Kai
The sun shines brightly upon our bodies as we walk away from the house that once took care of us, fed us, and allowed us to stay in their home under the conditions of keeping it cleaned up from now and then. We had a lot of enjoyable memories in that house but one mistake can turn any good memory into an unfortunate disaster.
I thought I could trust them, but my sister, Sani, said they would never understand our secret. That is what started the unfortunate disaster, as I should say, me and my naive trust in humankind. That trust influenced me to ignore my sister and walk into the living room in front of our host’s whole family. While I had each of their attention, I removed my maid bonnet to reveal my feline ears as well as untucked my uniform to let out my docile tail. When their silence remained, I quickly spoke aloud to inform them that Sani was the same as me. Before she could react, I ripped her bonnet off and shoved my hand down her skirt, gently yanking her tail out as well.
Expecting to be accepted by this loving family, we were both heavily disappointed when they immediately threw us out on the street, bashing our name and business throughout the town. Thankfully, our existence is not commonly believable. But nonetheless, others would get curious and that is not a risk my sister and I are willing to make. Thus, as we have always done, we moved to a new town, so the rumors could be no more.
After walking enough to wear-in a brand new set of shoes–if we ever could own a pair–we entered our new town of Salem, Oregon. It might be the fresh tears in our eyes, but the sky has never been more of a vibrant shade than it is right now. The fluffy white clouds spread across the panorama laid before us. They dance around the sky, letting the wind push them around, almost leading us to their preferred direction. Our cat-like instincts cannot resist its taunting movement.
Sani says, in order to survive in this world, we need to resist such temptations and act more “normal” as if our normal is not good enough for the humans. I beg to differ. I mean, there are some species of cats in this world, but not necessarily celestial ones like us. Nor, can they walk, talk, or perform the same duties in the way that Sani and I do. Therefore, she and I are special. Although, the definition of special fluctuates depending on which one of us attempts defining the term.
For instance, I take in my feline attributes and cat-like mannerisms to be my very best authentic self. I open myself to the world because I truly believe it is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Sani, on the other hand, spends more of her time trying to blend in with the humans and not be seen. She believes there is nobody else we should trust than our own kind. And how she says, our own kind makes me feel icky inside. Afterall, can we all not just coexist?
Shaking off the invasive hatred that my sister likes to advocate for, I cannot help but to take in as much of the breezy fresh air. “Ah, don’t you love springtime, Sani? We are so lucky that this city has blessed us with a sunny day–instead of a rainy one!” My body feels compelled to do a couple spins and when I glance off towards Sani, I see that she does not share the same happiness that I want to give. Instead, all that rests on her face is anger and pain. “I have said I was sorry like a bajillion times already. How long are you going to be angry at me for?”
Sani abruptly stops walking but as I quickly glance over, I see it is because the crosswalk does not permit us to walk, yet. When my gaze travels back to my sister, I can tell she is trying to hold back her words. It is not until I go to speak again that she grinds her teeth roughly together. “Before, we both trusted people–these humans. But every single time, it always ends up where we get kicked out and put under risk of exposure. I stopped trusting them, Kai, a long time ago. But you won’t stop. You just keep pushing like you want them to kick us out.”
“That’s not true!” I protest, trying to hold back my tears even though I feel the warmth trickle down to my chin. “I just want us to have a family, whe–,”
“Hah! A family?! Are you serious right now?” Sani paces in hysteria. “Look at us, Kai. We are not human. We do not fit in anywhere. And you are over here thinking–what–that we can play dollhouse?” Seeing that I do not respond, she shakes her head in disappointment before turning her back to me. We both silently continue to wait for the crosswalk indicator light to turn green for a moment.
No longer holding the tears back, my face is drenched with my salty despair as I drop my gaze to the concrete, feeling defeated. Through my mucus-soaked nostrils, I inhale a shaky breath before mustering a whisper. “You don’t get it.” Before Sani even has time to acknowledge what I said–or continue to yell at me for that matter–I dart towards the street, in the middle of traffic. Even when the indicator light still has a red “stop” hand on, I refuse to gauge my safety. Through my increased crying and whimpering, I manage to hear her cry out to “come back” but it grows fainter with each stride I make, solidifying my theory that she is not following me.
I must have been running for a long time because the sun has just passed the horizon of the tree line, beginning the last couple hour stretch of sunlight before dusk. Without Sani to protect me, I will be so scared in the darkness. Sani… She is probably extremely mad that I ran off like that. I wonder if she will ever be able to find me.
