Peaches…

Peaches watched them eat, from the top of the bookcase.  The guy kept looking at her person and smiling.  Her person smiled back. “I’m so much faster than he is,” meowed Peaches, softly to herself.  “He wouldn’t stand a chance.”

As if she heard her, her person looked up and frowned at her, then went back to eating.

How does she do that, wondered Peaches.  It’s as if she can read my mind.  She sighed and thought hungry thoughts.  Humans.  They’er so fragile, slow and un-evolved.   She licked her front paw for a few minutes then went back to staring.  What did she see in him?  He wasn’t anything special, at least not that she could see.  He did bring her catnip, so he wasn’t all bad and he didn’t smell like dog, another plus, but still, he didn’t really stand out.

Maybe it was time she started looking for a nice Tom Cat of her own.  It had been quite some time since she had a mate.  Tommy had lovely stripes, she purred, remembering his pink nose.  And Tabs had beautiful blue eyes and a gorgeous tail.  But she was older now and a bit more…difficult.

Now what? sighed the cat.  Dancing?  Really.  Look how close he’s holding her.  I hope this doesn’t become a thing.  She meowed LOUDLY and her person looked at her again and nodded, knowing that she was just warning her not to take it too far.  “What would you do without me?” she meowed.  She pictured herself jumping onto the guy from her high perch but thought that might be a bad idea.  Instead she closed her eyes and listened to the music.

Eventually, she jumped onto the windowsill and ducked outside.  It was damp and the streets were wet but she needed to get away from them.  She didn’t wear her mask, since she just wanted to walk for awhile.

“Meow?” said a stray, sitting on a cardboard box.  “Meow.”

She answered, but kept walking.  It never hurt to be polite in your own neighborhood.  Besides, She knew Tinker and he was a good hunter and friend.   Sally was next, sprawled on her side, full of fish from the store down the block.  Peaches stopped and meowed for a time but eventually they parted ways.  Sally had kittens to care for and didn’t have a lot of time to talk.

Bruce barked at her, from behind his fence, and she hissed, even though they liked each other.  It’s just what one did on a rainy nigh.  He was a big dog but she wasn’t afraid of him.  He knew not to mess with her and he was kind of sweet, which made her gag a little.  Snookums was sitting by her window.  She was never allowed outside and everyone felt sorry for her, even though they all knew she was better off because the streets were so dangerous.  Friends went missing all the time.

Princess Snowball started walking next to her.  They talked about the new cats and the old ones.  No one had seen Buttercup for two days and someone grabbed Buddy and took him home.  They had a nice conversation while sitting on the grass by the swings in the park. Princess Snowball said a dog was bothering Sweetie Pie and asked if Peaches would help her scare the dog away.  Peaches snickered, got to her feet and stretched.

They found the dog, then went to tell Sweetie Pie that she didn’t have to be afraid anymore.  After that Peaches said goodby and went home.  She jumped through the open window and noticed that her person was alone.  She went to her dish, had a snack, then curled up on her person’s pillow.

I’m a nice cat, she thought to herself.  Then she covered her nose with her tail and started to dream about what she could take down next.