What the Cat Saw

Short story of a night in the life of Hunter the cat.

  Slowly the sun sank beneath the horizon leaving a fading blood red stain in the sky before giving way to a million icy pinpricks of starry light.  Even asleep the cat felt the change from day to night.  As the moon breached the dark depths of the night sky, so the cat’s soul seemed to slip back into his body.  The cat yawned and stretched his body from toes to tail to help his soul slip more comfortably into skin and bones.  He blinked and sniffed open-mouthed letting the air cross over his tongue for a better sense of his surroundings.  The old pungent smells from the nearby dumpster gave no hope for a quick meal.  Slinking out from beneath the crates he had used for shelter last night the cat took a few sips from the puddle of yesterday’s rain.  The air was crisp and the cat felt ready for another evening of mischief and adventure.

Making his way through back alleys toward the park which was a favorite hunting ground of his, the cat ignored the calls of the drunk lying in his cardboard box. 

“Here kitty, kitty.  Come here Fluffy.”

“Fluffy?  I don’t think so.”, the cat mentally smirked.  “I am the Hunter.  I am the rat killer, frog squisher, and devourer of all things avian.  Fluffy my a*s.”

Hunter crept up to the corner which let out into the street.  Staring out from the safety of the alley, he looked for cars before making a mad dash across and into the welcoming bushes which lined the edges of the park.  Hunter eased into stealth mode.  Carefully picking his way further into the park past all the sidewalks and benches the humans used.  The choicest prey was in the thicket at the heart of the park.  A burrow of rabbits made for a lively chase but ended in a delicious meal and full belly.  Hunter climbed to a low branch in a tree just outside of the cone of light from a lamp post to clean himself. 

A late night jogger came up the path and stopped to sit on the bench next to the lamp post to catch his breath.  Hunter stopped and watched until satisfied that the jogger could not see him in his perch then resumed cleaning.  The sudden silence of all the insects in the park set Hunter’s nerves on edge.  Hunter became one with the tree and stared into the darkness around him, the only sounds in the park coming from the jogger on the bench.

“Stupid human, stupid prey.” Hunter chided as the jogger got up and turned to head back along the path.

A shadow separated from a tree on the other side of the circle of light from the lamp and pounced on the jogger.  Fangs bit into his neck and arms of steel squeezed the breath out of him preventing any chance of a cry for help.  Hunter watched, a silent witness, as the life was drained from the jogger.  The shadow tossed the dead jogger over a shoulder and started to drift back into the darkness of the park.  Just before stepping out of the circle of light, the shadow turned and looked straight at Hunter with feral eyes of blue.  Grinning, the vampire lifted a finger to his lips.

“Shhhhhhh, I’ll not tell if you won’t.” the vampire whispered to Hunter.

Hunter gave a slow blink of acknowledgment to the vampire who melted into the night to dispose of his kill.  Hunter jumped down from his tree and padded off in the opposite direction.

Author's Note

Just a short story that had been bouncing around my mind.

Reviews

[Fishbear]

That was pretty interesting. I really liked how the cat thought and especially what he "said" to the drunk. The vampire really came out of nowhere but it was kind of cool how the cat didn't really seem to care and just went on his way. Good job