in her fur.

 Enough of This!

    Even though she took her time and groomed herself extra carefully the man was still not out yet. She wondered at what he could be doing for so very long.


    Inhaling, she smelled nothing that would give her a clue. Sighing she had to admit her face still hurt and she didn¡¯t really want to try the door knob again perhaps once she was 100%. What could she do instead to get his attention?


    Thinking she remembered a time before this in which, the one who must not be named, had gotten mad. Demon had been only a kitten then. But, she remembered being in front of a door and wanting entry. She had scratched the door. Over and over and over. So much in fact that her claws created deep grooves into the door.


    The door would open, but never to let her in.


    Never that.


    But it had opened.


    Demon blinked and turned her mind away from the dark memories of the past. Instead she stood stretched her front paws forward and her tail high in the air. Standing straight she sat back down in front of the door and flexing her claws began to scratch.


    Scratch, scratch, scratch. ¡°Meow.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Scratch, scratch, scratch. ¡°Meow.¡±


    Scratch, scratch, scratch. ¡°Meow!¡± she repeated it until finally, finally she heard noise.


    A footstep another, a yelp and a crash!


    ¡°Meow?¡± In confusion Demon paused in her scratching. Before scratching in earnest. Excited that the man seemed to have finally heard her, she lifted both paws and began to scratch frantically at the door.


    Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch!


    Stopping to listen, she realized she heard nothing.


    Why wasn¡¯t the man coming anymore?


    Didn''t he hear her?


    Maybe if she scratched harder.


    Flexing her claws she dug deep into the door and pulled down hard making sure that her claws pulled rivets of wood along with them.


    Screech, Screech, Screech.


    This time for sure the man would come and open the door. But when she paused again she heard nothing. What was he doing in there?


    If only she could see inside.


    Looking up she could only see the door. Brown and tall with no gap to be found. She looked to the side but only found brown walls. Looking down at the pile of wood shavings she realized for the first time that light covered her paws.

 Eye See You!

    Light from the other side of the room.


    Crouching she realized she still couldn¡¯t see. Although pushing her paw forward she realized she could slide it under the door easily.


    Pawing the shavings out of the way, Demon laid down on her side with her face as close to the door as she dared. There she could see the man''s feet.


    He was there!


    Pushing her paw under the crack she tried to swipe out at him. But he was too far away. Wiggling closer she tried to push her paw and arm further under the door.


    All to no avail.


    Meowing plaintively she pulled her paw back and clawed at the door from the other side. Perhaps if he saw she was serious he would come out. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Scratch scratch scratch.


    But, she soon found this to be a tiring exercise. Plus doing so blocked her line of sight.


    Sighing she pulled her paw from under the door. Looking through the slit she saw the man was crawling around the floor.


    Perhaps this was a new game. But why wasn¡¯t he letting her come in? She liked to play games. She was great at games, pausing for a minute she rethought that statement.


    Flashing back to the humans at the shelter who liked to dangle string with feathers and pull mice across the floor and throw balls.


    Well she was good at games when she wanted to play them.


    Okay well her type of games like, how many times I can hit the human before he cries. Yeah that had been a fun game, Demon mussed. Perhaps this human was due for a round of such a game. Relishing the thought she turned her attention back to the man who was still crawling on the floor this time he had a couple of papers in his hand.


    What was he doing?