"John"

by Rajah

A noise shattered the hushed lull of Meow’s party, causing every creature present to turn in frightful apprehension. Her ears flattened, their tabby folds pressing into the elegant tiara adorning her head. The crash echoed, sending harsh sound waves outward from the upstairs hallway. After realizing the expectant eyes of guests from all corners of the room were focusing on none other than her, Meow smiled with a pained sense of grace and glided up her human’s stairs to investigate the rude interruption. Meow was a glowing youth, just beginning to reach the prime of her days. Meow’s mother had died in birth, and Meow would have been killed if it not for the mercy of an animal shelter and the Christmas adoption rush. After the initial glee over a new kitten, her humans gradually slackened their attention on the young cat, until the days came when she was able to do as she pleased without fear of their eyes drifting in her direction. Tonight the humans had all left to watch a movie; Meow couldn’t help but thank the powers to be of their absence as she cautiously prowled up the stairs. She never had reason to climb them before, so there were no thoughts in her mind as to what the noise could be. Just as she crept up to the first door, an ear-shattering howl sent her scurrying backwards, shivering in fright and misery. Slowly, she opened her eyes, their brilliant glow teasing the moonlight into illuminating her line of vision. She was surprised to see her youngest human’s belongings packed haphazardly together against the walls. The unfortunate boy had died only a month ago when hit by a truck, after which all belongings mildly representative of his existence were whisked away by the older humans. Even Meow had forgotten the boy ever lived! She tensed, looking over her shoulder. Jaw scraping on the floor, Meow screamed and ran from the terrible sight behind her. John was standing there, gray and decidedly deceased, reaching towards her beautiful fur! She streaked down the stairs, yowling hysterically. Panicking cats ran every which direction, too confused to understand what she said. After they had fled the building, and Meow had regained her senses, she doubled back and snuck through her old kitten door into the kitchen area. Breathing with ragged irregularity, Meow nosed out a clove of garlic and batted down the crucifix magnet on the fridge. Clasping both firmly between her chattering jaws, Meow took a deep breath and nudged past the kitchen door. Remnants of the ruined party littered a stained carpet, a sight reassuring of nothing other than her harsh punishment when the humans returned. Meow wasn’t worried about her punishment; on the contrary, Meow was concerned with nothing more than the distraught ghost that haunted her house! Meow sniffed upward, trying to discern if John’s ghost was still upstairs. She sniffed again, confused. The only smell wafting downward was that of the night air whistling through an open window. Shaking, she crouched and attached the garlic and cross to the stairwell’s base, protecting the downstairs from John’s ghost. After pounding them into place, she sighed softly and ran a paw through her fur, slowly easing off the tiara. She least expected an inverse in the night’s equation; the finger slowly tapping her shoulder was not one she dreamed of John yielding. As she looked up in surprise, her heart did a double flip. He looked down at her, a wretched body rotten beyond life, but with eyes as young and delightful as they were in flesh. Too terrified to move, Meow helplessly stared back at the ghost, every trace of courage she possessed seemingly destroyed by his presence. The boy before her expressed no sign of hostility. He smoothly pulled his putrid hand from her fur, looking down at the floor before sitting beside her. John’s choking voice chilled her in fear once more, her wide eyes returning warily to his unnaturally animated corpse. “I know my presence scares you, little Meow, and seeing the intensity of your fear brings me to regret my decision to visit you so soon after my death…” his sorrowful gaze sought reassurance from her, an emotion she reluctantly conceded. He smiled, revealing a blackened tongue, before continuing “On Halloween, us dead are permitted to visit the one soul who brought us the most comfort during our short lives. I, myself, was surprised to learn this being is none other than… you. You see, we are transported instantly, and can only be seen by this one person. I knew, from the strong emotion of love which flooded my senses as I saw you, a feeling perhaps of amorous proportion, that you were the one.” He paused, searching her face to see if she comprehended his meaning. Since his induction into the realm of afterlife, he had learned that animals possessed souls just as any human, and were equally capable of comprehending speech and emotions. He noted her relaxed posture and slight purr with relief, for he didn’t intend to traumatize his friend, only to pass on the final words he wasn’t allowed in life. “I can’t repay you for the hours you spent at my bedside, nor apologize enough for the moments I gave in to temptation and teased you to a distracted fury. I can’t take back the moments I spend in useless pursuits while you sat by an empty food dish, or contended with a filthy litter box. You have forgiven me for all my shortcomings. You came back to me after I threw you across the room for kneading my knee out of adoration. You came back to me, licked away my tears of guilt as if to say ‘hush now, all is forgiven… don’t worry about me’. You greeted me every day when I came in the door, even if I only kicked you aside and hurried off to do whatever whim controlled me at the moment. You are beautiful, wise, kind, and an inspiration to me… in life, and in death. I never had the opportunity to tell you these words; I never took the time to tell you what you mean to me. I want to tell you… that I love you… and I will wait by the entrance to heaven for the day you, too, pass over, for I can’t let myself take another step in my journey without you by my side.” Tears flowing freely from her closed eyes, Meow chokingly purred and nuzzled against his form, no longer caring about her fur, or the ruined front room. Her soft eyes shone as she looked upward to thank him with their expressive depths. As she struggled to open her eyes, she felt her spirit settle back into her sluggishly heavy limbs before her lashes parted, letting in the evening glow. Blearily, she blinked and looked around in shock at all her friends gathered around her, singing “Happy Birthday”. When they had finished, Meek nosed her and asked “What’s wrong, Meow, you look like you’ve seen a GHOST!” Meow nudged past him, pattering up the stairs and into the room she had first seen John’s corpse in. Boxes of ignored mementoes met her. Seeking out her friend, she pawed through the loose stacks of clothes, wondering what had happened to him. With a mew of joy she jumped towards his kind eyes and opened her mouth to lick his face in welcome. As the dry, tasteless fur of his teddy rasped against her tongue, she realized he was gone from her life. Her friends ended up leaving that night, without their expected party. They watched in confusion as she struggled with the stuffed creature, tugging it to her kitty bed, and left when she, exhausted by the effort, fell fast asleep. Years later, no one but her remembered that night as she closed her eyes for the last time, her paws clutched around the old teddy bear. As she pawed through the tunnel of light, her vision adjusting to the brilliant glow, her first clear image of the afterworld was of two, kind eyes, glittering with happy tears. She jumped into the lovingly outstretched arms and licked his face in joy as he carried them both over the rainbow bridge into paradise. Word list provided by Playful (i think Raj missed "intrepid") can you find it?