home

search

34: The Old Man and the Cat

  Daniel reappeared in a park. Scanning his surroundings, he found it completely unfamiliar, though not in the same way that the creature’s alien landscape was. The surroundings were decidedly terrestrial; he just hadn’t seen it before. That was within his expectations – the city had many parks, after all, and he hadn’t explored all of them. What he didn’t expect was that he was lone.

  “Penelope? Tabitha?” He called, looking around.

  A meow by his feet prompted him to look down. A rather irate tortoiseshell cat glared up at him, before it started headbutting his shins. He was feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.

  “...No way, right?”

  After speaking again, he realized something else. His voice was raspier, and wispier. His suit was black as opposed to the usual blue, and he seemed shorter, somehow – the ground was a little closer to his sightline than it usually was.

  “Sorry, these were the best shells I could get on short notice.” Penelope said suddenly, her voice ringing in his head.

  “Penelope? Where are you?”

  “I’m hiding for now. If she sees me, it won’t end well.”

  “Well alright, I guess. But what do you mean by ‘sorry’?”

  A mirror appeared in the air in front of him, and Daniel was surprised by what he saw in it. His head was almost entirely bald, save for a sparse ring of white hair above his ears. A hook nose and pointy chin accented an almost skeletal face, with heavy wrinkles carving grooves onto timeworn skin.

  “Who is this? Who am I?” He asked, confused.

  “You’re one of Penny’s grandfathers. She hasn’t met him in years.”

  “Oh, I see. Still, that’s nothing to apologize for. I feel fine.”

  His hands were thin, and his back was hunched over, but he could still feel strength in his grip.

  “This doesn’t change the plan, does it? Does she dislike her grandpa?”

  “No, their relationship is pretty positive. They just haven’t seen each other for a while...”

  “Well, should be alright then.” Daniel said, shrugging. “So, where is she?”

  “Just listen.”

  He stood quiet for a moment. With no noise but the rustling of treetops, he soon heard something drifting in on the wind. At this distance it was hard to hear clearly, but if he focused on it, he could hear hints of singing.

  “She’s holding a concert deeper inside. Just go east, you won’t miss it.”

  “That’s nice and straightforward. Let’s go, Tabitha.”

  The cat followed behind him as he walked into the trees.

  As Daniel trekked in the forest, the music got louder and louder. Eventually, he found himself out of the tree line and was near a paved pathway. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people walking on it in a certain direction. But none of them seemed aware of his existence.

  “Hello?” Daniel said, calling out to one of them.

  They all ignored him. As he stared at the procession, he heard a sudden loud yowling. Tabitha had gone ahead of him to scout it out, but the mass of remorseless feet had trodden on her tail. She recoiled to the side of the path, hissing loudly with her fur standing on end.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Oh, geez...” Daniel said, pushing his way past the crowd.

  The waves of people moved around him as he fought the flow, arriving at the disheveled cat’s side. She looked angry and messy, though she calmed down a little when he came near. He thought for a moment.

  “It’d probably be better if I carried you, right?” He muttered, bending down to pick it up.

  “...Daniel, that’s not how you pick up a cat.”

  “What?”

  He currently had his hands under the cat’s belly, lifting upwards, and stopped at the girl’s admonishment. The cat rewarded his effort with a back kick.

  “Ack.” Daniel said, falling back onto his ass.

  He rubbed his nose as Tabitha shot him with another glare. Penelope sighed.

  “You have to support it at the chest and behind the back legs... Do it slowly!” She reprimanded.

  Daniel flinched as he approached the cat, before continuing his movements at a slower pace. She watched him warily as he approached, but let him tuck his hands under her chest and hind legs. He carefully lifted the cat into the air.

  “Uh, what now?”

  “Bring it into your chest.” She sighed, exasperated.

  He did as she said, ending up with the cat cradled snugly in his arms. It let out a satisfied purr, comfortably remaining still in that position. Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle. Both in its own dream and someone else’s, it was happiest when being pampered.

  “Ahem. Can we get a move on?”

  “Right, sorry.” Daniel said apologetically.

  Cat safely secured, he walked into the river of people and followed the flow to the end. There, in the middle of a grassy field, a throng of people gathered around a stage. They clapped, cheered and danced to the beat while pop music played over the speakers. In the middle of it all – the sounds, the lights, the people – the girl sung and danced on the stage.

  Unlike her real body, the girl was a dead ringer for the Penelope he was familiar with, healthy and vibrant. Only, she had 2 distinct differences. The first was her outfit; it was a busy pink and white affair, and even to someone like him not attuned to fashion, it complemented her youthful charm very well. The second was her expression – in the time he had known her, the girl’s counterpart always adopted a serious or downcast expression. The girl on the stage instead wore a cheerful and enthusiastic smile.

  “That’s Penny?”

  “...Yeah.” Penelope replied, sighing gently.

  Daniel watched her perform for a while. Like fashion, pop music was something he was not very familiar with. But her performance seemed to be well choreographed, and the song itself was catchy enough. What really tied it together was the Penny’s passion; the way she put her all into her dance, the energy she infused into her voice, it all made the world feel brighter, somehow.

  Pushing himself around, Daniel found the inner circle of the concert to be almost impenetrable, so he stuck to the outskirts, heading towards the back of the stage. If there was anywhere where he could talk to her in person, it would be there. Unfortunately for him, his people moving powers had somehow disappeared, leaving navigation through the throng an arduous task.

  As he tried to sail around the whirlpool of raucous fans, he glanced at the stage to get his bearings. Somehow, with his brief look he managed to cross eyes with Penny on the stage. Her expression morphed into shock, but an instant later she returned to her usual smiling self, leaving Daniel to wonder if he’d imagined it.

  Eventually he made it past the crowd, huffing and puffing with exertion. It seemed that an elderly body had its flaws after all. Tabitha meowed in concern, but he only held her tighter in his arms. In front of him were 2 burly security guards, blocking access to the backstage. Daniel briefly entertained the thought of throwing the cat at them to distract them, but he was reluctant to stoop to such cruelty. And besides, his arms currently felt heavy as lead. At this moment, Penelope decided to speak up.

  “Daniel, there’s something I need to tell you. The reason Penny hasn’t been in touch with her grandpa for a while is because-”

  She abruptly stopped talking as a pink and white clothed girl suddenly appeared behind the stage. Her eyes widened when she spotted Daniel, and she briskly pushed past the security guards, stopping just in front of him. She looked him up and down anxiously, but her eyes soon lit up with happiness.

  “Grandpa!” She exclaimed, tackling him into a hug.

  “Woah!”

  Daniel buckled under the impact, and Tabitha yowled in alarm as she was squished between the old man and the girl. Heedless, the young girl squeezed the both of them into a tight hug. He was about to let out a word of protest when Penelope finally managed to finish her sentence.

  “They haven’t seen each other in years, because her grandpa died about 3 years ago.”

  Tears began to flow from the girl’s eyes as she hugged him, and Daniel had to wonder, why did she only say that now?

Recommended Popular Novels