In The Year 2525

by BlackJack

The big tomcat prowled through the deserted streets, no one was out, as it was way after curfew for the humans. He had no name, not even the number that most animals and humans bore around their necks and tattooed on their chests. He was so lonely, life in the future was often lonely, with the strict laws about humans and animals being out after a certain hour. He had no home, and had been very lucky to escape the clutches of the animal control officers, as they had no mercy for kitties prowling the streets.

He had never felt the soft touch of a human hand, and wanted to so much. He was tired of the prowling, the running and the endless worry of being caught.

There was a small colony of humans who lived in the forest, defying the strict laws about animals and humans. They still hunted for food, lived in freedom and they were always happy, so unlike the majority of humans in the cities, whose main concern was adding to their bank accounts and racking up huge scores on the video games that provided the only legal pursuit of fun.

The big cat headed out to the feral human colony, as he liked to call it. He kept hoping to be taken in there, but the humans were always worried about spies, and using animals with hidden videocameras was so prevalent, he had never been able to get through the perimeter.

It was later tonight though, maybe things would be different. As he padded up to the perimeter, he was surprised to see so many of the humans awake and outside. It looked like they were having a celebration of some type. There were various symbols of different countries and different creeds, and all the humans were linking hands and singing. There were animals there too, cats, dogs, horses and all manner of birds, and they were all joining in the singing in their special way.

As he stood, awestruck, a thin young human came over to him and reached out to pet him. The human called him kitty at first, then as he saw the yellow fur and big green eyes, he said this must be Morris come back. The tom had no clue who Morris was, but the young human said it with such reverence and gentleness, he realized this was quite an honor to be dubbed Morris.

The young human then picked up Morris, carried him through the perimeter and into the circle of friendship. All the humans smiled and seemed quite happy to see Morris. He was being petted, given food and kind words swirled around him. What a different place this was from the streets he had known.

He could hardly believe this was 2525, it seemed to hearken back to a time many centuries ago, when peace and happiness were the order of the day. Morris found a new home that Christmas Night of 2525, and he learned an important lesson too.

Humans may seem quite different in the future, and things may change for the worse, but that special human bond with animals will never change.