Fic - The Christmas Cat
Dec. 16th, 2004 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dimity_blueThe Christmas Cat
by Sarah
I am no one, I am nothing. I am the black shadow that creeps by as you look the other way. Do not see me, do not notice me. I am not here.
I remember when I was someone's cat. I sat by their fireside and warmed my face. I was loved, I was held.
What did I do wrong?
The first time I went outside I was scared. The road was so big, and I was so small. I hardly dared to fall off the step although I was curious to see what lay beyond. My owner laughed and I was puzzled. What was so funny? Then I climbed back onto the step and went inside to safety and the fireside.
Soon I was old enough to go out by myself. I would come and go, happy to be outside and exploring the wide world, but just as happy to be inside and warm and safe. Sometimes I'd have to wait on the windowsill until they noticed me. Sometimes I had to wait a long time.
One day, they stopped noticing me. I waited but they never opened the door to let me in again.
I spent my days alone and afraid. And the world grew colder around me.
A neighbour of theirs put out food for me but her dogs were big and vicious and I could not sit by her fire and be warm. I slept wherever I could find shelter from the rain or the wind, but the other cats in the neighbourhood hated me and chased me from the warmest places.
Finally, in desperation I curled up beside an old broken TV in the alleyway. The ground was cold and hard, and the wind was whistling around my ears but the TV gave me some shelter. I could feel the cold seeping into my bones and I shivered but I no longer cared. I was too tired to move; too tired to fight for a warmer place.
I let the cold seep into the very heart of me for nothing mattered now.
"What are you doing there?"
The voice was surprised, and belonged to a woman. I opened my eyes and gazed dully at her. If she was going to hurt me, I didn't care. What did any of it matter?
She stopped and picked me up, holding me close to her thick winter coat. "You shouldn't be out here," she told me. "It's too cold!"
I was still cold but I surprised myself by purring suddenly. Her hands were warm, as was her coat against my fur.
She carried me away from the alleyway and into a house. I could smell other cats and a dog but I didn't see any of them as she put me in the kitchen then shooed the other cats away and shut the door behind them.
"I have to go out," the woman told me, putting me safely on a worktop. "I know the kitchen isn't really warm, but it's better than outside. You stay here, I'll back soon." She stroked me gently for a few minutes, then left, shutting the door carefully behind her.
I was scared, and alone once more. Quietly I made my way to the kitchen door and sniffed. Those other cats were waiting outside for me, although I could see no sign of the dog. I looked at the food on the plate nearby but didn't dare to touch it. Instead I crept under the kitchen cabinet and hid. Maybe if they couldn't find me they'd stop looking and just leave me alone.
It was a while later that the door opened again and the woman came back. I heard her calling to me, and although I was scared I came out. She picked me up and held me close again.
"What were you doing under there?" she asked, although she must have known that I could not answer her.
She carried me through the other room into the front room and shut that door behind us. It was warm here. Far warmer than the kitchen, which had been far warmer than the alleyway. She placed me on a chair and I could feel the warmth pouring from the radiator. I purred again as she stroked me.
"Go to sleep, if you want," she said. "You're safe."
I curled up on the chair, the softness underneath me was bliss compared to the hard, cold ground I had been sleeping on. I didn't sleep at first. I could hear her moving back and forth, leaving me alone and then returning. She laid some paper on the floor, put a tray on top and filled it with catlitter for me. I had no need of it for I hadn't dared to eat their catfood, but I was warm instead of being cold and I was grateful for that.
I slept until she woke me. Then she carried me back into the kitchen and set me down before leaving again. I listened at the door, curious to hear what she was doing. I could hear her talking to the other cats, taking them into the front room where I had been sleeping.
"Yes," she said, "there's been another cat in here. Go on, sniff around. When you're done I'll bring him back in and you can go and sniff around the kitchen."
A few minutes later she did just that, and I was back on the chair with the warmth of the radiator near me. I crept down and moved closer to her. Would she like to stroke me? Would she like to love me a little? She did and I purred as she held me close and stroked my fur. I remembered being warm and loved and it was just as wonderful as I remembered.
Finally, not daring to ask for food, I went back to the chair and slept again.
When I awoke my hunger had deepened and I prowled back and forth. If the woman meant to starve me I would have been better off lying in the alleyway. At least there I could search through the binbags to find some pieces of food.
She seemed to realise that something was wrong and left the room. I returned to the chair and waited. Maybe I would have to escape from her.
Then, joy of joys!, she returned with a saucerful of fish. I fell on it and cleaned the plate but I was still hungry. I climbed up onto her knee and bit at her fingers as she tried to stroke me. She was startled and moved me from her knee before leaving the room, leaving me still hungry. She came back with a plateful of food. I ate my fill, barely listening as she half-apologised to me, and half-chided me for not eating while I was in the kitchen. I didn't care. I was warm and I had food. I ate my full and then climbed up onto her knee and slept.
That night, she left me alone with another plateful of food, a dish of water and the catlitter tray. The room was warm and I felt safe. I slept as I had not slept in a long while. I was still watchful, but I was warm.
The morning came and she came with it. She cleaned out my catlitter tray as I ate the breakfast she had given me, then she moved me back into the kitchen and let the other cats into the front room. I did not understand then why she kept on moving me back and forth, and letting them into my room. What did she hope to accomplish by it?
Soon I was back in my room, back on my chair, as she sat on the sofa and watched TV. I relaxed. If this was how life was to be, then I would be happy.
A smell reached into my dreams and woke me up. I raised my head to see a ginger cat looking at me from the floor. I looked at the woman, but she smiled at me. "It's all right, it's just Purdey."
I hissed at Purdey and told him I would do terrible things to him if he tried to come near me. He looked at me in a puzzled way and sniffed the air.
I stopped hissing and curled up to hide in a corner of the chair. This cat was not afraid of me, just like the others, but he did not attack either. I did not understand. She stood and shooed Purdey out of the room.
"It's all right, Casper. You'll get used to him. You'll get used to all of them," she told me. "And when you do, you can see the rest of the house."
I did not believe her, in spite of the fact that she had given me a name. They would never accept me. They would hiss and fight me and chase me away like the others had done.
After he had gone I got down from my chair and went to see where he had come from. The door was open! I could see another room beyond this one, and the ginger cat was there, with other cats behind him. Behind them I could see a dog and I moved away in fright. The dog moved forwards, pushing his way past the cats, and shoved his nose through the gap in the door and sniffed in my direction. I hissed telling him that my ancestors had killed his many a time and I would finish their work if he came towards me, but he made no move to approach me, just stood and sniffed the air. Looking up I could see that the door handle was tied to something and it appeared that it could open no further. The dog could not get in to get me! I returned to my chair and slept again. At least I was safe in here.
That evening I saw the ginger cat again. He came in and wandered around my room as I watched him from the safety of my chair. He stopped and stared at me once or twice and I instinctively hissed again, but he ignored my threats as he did last time, and once again sniffed the air between us.
I also saw another cat, and another: big black and white cats who stalked through the room as if they owned the chair I was sitting on. I hissed at them and they hissed back, telling me I was small and they were big and they were not to be ignored. I stopped hissing then and remained in my chair, quiet and still, hoping they would not feel the need to fight me for their territory. Soon after I saw them, I saw another two cats, a stripey grey one who was the oldest of them all, and another black and white one. They looked at me for a few minutes then moved around the room, checking and smelling where I had been and what I had done.
After a while, I sat up and watched them. None of them had tried to fight me for the chair, and they were all looking at the catlitter tray and what I had done in there. I felt indignant but did not dare to speak out. I bet they did similar things in their catlitter trays!
The next day was the same as the day before. I was fed, I was warm... I sat on her knee and was loved whenever I wanted love. And I saw the other cats and the dog again. The door was left open for them so that they could come in and look at me whenever they pleased. The dog rushed in and ran towards me, his stupid tail wagging as if to reassure me that he was friendly. I hissed and he backed away, still wagging his tail. The woman stroked him and praised him, reassuring him that he was a good dog and that I would calm down, and reassuring me that I was safe and that the dog would not hurt me.
As for the cats, they didn't bother hissing at me this time, although the grey stripey one hissed at the dog and told him to keep his distance. I was amazed as the dog obeyed and instead went to sniff at the black and white cats who didn't seem to mind his attentions at all. All the cats ignored me for the most part, just looking at me and sniffing the air whenever they noticed me. Two of the cats went to sleep on the sofa next to the woman and she stroked them just like she stroked me.
She smiled at me as she stroked them. "They'll be all right, Casper. They're not going to hurt you."
I wished that I could believe her.
I looked around the room. All of the cats I'd seen were there, all of them sleeping as if I was no threat to them, while the dog had disappeared into the other room. Carefully I crept down from my chair and went to the catlitter tray. If I could have waited, I would have. But she was there and if they tried to attack me I believed, I hoped, that she would not let them harm me.
As quietly as I could I used the catlitter tray and then covered up what I had done. I looked around. Two of them were watching me while the other three were still asleep. I glanced over at the door. It was open and I could see another room beyond this one and there was still no sign of the dog. I stepped towards the door then stopped and looked back. None of them had moved to stop me.
Curiously I went into the other room and looked around. The dog was gone. I could see the kitchen from where I stood and to the left was a staircase. Carefully I crept forward. I wanted to see what else there was - I also needed to know where the dog was lurking.
I reached the stairs and put one paw on the bottom step, then looked around. The woman was in the doorway watching me, and smiling.
"It's okay. You go and have a look if you want."
One step at a time I moved up the stairs, my heart beating wildly. Where was the dog? Finally I reached the top and I could smell the dog! He was nearby, I knew that. I looked around the floor but could not see him, so I looked up to the bed in the centre of the room. I almost jumped with surprise. There was not just the dog there, there was another woman as well!
"Hello," she said. "You must be Casper."
The dog looked up, then wagged his tail excitedly as he spotted me. I fled back to the safety of the front room and hid on my chair. I could hear the dog running down the stairs and I trembled, but the woman who found me stopped him.
"Hobbes! Calm down!" she said, an authoritative tone in her voice. "You've seen Casper before."
He stopped, although I could hear him panting as he approached my chair. He stood, staring happily over the arm at me as he wagged his tail back and forth. I hissed at him, and he wagged his tail harder, obviously happy that I was speaking to him. Dogs really are the stupidest of creatures.
I ventured upstairs again later on. I wanted to know what else was up there, and who that woman was. I found out in the end that the woman who found me was called Sarah, and that this was her mother.
The next day I spent all of my time wandering up and downstairs. The dog still wagged his tail every time he saw me, and the other cats did not seem to mind me being there at all. I even found her bed. Sarah's bed. I curled up on it and purred until she found me there. Then I purred even harder as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. She rocked me back and forth, filling my heart with her love as she murmured, "Merry Christmas, Casper."
That night I spent the night on her bed. I woke her up several times after I dreamed of the alleyway and of being cold and alone again, each time asking her to reassure me that that was the dream and that this was reality. She did each time, wrapping her arm around me and holding me close, telling me to go to sleep, which I did, for I am Casper. I am loved and I am wanted, and I am the Christmas Cat.
THE END
Casper is real. Yes, there is a lot of poetic licence involved in this story, because I can't tell you what he really thought or what he feared. I do know how I found him and I found out about his past owners from someone who knew them. I also know that it only took four days for him to accept my other cats, although he never got the hang of interacting with my dog, Hobbes. Casper did spend Christmas night sleeping on my bed and waking me up a lot for reassurance And my mother is disabled and as she couldn't manage the stairs in our house she stayed upstairs all of the time, although we've moved to a flat now so she can go into every room.
It was the 21st of December 1998 when I found him in an alleyway curled up next to an old, smashed TV, shivering with the cold. I took him home and he's been with me ever since. I named him Casper because I wanted him to have a Christmas name, and because he really is my Christmas Cat.
by Sarah
I am no one, I am nothing. I am the black shadow that creeps by as you look the other way. Do not see me, do not notice me. I am not here.
I remember when I was someone's cat. I sat by their fireside and warmed my face. I was loved, I was held.
What did I do wrong?
The first time I went outside I was scared. The road was so big, and I was so small. I hardly dared to fall off the step although I was curious to see what lay beyond. My owner laughed and I was puzzled. What was so funny? Then I climbed back onto the step and went inside to safety and the fireside.
Soon I was old enough to go out by myself. I would come and go, happy to be outside and exploring the wide world, but just as happy to be inside and warm and safe. Sometimes I'd have to wait on the windowsill until they noticed me. Sometimes I had to wait a long time.
One day, they stopped noticing me. I waited but they never opened the door to let me in again.
I spent my days alone and afraid. And the world grew colder around me.
A neighbour of theirs put out food for me but her dogs were big and vicious and I could not sit by her fire and be warm. I slept wherever I could find shelter from the rain or the wind, but the other cats in the neighbourhood hated me and chased me from the warmest places.
Finally, in desperation I curled up beside an old broken TV in the alleyway. The ground was cold and hard, and the wind was whistling around my ears but the TV gave me some shelter. I could feel the cold seeping into my bones and I shivered but I no longer cared. I was too tired to move; too tired to fight for a warmer place.
I let the cold seep into the very heart of me for nothing mattered now.
"What are you doing there?"
The voice was surprised, and belonged to a woman. I opened my eyes and gazed dully at her. If she was going to hurt me, I didn't care. What did any of it matter?
She stopped and picked me up, holding me close to her thick winter coat. "You shouldn't be out here," she told me. "It's too cold!"
I was still cold but I surprised myself by purring suddenly. Her hands were warm, as was her coat against my fur.
She carried me away from the alleyway and into a house. I could smell other cats and a dog but I didn't see any of them as she put me in the kitchen then shooed the other cats away and shut the door behind them.
"I have to go out," the woman told me, putting me safely on a worktop. "I know the kitchen isn't really warm, but it's better than outside. You stay here, I'll back soon." She stroked me gently for a few minutes, then left, shutting the door carefully behind her.
I was scared, and alone once more. Quietly I made my way to the kitchen door and sniffed. Those other cats were waiting outside for me, although I could see no sign of the dog. I looked at the food on the plate nearby but didn't dare to touch it. Instead I crept under the kitchen cabinet and hid. Maybe if they couldn't find me they'd stop looking and just leave me alone.
It was a while later that the door opened again and the woman came back. I heard her calling to me, and although I was scared I came out. She picked me up and held me close again.
"What were you doing under there?" she asked, although she must have known that I could not answer her.
She carried me through the other room into the front room and shut that door behind us. It was warm here. Far warmer than the kitchen, which had been far warmer than the alleyway. She placed me on a chair and I could feel the warmth pouring from the radiator. I purred again as she stroked me.
"Go to sleep, if you want," she said. "You're safe."
I curled up on the chair, the softness underneath me was bliss compared to the hard, cold ground I had been sleeping on. I didn't sleep at first. I could hear her moving back and forth, leaving me alone and then returning. She laid some paper on the floor, put a tray on top and filled it with catlitter for me. I had no need of it for I hadn't dared to eat their catfood, but I was warm instead of being cold and I was grateful for that.
I slept until she woke me. Then she carried me back into the kitchen and set me down before leaving again. I listened at the door, curious to hear what she was doing. I could hear her talking to the other cats, taking them into the front room where I had been sleeping.
"Yes," she said, "there's been another cat in here. Go on, sniff around. When you're done I'll bring him back in and you can go and sniff around the kitchen."
A few minutes later she did just that, and I was back on the chair with the warmth of the radiator near me. I crept down and moved closer to her. Would she like to stroke me? Would she like to love me a little? She did and I purred as she held me close and stroked my fur. I remembered being warm and loved and it was just as wonderful as I remembered.
Finally, not daring to ask for food, I went back to the chair and slept again.
When I awoke my hunger had deepened and I prowled back and forth. If the woman meant to starve me I would have been better off lying in the alleyway. At least there I could search through the binbags to find some pieces of food.
She seemed to realise that something was wrong and left the room. I returned to the chair and waited. Maybe I would have to escape from her.
Then, joy of joys!, she returned with a saucerful of fish. I fell on it and cleaned the plate but I was still hungry. I climbed up onto her knee and bit at her fingers as she tried to stroke me. She was startled and moved me from her knee before leaving the room, leaving me still hungry. She came back with a plateful of food. I ate my fill, barely listening as she half-apologised to me, and half-chided me for not eating while I was in the kitchen. I didn't care. I was warm and I had food. I ate my full and then climbed up onto her knee and slept.
That night, she left me alone with another plateful of food, a dish of water and the catlitter tray. The room was warm and I felt safe. I slept as I had not slept in a long while. I was still watchful, but I was warm.
The morning came and she came with it. She cleaned out my catlitter tray as I ate the breakfast she had given me, then she moved me back into the kitchen and let the other cats into the front room. I did not understand then why she kept on moving me back and forth, and letting them into my room. What did she hope to accomplish by it?
Soon I was back in my room, back on my chair, as she sat on the sofa and watched TV. I relaxed. If this was how life was to be, then I would be happy.
A smell reached into my dreams and woke me up. I raised my head to see a ginger cat looking at me from the floor. I looked at the woman, but she smiled at me. "It's all right, it's just Purdey."
I hissed at Purdey and told him I would do terrible things to him if he tried to come near me. He looked at me in a puzzled way and sniffed the air.
I stopped hissing and curled up to hide in a corner of the chair. This cat was not afraid of me, just like the others, but he did not attack either. I did not understand. She stood and shooed Purdey out of the room.
"It's all right, Casper. You'll get used to him. You'll get used to all of them," she told me. "And when you do, you can see the rest of the house."
I did not believe her, in spite of the fact that she had given me a name. They would never accept me. They would hiss and fight me and chase me away like the others had done.
After he had gone I got down from my chair and went to see where he had come from. The door was open! I could see another room beyond this one, and the ginger cat was there, with other cats behind him. Behind them I could see a dog and I moved away in fright. The dog moved forwards, pushing his way past the cats, and shoved his nose through the gap in the door and sniffed in my direction. I hissed telling him that my ancestors had killed his many a time and I would finish their work if he came towards me, but he made no move to approach me, just stood and sniffed the air. Looking up I could see that the door handle was tied to something and it appeared that it could open no further. The dog could not get in to get me! I returned to my chair and slept again. At least I was safe in here.
That evening I saw the ginger cat again. He came in and wandered around my room as I watched him from the safety of my chair. He stopped and stared at me once or twice and I instinctively hissed again, but he ignored my threats as he did last time, and once again sniffed the air between us.
I also saw another cat, and another: big black and white cats who stalked through the room as if they owned the chair I was sitting on. I hissed at them and they hissed back, telling me I was small and they were big and they were not to be ignored. I stopped hissing then and remained in my chair, quiet and still, hoping they would not feel the need to fight me for their territory. Soon after I saw them, I saw another two cats, a stripey grey one who was the oldest of them all, and another black and white one. They looked at me for a few minutes then moved around the room, checking and smelling where I had been and what I had done.
After a while, I sat up and watched them. None of them had tried to fight me for the chair, and they were all looking at the catlitter tray and what I had done in there. I felt indignant but did not dare to speak out. I bet they did similar things in their catlitter trays!
The next day was the same as the day before. I was fed, I was warm... I sat on her knee and was loved whenever I wanted love. And I saw the other cats and the dog again. The door was left open for them so that they could come in and look at me whenever they pleased. The dog rushed in and ran towards me, his stupid tail wagging as if to reassure me that he was friendly. I hissed and he backed away, still wagging his tail. The woman stroked him and praised him, reassuring him that he was a good dog and that I would calm down, and reassuring me that I was safe and that the dog would not hurt me.
As for the cats, they didn't bother hissing at me this time, although the grey stripey one hissed at the dog and told him to keep his distance. I was amazed as the dog obeyed and instead went to sniff at the black and white cats who didn't seem to mind his attentions at all. All the cats ignored me for the most part, just looking at me and sniffing the air whenever they noticed me. Two of the cats went to sleep on the sofa next to the woman and she stroked them just like she stroked me.
She smiled at me as she stroked them. "They'll be all right, Casper. They're not going to hurt you."
I wished that I could believe her.
I looked around the room. All of the cats I'd seen were there, all of them sleeping as if I was no threat to them, while the dog had disappeared into the other room. Carefully I crept down from my chair and went to the catlitter tray. If I could have waited, I would have. But she was there and if they tried to attack me I believed, I hoped, that she would not let them harm me.
As quietly as I could I used the catlitter tray and then covered up what I had done. I looked around. Two of them were watching me while the other three were still asleep. I glanced over at the door. It was open and I could see another room beyond this one and there was still no sign of the dog. I stepped towards the door then stopped and looked back. None of them had moved to stop me.
Curiously I went into the other room and looked around. The dog was gone. I could see the kitchen from where I stood and to the left was a staircase. Carefully I crept forward. I wanted to see what else there was - I also needed to know where the dog was lurking.
I reached the stairs and put one paw on the bottom step, then looked around. The woman was in the doorway watching me, and smiling.
"It's okay. You go and have a look if you want."
One step at a time I moved up the stairs, my heart beating wildly. Where was the dog? Finally I reached the top and I could smell the dog! He was nearby, I knew that. I looked around the floor but could not see him, so I looked up to the bed in the centre of the room. I almost jumped with surprise. There was not just the dog there, there was another woman as well!
"Hello," she said. "You must be Casper."
The dog looked up, then wagged his tail excitedly as he spotted me. I fled back to the safety of the front room and hid on my chair. I could hear the dog running down the stairs and I trembled, but the woman who found me stopped him.
"Hobbes! Calm down!" she said, an authoritative tone in her voice. "You've seen Casper before."
He stopped, although I could hear him panting as he approached my chair. He stood, staring happily over the arm at me as he wagged his tail back and forth. I hissed at him, and he wagged his tail harder, obviously happy that I was speaking to him. Dogs really are the stupidest of creatures.
I ventured upstairs again later on. I wanted to know what else was up there, and who that woman was. I found out in the end that the woman who found me was called Sarah, and that this was her mother.
The next day I spent all of my time wandering up and downstairs. The dog still wagged his tail every time he saw me, and the other cats did not seem to mind me being there at all. I even found her bed. Sarah's bed. I curled up on it and purred until she found me there. Then I purred even harder as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. She rocked me back and forth, filling my heart with her love as she murmured, "Merry Christmas, Casper."
That night I spent the night on her bed. I woke her up several times after I dreamed of the alleyway and of being cold and alone again, each time asking her to reassure me that that was the dream and that this was reality. She did each time, wrapping her arm around me and holding me close, telling me to go to sleep, which I did, for I am Casper. I am loved and I am wanted, and I am the Christmas Cat.
THE END
Casper is real. Yes, there is a lot of poetic licence involved in this story, because I can't tell you what he really thought or what he feared. I do know how I found him and I found out about his past owners from someone who knew them. I also know that it only took four days for him to accept my other cats, although he never got the hang of interacting with my dog, Hobbes. Casper did spend Christmas night sleeping on my bed and waking me up a lot for reassurance And my mother is disabled and as she couldn't manage the stairs in our house she stayed upstairs all of the time, although we've moved to a flat now so she can go into every room.
It was the 21st of December 1998 when I found him in an alleyway curled up next to an old, smashed TV, shivering with the cold. I took him home and he's been with me ever since. I named him Casper because I wanted him to have a Christmas name, and because he really is my Christmas Cat.