Year of the Cat 1003

by Mewsette

I remember how I got here.

I know I came from a place they called Rome, but I don't know what this place is called. The stones are slimy and mossy, not warm and dry. Where is the sun? I haven't seen it since my last day on the big boat over the water. Since the boat stopped moving and I jumped onto this new land, it's been cold and soggy everywhere. I had to jump fast before the men in horned hats caught me. Here the humans cover themselves with heavy cloaks and furs from other animals - not my own species, I hope! - to protect them from the cold. The rat I killed this morning was frozen before I was done eating it. It's a good thing my own fur is longer and thicker than the rest of my family's. Oh, I miss my family.

It is another day. The battle seems to be over. Don't the humans in this cold land do anything but war and kill each other? The stench of death was overpowering there, and I found my way to this plateau above the forest. I can see for a great distance here, but there is nothing to see. No buildings shining in the sun, no quiet ladies in soft clothing, no clerics in their brown robes, no maids to throw me a bit of fish out the back door. No doors! At least it is not so dangerous up here. Except for the eyes I feel following me. Feline eyes, green ones like mine. He doesn't let me see him.

It is another day. The den we have made is soft, with dried moss, warm and protected from the winds. The hunting is good in the forest. My friend with the green eyes thought he was the last cat left in this harsh land. He is so huge, with the longest, thickest fur! He warms me, too. And yes, we have seen the sun! It was not gone forever. Now it shines on the frozen limbs and the icy fjord we see from the plateau. It is not a river here, he says, it is a fjord. I call him Olaf, and he calls me simply "cat found in the forest". I shall spend the rest of the winter with him.

It is another day. I am quite tired, but I enjoy the new warmth of the days. Olaf brings his kill to me and my kits. My kits are beautiful! They are all brownish and extremely long furred, like him. We are not to be called the word I know, gatta, in this land, he says. We are skoggkatt. We will begin a fine new life together as a family. One day, far in the future, skoggkatts will abound throught this land. It is a good land after all.