A kitty’s life in 3003

by Leo

I slept late as all sensible cats do and when I woke I was surprised to find myself not on Rose’s bed as usual with it’s ancient bedspread and her feet under me making the bed all bumpy but on the softest bed imaginable. I noticed it was surrounded by coloured buttons, just the right size to put my paws on. I tried pressing a red one, and the air around the bed became much warmer, then I tried the blue one and the air became cooler again. Next I tried a white one and a saucer of milk appeared as if out of thin air ! I lapped it and it was the best I’d ever tasted but it was hard to enjoy it as I didn’t know where I was and felt uneasy.

Then a large black cat entered the room and much to my amazement spoke in the language humans use. “Where am I asked and where is Rose and the three other kitties I live with ?”

To my amazement I could speak human language too.

The black cat looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and derision. “ Have you forgotten again it said. They’ve all been dead for almost a thousand years !The foolish humans started a war and there was so much killing that some of them feared for the lives of their cats and had them placed in suspended animation, but the process was in it’s early stages and only you had survived when we found you a month ago.

Then it all came back to be, the world was very different than it had been a thousand years ago and cats were now the dominant species as the humans had almost destroyed themselves with fighting, though a few remained who waited on us, for although we had developed superior intelligence and language ,we still lacked human dexterity and needed the humans to keep our homes comfortable and all our hi tech equipment serviced.

I stretched and got out of bed, the carpet felt wonderfully luxurious beneath my paws as it was made of velvet, my favourite fabric.

After using the self flushing litter box, I considered how to spend my day, in the indoor play area, with it’s computer generated mice and automatic sunbeams which could be set to always shine where I was sitting, or whether to go outside to climb a few trees and catch some real mice that the humans would release on demand or me.

AS the automatic door opened at my approach, a human appeared and on catching sight of me, bowed down to the ground as I approached. With a wave of my paw, I beckoned her to get up.

“The weather is fine today, your Lordship, “ she said with another curtsy ”Would your lordship care for some food, ,or would your Lordship do me the great honour of sitting on my lap?

I thanked her which seemed to surprise her and said I’d go for a stroll before breakfast before turning down her offer to carry me.

I chased and caught at least a dozen mice, ran across the softest, lushest grass you could imagine and climbed all the trees which were all perfect for climbing .

Life should have been perfect but I was bored. I missed the excitement of not knowing whether I’d find a mouse or not, I missed the joy of finding an elusive and fleeting patch of sunlight to sleep in and I even missed Rose being cross if I broke anything as where was the thrill of seeing I could get away with it ?

My servant was most devoted .If I sat on her lap, she would never move until I wanted to and would ask me where I most liked being stroked but I missed looking injured when Rose needed to get up and the fun of trying to make her feel Guilty.

I spent more and more time in my luxury bed and the human became worried and asked me if I were lonely or felt unwell or depressed and needed to see a Counsellor. I told her no, I was just sleepy.

My bed started to move and I called for the servant to repair the automatic rocking device and lay back again with my eyes shut. Then I heard a familiar voice. “Leo, you’re on my feet, I can’t move !”

I was jolted unceremoniously by what felt like a foot under my bed. I opened my eyes and there was Rose, sitting up in bed. “Wake up Leo,!” She said .”I think you were dreaming, I could see your whiskers twitching.”

Later that day, I heard her talking to one of her friends. “I often wonder what my cats dream about.” She said” Catching mice, I assume or eating.”

If only she knew. For an instant. I wished I could speak her language but I was too glad to return to my real life in 2003 to think about it for more than a moment.