Feline Guardians

Jane took one last glance around the bedroom to make sure she had all of her stuff and let out a small, sad sigh. Her bags were packed with all of her clothes and things ready to go. A single tear slipped out the corner of her eye and she quickly brushed it away with the back of her hand. Then she sighed again and told herself once again-“It’s for the best.” She dragged the last few bags out to her car and squeezed them in the backseat with the rest of her stuff and locked the door behind her. Her ex was at work. She’d send him the spare key in the mail. It was time for a new beginning. She glanced at her phone and noticed a text from her mom. She rolled her eyes, her mom worried too much, she thought. Then she quickly texted her back, reassuring her that everything would be fine and she’d call her later after she got settled in. Then she checked her Google Maps and made sure she put in the correct address of her new home. She started the engine of her car and began the long drive to her new place. The day was chilly and rainy, the weather seemed to match her mood perfectly. The sky was gray and the trees had already begun to change colors. While she drove she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what had driven her to this point. There was a reason why she was moving, she’d caught her boyfriend with one of her good friends in their bed. They’d been together for two years and lived together for one year. She had been sure that he was the one until that fateful night. Some of her friends had tried to warn her but she’d refused to listen because she didn’t wanna believe it. But she had decided to step up her game anyways. She worked hard to keep her body thin and tight how he liked it and she tried to give him stellar experiences in bed and keep him satisfied and she even tried to keep him happy by making his favorite foods for him and keeping their apartment spotless but apparently it was not enough for him. She’d felt like that was her place, that was where she belonged, with him and she’d been happy . . . and then the rug had been pulled out from under her feet. The tears started to fall again and she cleared her throat as she grabbed some tissues from a tissue box on the passenger seat beside her. She swiped her eyes and sighed, then she turned on the radio hoping that it would distract her and keep her from thinking about the past. She flipped through the stations but everything reminded her of the past. She frustratedly pushed a strand of her straight, dark brown hair out of her face with one of her hands and pulled up her music on her phone and swiped through it until she finally found a song that suited her. It synced to her car radio and she turned it up until it was blasting and she sang along with it. It was such a relief to have a small distraction from her life that had been turned upside down.

Finally, after 4 hours of driving she pulled into a drive-thru and ordered a hamburger and some fries from a fast-food place. She was starving and she didn’t have much food. She thought, I’ll have to stop at the grocery store tomorrow and pick up some food. She had taken a few days off work to get settled into her new home. Her manager had been very understanding. She was a few years older than Jane and they got along very well. Jane glanced at her phone. Google maps said she only had 3 more miles to go. Her Aunt Susan had passed away last year and she had left her home to Jane. She had been married but she was never able to have any kids, sadly. Her husband had died 6 months before her and it had been very hard on her. Her aunt had been almost like a second mom to her, they’d been very close. Jane’s Aunt Susan had lived on a ranch and Jane had loved going to visit her and she would let her ride the horses she had on the ranch but after her husband died she sold the ranch and moved into the smaller cabin because she didn’t need that much space and the cabin was easier for her to afford.

Jane noticed the bridge that she had to take to get to the cabin and turned onto it. It was a beautiful place and she’d forgotten how much she missed the area until now. She kept her eyes open for the mailbox that would mark the beginning of her aunt’s driveway. My driveway, now, she corrected herself, feeling another pang of sadness. Then suddenly she spotted the bright red mailbox and turned down the driveway. Her Aunt Susan had painted it bright red so it would be easier for visitors to find. Jane gasped, there were lots of trees on either side of the driveway and they made a beautiful, multicolored canopy overhead. She got to the end of the driveway and pulled up in front of the house. There was an attached 2-car garage but she decided to leave her car out front until she got settled in. She shut off the engine and grabbed her purse. She turned on the flashlight on her phone so she could see where she was going, it was evening and getting dark. Once she got to the door she found the key to the door and unlocked it. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. She flipped on a light switch right where she remembered it being the last time she was there. Then she slipped off her shoes remembering how her Aunt Susan hated the idea of dirty shoes on her floor. She stood in the mud room in her stocking feet and looked around. There were lots of windows in the room, Aunt Susan had it specially designed so it doubled as a sun room, a place to keep her plants so her cats couldn’t get them. All of her cats had passed away before her aunt had died. All of her aunt’s plants were still there though, sitting in the window sills and hanging from hooks and on shelves, Aunt Susan had a green thumb. Jane hung up her jacket on a hook on the wall by the door and then walked through the wood and glass door that led to the rest of the house. Aunt Susan liked to keep the place light and airy feeling. Jane stepped into the dark living room and flipped on a light switch revealing a beautiful stone fireplace and there was the couch with recliners on each end, covered by a white drop cloth and coffee table also covered by another white drop cloth. Everything felt so strange and empty since her aunt was no longer there. Mostly everything had been left the way it was since the last time she’d been there. She sighed thinking she’d have to figure out what to do with the rest of her aunt and uncle’s stuff. She’d probably have to talk to her family and see if they wanted any of it and it’d be painful but she’d have to find a way to get through it. She didn’t have much furniture of her own though. Her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t let her take much when she left and she hadn’t had much when she’d moved in with him to begin with. It sounded horrible but it was kind of a blessing to her to have some of her aunt and uncle’s stuff now that she was trying to make it on her own, she didn’t have a lot of money saved up to spend on furniture for the place. The house had always had a cozy appeal to her with shelves full of books and movies and a big cat condo for her aunt’s beloved cats. She moved to the back of the house where the kitchen was located and flipped on a light switch, the kitchen was big and open with beautiful oak cupboards and a big island and it opened to a cozy dining room. Then there was a nice laundry room and a bedroom with an en suite bathroom. There was another almost identical bedroom with an en suite bathroom on the other side of the house and a big basement below. She loved this house but it wasn’t the same without her aunt and she felt uneasy being there, she didn’t feel like she belonged there by herself but she had nowhere else to go. But she felt grateful every day to her aunt and uncle for leaving the place to her even though she wished they were still around, they had been very caring people. Jane set her keys on the coffee table and pushed herself to go back out to the car and get the rest of her stuff in the house even though she was tired from driving all day and she just wanted to sit down but she knew if she did she’d never get anything done because she wouldn’t want to get back up. She’d just want to sit there and feel sorry for herself and that wouldn’t do anyone any good. So, she sighed and went out to the car and brought in all the bags she could carry and left them in the mudroom, then she went back out making several trips until she had almost everything inside and then she decided to call it quits and made herself a cup of hot tea. The evening was damp and chilly and the tea warmed her.

She pulled the white drop cloth off the coffee table and dug a coaster out of one of her bags and set the tea cup down on the coaster on the coffee table, her Aunt Susan had always insisted that she use a coaster when she visited and even though she knew her aunt wasn’t there to reprimand her she used a coaster anyways. Aunt Susan would be rolling in her grave if she was looking down on me now and caught me not using a coaster on her coffee table, she thought with a little chuckle. Then she pulled the drop cloth off the couch and she leaned back into the soft couch cushions and closed her eyes. She was back in her apartment that she had shared with her ex Brad. She was still in love with him and she knew he’d always love her and that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She went to find him and called out, “Brad, I’m home.” She listened and for a few moments there was no response and she thought, I wonder what he’s up to now. She turned a corner towards their bedroom and she heard some weird noises. Some grunting and heavy breathing. She thought, Maybe he’s finally trying to move that dresser I asked him to move a month ago. I told him not to try to move it by himself though. Then she heard a moan, a feminine moan. She looked through her bedroom doorway and saw her ex Brad, completely naked, with her best friend, Alice, who was also completely naked and on all fours on the bed with Brad still inside her. Jane gasped as a horrible shudder ran through her entire body and she felt like she was seriously gonna puke. At the same time, she felt herself filled with a horrible, righteous anger that would only be relieved by vengeance . . . but she ran to the bathroom to puke first. Jane jumped awake and choking on her own saliva, she reached for some tissues but couldn’t find any. She looked around and it took her a second to remember where she was before it finally came back to her. A shudder racked her body and she sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Sleep hadn’t come to her easily since the break-up. She still had trouble sleeping at night and she wondered when she’d finally be able to get a decent night’s sleep. She sighed and suddenly she felt a wetness at the corner of her eye. She swiped the tear away frustrated thinking, I need to stop crying over him, he’s the one who cheated on me! She pushed herself up off the couch and went in search of tissues then dabbed her face and blew her nose. Jane washed her hands in the kitchen sink and went back out to the living room and checked the time on her phone. It was four a.m. She sighed and sat back down on the couch and put the recliner up. It was so quiet all she could hear were the sounds of the wildlife in the woodland around the cabin. She didn’t feel comfortable going into one of the bedrooms to sleep even though there were beds in there and she’d stayed the night here with her Aunt Susan before, it just didn’t feel right, right now. Jane wished for sleep and closed her eyes and before she knew it her wish was granted and she fell into a dreamless sleep.