Birthday Wish

Had I, Kathleen Meyers, known that today was going to end up this way, I would have drank a little more yesterday. I had never been much of a fan for birthdays, well, at least my own. I always spent them alone or spent them doing things that I really didn’t want to do. Since I was turning twenty-one this year, I had made the decision to spend it alone and drink all my sorrows away. That way I wouldn’t have to think about how my family had forgot about me or how the only person I wanted to spend this day with was still not speaking to me.

So it was no surprise that I woke up dizzy and dazed in a place I could not recognize. But on top of that, my body felt smaller than usual and I couldn’t see the world in color anymore. When did I go colorblind? And feet had padding on them and it felt like I had four of them instead of two.

I looked down and saw that instead of hands I had paws and these paws had claws too. My skin was now fur and it was black too. At least I still remained the same ethnicity. But that really didn’t help since I was tiny, fury and essentially a helpless animal. And I still had no idea where I was.

I opened my mouth to speak but all that came out was a strangled cry. It sounded like a cat dying. Wait, a cat? Was I a cat?

I looked at my paws again, turned around and saw my long tail, scratched a hand—I mean paw around my ear, which was thin and pointy. So I guess I was a cat. But I needed more proof.

I turned in my cell and went over to my bowl of water, glanced over it and saw my face. It was sleek and shiny black with eyes that glowed like a bad streetlamp and whiskers that peaked from my grey triangle nose.

Oh my gosh! I’m a cat! But how?

I turned around again and tried to speak, “Where am I?” and was only met with a string of whiny meows.

“You’re in the pound,” I understood someone say to me but at the same time, I heard nothing but cat noises.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you not understand?” the voice said as a thin, white cat appeared before me. “You are in the pound. Your owners did not want you, if had any and if not, then you are a stray; useless, worthless, piece of garbage that nobody wanted. Now pipe down before you scare away the customers. You won’t get adopted acting like a crazed lunatic.” And with that he disappeared from my sight back to wherever he came from. At least what I assumed to be a “he” since the voice was male.

So this was how I was going to spend my birthday waiting for someone to adopt me? I wonder if anybody realizes that I am missing or if they know I’ve been turned into a cat. Probably not, that even if they did, they probably wouldn’t even care. My mother probably thought I was still in bed and my father was thousands of miles away, unconcerned with my whereabouts and my siblings were doing their own thing as well. For all I knew, I would spend the remainder of my life in this hole of a pound.

Suddenly the door chimed open and I sat up, expectant that one of my relatives had figured out I was missing and had come to rescue me, although I don’t know why. My mom hated pets and she was allergic to cats anyway, my sister was out of the house teaching in another city and my brother was busy working on his music career. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I saw that it was only some random little girl and sank back to the floor in hopelessness and despair.

I don’t know why I had got my hopes up. No one was coming. Like I thought, no one knew I was here so how could they begin to fathom my whereabouts. All hope was lost, forever. 

Or so I thought when the little girl paced back in my direction and squatted down in front of me, studying me closely. I noticed the little girl looked familiar and wondered where I had seen her before.

“Hey, hey, look at me!” the cat next to me scratched at his cage door, although it still just sounded like meows even though I understood what they meant. He glared at me saying, “Don’t you steal her away from me bitch.”

I looked away, ignoring his threat. True, I wanted to get out of here but I really wasn’t all that keen on going home as someone else’s pet.

I glanced up at her again, trying to figure out where I had seen her before. She was definitely too young to be one of my friends or one of my brother’s friends. My sister was a school teacher and although she did work in an elementary school, she taught special education and this girl didn’t seem special in any kind of way, shape or form. So where did I remember her from?

“Hey, you picked a pet yet?” I heard a male voice from somewhere beyond my sight.

The voice sounded familiar as well but I could not put a face to it. Then the voice walked into my view and I saw a boy, in his teenage years with dark hair and dark eyes and a cigarette in his hand looking back at mw.

“I think I want this one,” the girl finally spoke.

I looked back from the girl to the boy and wondered how they were related and where I had seen them. The girl had honey blond hair and deep brown eyes and the boy just looked dark. Surely they were not related?

“Well hurry up and pick it out so we can go. I want to get you home before Mom and Aaron start bitching,” he complained before taking a drag from his cigarette.

“Don’t say that.”

“What? Bitching?” he questioned. “Why, is it offensive to the animals or something?”

And to woman I wanted to add.

“No, it’s just a bad word. Mommy and Daddy told you not to use that kind of language around me. It will teach me bad behavior,” she explained. Why I liked her already. She was tiny but a force to be reckoned with. My kind of girl.

“No it won’t if you don’t use it. Just because I said it doesn’t mean you have to repeat it you little—“

“Don’t you dare call me that!” she cut him off.

You tell him! Don’t let him mistreat you like that.

“Whatever. Just hurry up and pick your dumb pet so we can fucking go.” He took another long drag from his cigarette and puffed it out before stalking out of my sight.

The girl turned back to me and smiled warmly. “Sorry about that. He can be such a jerk sometimes but he’s just frustrated about girls and graduation and stuff. Mom and Dad can be really hard on him. He really is a good older brother,” she said.

“Is that the one you want?” another voice spoke, this time it was a woman, with tiny feet, long legs and a slender frame dressed in what looked like a flower garden had thrown up all over her.

“Oh yes ma’am, I want this one. Is it a boy or a girl?”

“It’s a girl and she is very quiet and keeps to herself a lot. But I think that’s because it’s her first time in a shelter. Maybe she’ll warm up in a home environment,” the woman said.

“Oh good, then I better hurry and get her home,” the girl leaped with excitement.

“Well, you’ll have to fill out some paperwork first and then you can take her home,” the woman smiled and both she and the girl walked away.

So it would seem that I was going to be adopted today. That was great and all but how was I going to get home and more importantly, how I was going to turn back into my original form.

~//~

I was now sitting in the lap of the little girl whose named I learned was Emily. We were riding in the backseat of what appeared to be a four door SUV with gray and black interior. It seemed rather much for a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old to have in his possession.

There was too much room in the back seat. You could at least sit four or five people together and they would fit comfortably. The seats could also recline back and there were seat warmers as well. And the windows, they were way too dark, what did a teenage boy need tinted windows for? What was he driving, a sex-capade or a SEX-U-V?

The thought of this made me laugh but unfortunately when cats laughed, they sounded like they were coughing up a hairball, which by the way, I have done two and was grossed out by. Nonetheless, this vehicle reminded me of when my ex-boyfriend got his brand new car.

“What in the world is this?” I laughed uproariously as he pulled this slick, black Chevy Tahoe in front of my driveway. “What are you, a pimp?”

“No, why would you say that?” He looked a little hurt.

I stopped laughing and took a deep breath before replying, “I mean, c’mon, look at this thing; it’s big, it’s black, it’s shiny—I mean the windows are so tinted I can’t even see if there is an interior to this thing. This looks like some kind of sex-mobile.”

“Hey, I told my dad I needed a new car and this is what he bought me. If you don’t like it, well then—“

“I never said I didn’t like it, I just don’t think it suits you.” I opened the passenger door and hopped into the monster vehicle. Shutting the door behind me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him softly on the lips. “But I’m sorry,” I spoke after a moment. “If you like the car, then I like the car.”

“You know, maybe I can trade it for something more my style.” He smiled and then kissed me back.

I don’t know why that memory suddenly popped back into my head. I hadn’t thought about him in over a year. We had both decided to go our separate ways and date new people in college, so why was I thinking about making out in his car at a time like this?

Wait, his car?

I leaped out from the lap of my new owner and went scurrying around the SUV, surveying the interior closely.

Oh my god. What if this were Dan’s car? Damn. Then that meant I would be going to his house and I would have to confront him again and as a cat no less. Why me? I’m not ready to see, not like this. I needed time to prepare what I was going to—oh shit! I can’t even talk. Even if I had something to say, he wouldn’t be able to understand me anyway. This was terrible.

“Damit Emmie. Don’t let that cat get loose in the car. Dan is going to kill me if he shits everywhere,” the moody, smoking older brother yelled from the driver’s seat.

“I’m not going to let her get loose and she won’t mess up Dan’s car,” Emily stated.

“Whatever,” he grumbled but I was no longer paying him any attention as I used my new animal nose to sniff out the familiarity of the SUV.

Nothing smelled familiar to me but as I was crawling underneath the seats I saw the silver hoop I had lost down there from one of the random make out sessions we’d had. Ironic that I should find it when I’ve turned into a cat but I told Dan it was in the car. He had refused that it was in here and told me to go look for it at school the next day. If I could talk, I would march right up to him and tell he was wrong. Or at least I could just scratch him with my claws instead.

Wait, why was Dan’s little brother driving his car? Did Dan give his car to his younger brother and he bought himself another car. Or maybe his dad had bought him another car and that’s how the angry younger brother got the car. Or maybe, and I hoped this was not the case, Dan was home for the weekend and I would have to run into him. 

Not that I didn’t want to see Dan, it was just that I was stuck in the form of a cat and there would be no way to communicate with him. I would not be able to tell him how much she missed him or even ask him how he was doing.

Suddenly I felt uneasy and I wanted out of Dan’s car.

“What the hell is wrong with your cat? Why is she scratching up the fucking car?”

“I don’t know,” Emily tried to grab for me but I slipped through her grip. “Maybe she is having a panic attack.” Emily tried to grab me again but I gave her the slip. Who knew cats were so quick. Maybe I could escape, if only I could figure out how to open the window. Paws were not exactly useful when it came to pushing buttons. They could only hit things. Damn.

“Will you catch that damn cat already,” I could hear the teenager shouting now.

“I’m trying but she won’t hold still,” Emily replied.

“Well make her hold still,” he said.

“Why don’t you come back here and see if you think you can do a better job and I’ll drive!” she retorted.

“Dumba—I mean stupid, you’re not old enough to drive.”

“That’s right, I’m not,” she said. “So why don’t you drive and I’ll catch the cat, stupid.” And with that he shut up.

I felt bad for acting so poorly and causing such a ruckus, so I climbed back into my new master’s lap and sat quietly, awaiting the moment I would arrive at Dan’s door.

~//~

I saw the Tahoe come to a stop and waited for it to come to stop. I was excited to see what kind of pet Emily picked out today. I had always wanted a pet but Dad was always allergic and at the time, there were other issues going on that made having a pet no option. But now, even though this pet would be Emily’s, I could enjoy it whenever I came home and sit for her whenever they went out of town. I also volunteered to pay for the medical since I had just graduated from veterinary school and had a license to practice on animals.

“Damn cat,” Dewey grumbled as he stepped out of the Tahoe and smoking a cigarette no less. “Dan is going to kill me.”

“Come here kitty,” Emily patted her leg for what I assumed to be a cat to come out of the car. “Come here Precious.”

I walked over to Emmie to get a better look at what kind of cat she had brought home. When I reached the car, I saw the most beautiful kitty I had ever laid eyes.

She was black as night but smooth and shiny as well with eyes bright as stars and a lean, athletic frame.

 “Come on kitty,” Emmie cooed again.

“Idiot, pick her up and carry her inside,” my younger brother told her.

“Don’t call Emmie an idiot and what the hell is your problem? And put out that cigarette. Smoking is bad for your health you know,” I screamed and when I turned back I noticed the cat cowering away from me.

“Oh I’m sorry Precious, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess I was yelling too loudly huh?” I smiled at her, extending my hand out to her so she could see that I wasn’t a threat to her.

She inched her tiny grey nose out towards me and sniffed my hand.

 “Whatever. Don’t blame me then when Dad has to get the car detailed again.” Dewey chimed in, drawing one last drag from his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and snubbing it out. Then he walked away and disappeared inside the house.

“Hey! What do you mean Dad will have to get the car detailed again?” I shouted after my brother but was met with no response. I felt the cat shift away from and hide back inside the car. I sighed, realizing I had scared her again. Then I turned to face my younger sister and asked,” Do you know what happened to my car?”

“Well . . .” she looked down.

I was about to pat Emmie’s head when the cat popped up again and began meowing like crazy, as if trying to say, “Please don’t be mad at her.”

I laughed at this, thinking it was cute the Precious was trying to defend Emily.

“It’s ok Precious. I’m not mad at Emily. And I’m not mad at you either. In fact, I am quite excited that you will be staying with us,” I patted her on the head.

“Meow,” she cooed, nuzzling her head against my hand but then she stopped and jumped out of the car and ran towards Emmie.

I just looked after her, confused as to what I had to cause this reaction. I was just simply petting her, did I rub too hard or something? Oh well I shrugged and shut the door behind her.

“So what are you going to do?” Emily asked quickly, shielding me from the cat just in case.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just have Dad redo the interior,” I told her said. 

“Really?” she questioned timidly.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” I smiled at her and rubbed her head as well. “So should we go inside and get Precious situated then?”

“Yes,” Emily nodded, grabbing Precious in her arms and running towards the house.

“Be careful!” I called after her. “Try not to squeeze her too hard and run more slowly so you don’t jostle her too much,” I added.

~//~

 Once inside the house, I began to fix a place for Precious to sleep.

“What are you doing?” Emily asked me.

“I am preparing a place for Precious to sleep. As much as I love her and wouldn’t mind her sleeping in my room or yours, we can’t have her roaming all around the house. You know Mom would get upset and worry about the cat tearing up her stuff.”

“But I promise I won’t let her out of my room,” Emily told me.

“Emmie,” I said sternly. “You know how Mom gets. It would be best for Precious to sleep here.”

“Fine,” her shoulders dropped. “I guess it will be alright if she sleeps here,” she pouted.

“Good girl,” I patted her head. I should probably stop doing that to her. In years to come she’ll hate me for treating her like a pet.

 The next time I saw the cat, she was, in the laundry room watching the clothes spin in the washer machine.

“Just what are you doing Precious,” I called to her. “You’ll make yourself sick if you stay there.”I came over and picked her up, walking her over to the living room. “You can sit here and help me find something on T.V.,” I plopped us down on the couch.

As I held her in my arms, I felt her chest inhale and exhale very rapidly and wondered what was wrong. Did she not like me holding her? Was I holding her too tightly? What was it about me that bothered her so much?

 “Are you okay Precious?” I asked her, concern laced throughout my voice. She wriggled out of my embrace and leaped off the couch.

“Hey, what did I do wrong?” I called after her but she was gone.

Why was this happening? I all wanted to do was take care of her and love her but why wouldn’t she let me? Why did she keep running away from me? What was it about me that she hated so much? “Why did you ever leave me Kathleen?”

This last thing I muttered surprised me. For one thing, I said it out loud and secondly, I did not realize that I still had feelings for Kathleen. I tried to bury them deep so that I would never feel them again but this damn cat made everyone resurface all over again. Heh, I guess that’s why Dewey couldn’t stand this cat. She made one feel.

~//~

Hours had passed since that incident on the couch and I had spent most of the day doing a pretty good job of avoiding Dan. That was until it was time for dinner and he came to fed me.

“Hey, time to eat girl,” he cooed softly shaking a bag of Meow Mix in front of me.

I hissed and then ran away. I couldn’t deal with Dan. I was feeling all sorts of things that I should not be feeling. That and the fact that I was a cat and had no way of telling him I felt.

“Hey, come back here,” he called after me.

I couldn’t come back. Sure, it was partly because I just realized that I was still in love with my ex-boyfriend, the other part was that I really didn’t want to have to eat cat food. I’d rather starve than eat Meow Mix.

I continued to run and run until a giant object stopped me in my tracks or should I say a giant pairs of shoes.

“Hey Dewey, catch Precious for me,” I heard Dan say.

“And why should I?” he replied.

“So I can give her dinner,” Dan answered.

“Catch her yourself,” he said and walked off. I really wanted to scratch this guy’s eyes out. And I finally had the nails to do that.

So I turned around, walked over to Dan and sat patiently, awaiting for my dinner of Meow Mix.

~//~

I spent the rest of the night barfing in a litter box while Dan stood over me and rubbed my back. He was always so caring that way. I wondered why I ever broke up with him. Oh yeah, we agreed that we needed to see and experience new people. I really felt like crap now.

“Is Precious going to be okay?” Emily asked.

“Yes, she should be fine. She probably just ate a bad batch of cat food,” he answered the worried little girl.

“I’ll go get her some water,” Emily said.

“That’s a good idea,” he spoke calmly, stroking my back smoothly and evenly. “It’s okay girl. Emmie is going to get you some water now and hopeful you’ll feel all better,” he said.

I truly felt lower than the low. Here I was puking my guts out in front of the guy I was in love with, that and the fact that I was a cat who could only meow in sorrow and never tell him how I really felt. I wanted to be swallowed up by a black hole and never come out of it.

And before I knew it, tears were streaming down my golden eyes as soft sobs escaped my lips.

“Hey, it’s okay kitty,” he rubbed my back. “You’ll be alright. Emmie will bring the water and everything will be okay.”

Somehow I doubted that.

“You know,” he chuckled lightly. “My ex-girlfriend used to cry when she got sick. She would sob and sob, so embarrassed that I had seen such an ugly side to her but you know what I would tell her:

“I’m actually kind of glad you’re sick,” he laughed.

“What?!” I shouted before I barfed in the toilet. “Why would you—“

“I’m glad because I get the privilege of taking care of you and no one else has ever been here for you except your mother or father right? I truly feel honored.” He hugged me tightly.

“Oh Dan—ack,” I threw up all over my lap. “I’m so sorry Dan,” I looked at him.

“It’s alright. Use me anytime you need me,” he whipped the tears from my eyes and turned me back around before I threw up on him again.

“So the point of my little anecdote is that I don’t mind being here and I promise to stay here all night until you feel better,” he said. And stay there he did.

~//~

Well I had finally puked up all the Meow Mix and was lying peacefully in Dan’s arms while Emily lay on the other side of me and even Dewey occasionally came to see how things were going. Truly this was the best birthday I had had in years. I was completely surrounded by people that loved me. What more could I ask for?

~//~

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty,” my mother’s voice called from beyond my comprehension. “Time for you to get up and mingle with the rest of us commoners your highness. Your birthday celebration is over. Time to start the day,” she said.

I wasn’t as princess-y as my mother made me out to be. I was getting out of bed, I just was going to do it when I got good and ready. Not like I had anything important to do today.

Wait, I heard her mother’s voice. That meant I was at home but did the mean I was human again?

I ripped the covers back and saw smooth, creamy hairless legs. I put my arms up in front of me and noticed they too were white and hairless. My hands had fingers instead of fuzzy paws and claws and the same went for me feet. I was human again and finally able to say the one thing I had been dying to say since yesterday.

I quickly jumped out of bed, threw on some sweatpants and a hoodie, I would shower when I got back and raced down the stairs.

“Well, about time you graced us with your presence. Is that what you’re wearing for the day?” my mother asked.

“Never mind my clothes, can I borrow the keys to the car?” I said.

“What for?” my mother replied.

“I need them so I can drive over to Dan’s house,” I answered.

“Dan . . . but I thought—“

“Yeah I know but I have something I need to tell him,” I cut her off.

“Very well then,” my mother handed me the keys to the Camry.

“Thanks Mom,” I grabbed the keys and raced out the door.

“Drive safe,” I heard my mother call from behind.

“I will,” I hollered back and then I was off.

~//~

I drove as fast as I could. Practically running every light in order to get to him but I had finally made it to his house. I parked the car and hopped out, running rapidly to his doorstep and pressing his doorbell repeatedly.

“Hold on a second,” I heard someone say on the other side of the door. Then it opened but it wasn’t Dan who answered but Aaron, Dan’s step-father and Emily’s father.

“Hi, is Dan home?” I asked between gasps.

“Uh sure. He’s upstairs would you like to come in?”

“Yes please,” I replied and then calmly walked in. I didn’t want Dan to see me in such a mess.

“Would you like anything to drink or something to eat?” Aaron asked.

“No thank you Mr. Mitchell. I just need to tell Dan something,” I  said.

“Well, I hope he’s in a listening mood. He’s really been shaken up since you two broke up,” he said before disappearing somewhere.

Shaken up? What did Mr. Mitchell mean by that? I thought me and Dan were in agreement about the break-up. I mean I never wanted to break up, I just did what I thought was best for us. I didn’t want to hold him back but apparently I was wrong.

“Kathleen?” he jarred me from my thoughts.

“Dan,” I stood to see him better and realized he was nothing but jeans and he was drying his hair off with a towel. Why hadn’t Mr. Mitchell told me he was in the shower? “Uh, I can wait ‘til you get dressed,” I stuttered unable to look at him.

“No I’m good,” he said and I could feel him smirking at me. “So why are you here?”

I took a deep breath. This was my moment. Now or never.

“Dan I—“

“Hey Dan, have you seen my smokes?” His idiot brother interrupted. Damn Dewey.

“Yeah, I threw them out,” Dan answered, never taking his gaze off me. “Smoking will kill you one day. You should thank me.”

“You ass!” Dewey screamed then ran off.

“Hey, watch that language,” Mr. Mitchell shouted from the kitchen.

“So Kat, why are you here?” he asked me again.

“I—“

“Danny, have you seen Precious?” his sister interjected.

“No, go check outside or something, I’m a little busy,” he spoke calmly but there was a trace of irritation in his voice.

“Okay,” she chirped and then bounced off.

“So Kat—“

“Hey Dan, did you—“

“I love you Dan!” I shouted before Mr. Mitchell could finish his thought.

“Whoa,” he chuckled. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s just, I missed you and really wanted to tell you before I lost the nerve or you left,” I said.

“Wow,” he breathed then embraced me. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that from you. I love you too.”