The Cat at the window

Bright lightning and clap of thunder introduced a sudden and unexpected down poor to a friendly, little suburb. The heavy drops of rain fell quickly until glassy sheets flowed over the windows of the houses, forming steady waterfalls. Inside the houses, however, all was warm and dry. Try as the rain might, it couldn't get in, and the lightning flashed again in frustration. The Mother of the Cline family worked in their cozy dinning room setting the table for dinner, seemingly oblivious to the low grumble of the weather.
As her five year old daughter, KC, dashed past to hide her dark brown curls under a pillow, she chuckled softly and said nothing.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and Father was blown in by a strong gust of moist wind. He quickly slammed the door behind him to shut out the storm's furry. "Phew! I made it alive!" He huffed loudly, "And no thanks to that cloud. It's raining cats and dogs out there! Just goes to show that the sky doesn't listen to the weather man. I knew when they said sunshine, I should'a packed an umbrella. Now it looks as though I may need to haul out the boat!"

Mother hurried from the kitchen to help him out of his rain-soaked overcoat. "It really came out of a sudden. I wouldn't wonder if it actually started right over this house." She grinned and said sweetly, "Come to the table. Your supper's ready and hot; it'll warm you up."

Then she turned to fetch their little girl."KC! Come in to the dinning room, please!" She called, but stopped short of reaching her room. "Oh, dear. Ray, darling, the roof is leaking again." "Is it?" Her husband asked in surprise. "At least it only does that when it rains. Give it an hour. It'll stop." He winked at his wife, who rolled her eyes and continued to KC's bedroom.

Leaning her head just inside the door, she saw a little lump under the covers on the bed. She walked over and patted the lump's shoulder. "Come on, Hun. It's time to eat." The lump squirmed under her hand, and slowly began to rise. A chubby face peered out and asked timidly, "Is the thunder gone?" Mother smiled, "Thunder can be scary sometimes, but it really can't hurt you." She straightened her back, and stuck out her chin. "It thinks it can scare us just by being loud, but it can't, can it? Because we're brave, aren't we?" KC nodded, but her eyes were still huge, and she still clutched the blankets around her head. Mom gave her a long, reassuring hug. "Come on out, KC. We're having chicken enchiladas tonight. You don't want them to get cold." Another low rumble sounded from outside, and mother grinned. She got up, playfully glared at the window, tossed her hair indifferently, and marched out of the bedroom; hoping her humorous little act would have the desired effect of drawing the child from beneath her shelter, and out to the table with them.

Still in her room, KC looked around. Though the light was on, she eyed the dark closet carefully, and then, when she could muster the courage, she looked out the window. It was black. She couldn't see a single thing out there, but the noise was still unnerving to her. Quivering all over, she knew she had to be brave, like Mother said. So she awkwardly untangled herself from her covers, and rolled over onto her stomach, held onto the sheets, and stretched her chubby, little legs down to the floor. Relieved that nothing had grabbed her ankles, she stood, and took a couple steps toward the door, and paused. The tension was too great. She could feel something out there. She glanced back at the window for just a second, and suddenly the lightning lit up the room to reveal, in her window sill, calmly staring strait into her room, the silhouette of a cat.

Terrified, she squealed and ran into the dinning room with her parents.

Father caught her up in his arms and held her tightly. "What on earth?"
Mother rubbed her back. "It's only thunder, Kase. It won't hurt you in here."
KC was still panting when she whimpered, "There was a cat in my window!"
Mother started. "A cat? Where?"
"Outside my window!" KC persisted. "He was scary!"
Father smiled and kissed her forehead. "Aww, The poor thing must've been trying to find shelter, eh?"
But she shook her head. "No, it just sat there,... and looked at me!"
"Oh, well maybe it wanted to come inside out of the rain?" Mother offered.
But KC's furrowed little brow sharpened. "No! I don't want him in here. He scared me. I'm scared!"
Father laughed and teased her lightly, "Oh, Kase. There's nothing scary about a cat. They're soft and friendly and cuddly and cute. Come on outside and we'll rescue it." He set her on the ground and took her hand firmly, leading her to the door.

But before Father had reached it, there was a rapid knocking heard.
Dad straightened and raised his eyebrow. He started to say, "Who in the world", but stopped, and just reached out to open the door.
There, on the porch, stood a tall, thin woman, wrapped tightly in a green, hooded cape. She was soaking wet and shivering fiercely.

Her face lit up when the door opened, and she smiled a wide, confidant, and graceful smile. "Greetings!" She cheerfully exclaimed. "Would you mind if I stepped in to dry off for a moment?"
Father was taken aback, and a little gruff and cautious, but Mother called out from the dinning room, "Oh of course, you poor thing! Come right on in and have a hot meal!" The Lady stepped lightly inside the door and pulled back her soaked, green hood. "Oh thank you so much! I simply detest rain." She unclasped her cape at the base of her slender neck, and whipped it off her shoulders.

Mother stepped up and took it from her. "We can hang this up to dry in the kitchen, next to the oven. Ray, would you bring an extra chair to the table please?"

"Oh, I'm not hungry," The woman stated. "but thanks anyway."

"then," Father said gruffly, "You won't mind if we go ahead and eat."

"Ray," Mother started, but the woman interrupted her with a smile. "Of course I don't mind! You all go right ahead with your dinner. Don't worry about me. I'll just dry off and be out of your way. I do hate it when it rains, though. I usually try not to get caught in it, but this storm didn't give me much warning at all. Someone needs to tell the local weatherman he's not doing his job. He said it was going to be sunny, but-" She motioned to the window. "he forgot to check UNDER all the clouds."

Mother served up the plates, even an extra one for the stranger, just in case she changed her mind.

Father lifted KC into her own chair, and gave her a small, soothing rub on the back, before he sat silently in his chair. He settled into staring at the wall, clearly irritated. What looks he did give the strange lady were not friendly, hospitable, or even at all interested in anything she had to say; but she either didn't notice, or she didn't care. She went right on talking.

KC had a hard time keeping up with exactly WHAT the stranger was talking about. This woman never seemed to be at a loss of words. On and on she rambled, about anything from the weathermen, to what makes a good cloak, and why she chooses to wear a cloak rather than more modern and fashionable coats. Not that it mattered to anyone at the table, whether she wore a cloak or a snow suit.

Meanwhile, the KC ate her dinner in silence; her wide, brown eyes taking in the whole scene from her chair. Mother smiled and kept nodding and saying, "Mhm?" Whenever she had the chance. Father didn't touch his food. He actually looked like he was glaring at the woman. The look on his face chilled KC to the bone. Her father wasn't usually this unwelcoming of people in their house. For some reason, he didn't like this lady. KC wondered if she was a bad person. She didn't look bad, even though she certainly was a little odd.

After a while, KC began to feel angry that this strange woman wasn't letting anyone else talk. Before she knew to stop herself, she blurted out, "My word! you TALK a lot, don't you?"

Mother frowned sternly, scolding her without a word. But the lady laughed comfortably and apologized. She explained that she really hadn't spoken to anyone for a long while, and had to get her fill before she left.

"Why haven't you talked to anyone for a long time?" KC asked. The lady pursed her lips in thought and said, "I just don't live around a lot of people that want to converse with me very often. I think they've forgotten how." She glanced across the table at Father, and he pulled himself up haughtily. It was done ever so slightly, but KC noticed it. The stranger did too, and quickly rose from her chair. "Well, I'll just check on my cloak and see if it's dry yet. I think it should be after this amount of time. And it's so warm in this lovely home." Mother got up and said, "Of course." And led her into the kitchen.

Father let out a heavy sigh, and looked over at KC. Her eyes were big, and worried. He gazed into them for a moment before giving her a little smile and a wink. KC, reassured, smiled back.

Lady invited to stay the night.
Declines, and whips on the now dry cape."It's stopped raining, and I must be on my way."
Family sees her outside, and KC looks around bewildered.

Lady - "What are you looking for, small one?"
KC - "The cat I saw. It's gone."
Dad - "Well now that the rain has stopped it's probably gone home."
Lady smiles and bids farewell.

~~~~~
(KC now about 10 yrs.)

Chelsie's mouth dropped open in disgust. "Oh, gross! I can't believe you actually touched that! That's, like, the nastiest thing I've ever seen in my life!" The other girls nodded their agreement and shrank away from KC and her treasure.

But KC didn't understand. "What's wrong? It's already dead. It won't hurt you now. See?" She held the insect up for their inspection, but they only screamed and drew back further. "That's exactly what makes it so gross, KC." Chelsie said. "A live one would have been bad enough, but a dead one is just, like - whoa. That's beyond gross. That's totally disgusting! Only you wouldn’t be able to see that."

KC looked down at the beetle in her hands. "But it's so rare. It's not gross, it's fascinating. Why don't you like it?" "She told you!" A girl in a mini skirt exclaimed. "Bugs are just untouchable. You touched one, so now YOU are untouchable. So sorry but, shun." And she tossed her glossy curls and walked away. The other children laughed cruelly and followed.

Stunned, KC stood silent a moment. She wilted to the cement floor, staring at the cold, empty space in front of her, and finally buried her head in her arms and burst into tears. What was wrong with her? Her heart felt so heavy. Why couldn't she fit in with the other girls? She wanted to like the things they liked. To wear flashy clothes and make up, and flirt with the boys... Even though the very thought of actually doing that made her squirm. Why couldn't people just like her the way she was? Would she ever meet anyone who had the same interests as she did? She felt so alone, and she trembled with grief. All she wanted was a friend.

Something soft brushed up against her arm, and she looked down. There stood the black alley cat with such a concerned expression in her green eyes, that KC scooped her up and told her the whole story from beginning to end.

As she spoke, she held the cat tightly to her chest, and briefly marveled that the it would allow her to do that. She knew that this was no ordinary cat. It really cared about how KC felt, and was consciously sacrificing it's own preferences to comfort her. As this realization dawned slowly over KC's face, and a warm sensation of gratitude filled her heart. She took a deep breath and set the cat down in front of her. She was speaking directly into it's deep, knowing eyes, "Catrina, why are you different? You’re not like everyone else. Who are you?" But the cat just purred and arched her soft back to be scratched. ~ End of chapter.

~~~~~

KC rolled her eyes. Catrina was having entirely too much fun, but it sure was great to watch her. The cat leaped and twirled from beam to beam with ease and precision; thoroughly enjoying the spotlight. The acrobats, now bested out of their show, stood bewildered in the shadows. KC watched them warily. She hoped there wouldn't be trouble. If they would just wait long enough for Catrina to get bored to take any action, all would be well.

But that wasn't to be. KC saw a man motion with his hand to another to ask him to make a call. KC knew that they were going to call security. That would be a desaster in it's own standing. She placed her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. In the rafters, Catrina stopped and turned to see what was the matter. KC motioned wildly for her to come down, but the cat in woman form only placed her hands on her hips and tilted her chin as if to say, "I'm having fun. What would intice me to come down?" KC was frustrated and stamped her foot; to which Catrina only laughed and gracefully turned and stepped up onto a higher beam. She glansed back over her shoulder at KC and slyley turned the corners of her lovely mouth in a smile, and then directed KC with her eyes, to look up. When KC did so, she understood emediately. There, a few paces away from where Catrina stood, was a gap in the metal sheets making up the roof. The gap wasn't wide, but Ctrina was so slender, she could fit through it easily. She continued to climb towards
~~~~~

Cat who changes to a human.In human form she has perfect balance, good hearing and eye site, Clean, Playful, curious, Doesn't like water, proper, loves heights, precise aim, loves food and burns calories fast. She has a great mind, and is able to think clearly in stressful situations.