Eric--Part Forty-Five

Splog # 202

Forty-Five

 As Eric's parents had left the room, they had neither turned off the light nor closed the door completely. He could hear quiet conversation interspersed with cleaning noises as they moved about the kitchen. He wasn't surprised that they'd left the door partway open. Both his parents regarded a closed door as a request for privacy and so they always left that decision up to him. Sitting in bed, he wondered whether to get up and shut off the light and try to sleep. If he'd just awakened from a long dream, he wasn't sure how easy it would be to get back to sleep. So he sat, absently gazing around his room and thinking about the dream. The thought that itched at his mind was when and how he had gotten home and into his bed. Could it have been before any of it started? Had he simply come home from the beach and fallen asleep, tired out by the sea air? That was a simple and logical explanation. A movement grabbed at the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see that a cat had just materialized on the small landing outside one of his windows. As it pressed itself against the screen, he saw that it wasn't much more than a kitten. He got out of bed and pushed the screen aside so he could pet it. At first, it backed away from him but just as he thought it might fall over the side, it gave a leap and landed on the floor of his room. He knelt down beside it and it started to climb onto him, using its claws to steady itself. He lifted it off his legs to keep the encounter painless and was holding it in front of him when a voice said,

 "Where did that come from?"

 He turned to see his parents in the doorway.

 "It just came to the window."

 "Good. I thought maybe you brought it from your dream."

 Again his mother gave his father that little slap on the arm.

 "Good night, dear," she said. "That shirt is far too big."

 "Good night, son," his father said. "Looks like your feather came from that kitten."

 As his parents left the doorway, Eric murmured "Good night" and then carried the kitten to the desk. His father was right! The yellow and gold blend on the feather was matched by the color of the kitten. As he was looking from one to the other, the kitten jumped from his hand and headed back towards the window. Eric unfastened the screen and let it swing wide open. Outside his window was a small landing and a narrow stairway that clung to the side of the small beach house and led to a deck on the roof suitable for sunbathing or stargazing. Eric watched the kitten awkwardly moving from step to step and then made a decision. He went back to switch his room light off and then went out the window and closed the screen behind him. He carefully ascended the stairs to the roof and, when he reached the deck, the kitten was stretched out in the moonlight and panting steadily. He sat down beside it and gently stroked its fur. He was surprised to find the small yellow feather still clutched in one hand. He looked up at the stars. There weren't many visible because the moon was so bright. He wondered what were the chances of five bright stars appearing and transporting him to Splogland. He laughed at the name. Alice in Wonderland. Peter Pan in Neverland. Eric in Splogland. It seemed funnier the more he thought about it. The kitten looked at him as he chuckled intermittently. Suddenly he thought of his knapsack with his book in it. He didn't remember seeing it anywhere in his room. And his wet shirt. Had he left them in Splogland? Not his new book!