Why Did the Cat Wake Elizabeth?
Elizabeth felt the rough tongue of her cat slipping over her forehead. She turned to the side to see what time is it. It was quarter past four in the morning. Not too early, a bit too early, depending on the point of view.
You, kitty, what do you want?! It is not five o’clock yet, she whispered.
Cat continued to lick her forehead as if nothing had happened. Elizabeth said, never mind, I can be early today and have time for myself before work.
The cat pointed her to the bowl with water. The bowl was full of water. Hey, Kitty, what do you want? Fresh water? I will give it to you. She removed the bowl from yesterday.
She noticed a strange smell as she poured old water into the toilet. Okay, she thought, I did not clean the bowl properly. She created mental notice for herself to take care of that.
As she poured fresh water into a clean bowl, she noticed the smell again. She put a finger under the stream of water. Immediately she felt a tingling in her finger. Not again, she said.
A few hundred meters away from her building was a 24/7 grocery store. She decided to buy fresh water for the cat. And her. She quickly dressed.
As she stepped from a hallway, she noticed a body lying on the street with a few police cars surrounding the body. She was used to it. She has been living in New York for 17 years now. Nothing new.
She entered the store. Only one young man was working, visibly not feeling okay, white as paper, with red eyes, and shaking. She decided not to take care of it. It was not five in the morning yet. On the shelf, she found only three bottles of water. She took all of them.
Entering the apartment cat was still waiting and sitting and watching her in the eyes. She gave her fresh water. Kitty was very thirsty. Right after that, the cat started to jump around the doors, trying to reach the door handle. It was not the first time. Once cat saved her life from gas leaking, and the other time from a burglar who invaded her home.
Fuck, said Elizabeth. She quickly put sneakers on her leg and grabbed documents, money, and a bag prepared for such cases.
She went out without any idea what was going on. Cat walked in front of her, and she followed.
They went to the basement like a team. Woman and a cat. Cat and a woman. Elizabeth found her car and started it. Cat set in the passenger seat.
They went out of the garage. Elizabeth had no clue what to do and where they were heading to.
She turned to the right — a closer way to the Interstate. During the drive, she noticed some strange things. People were lying around or running without visible reason, screaming like they were in pain.
The Interstate was empty. Empty. She was driving without any idea where they were going.
Suddenly, she saw a roadblock. Few women in civilian clothes stopped her. She opened the door.
Oh, you have a beautiful cat. Please drive for another fifty meters; you will see small light on the right. There is a hole in the fence. Just turn there and go on macadam road for fifteen minutes. I don’t have time to explain, the young woman said.
Okay, said Elizabeth with a shaky voice.
She noticed the small light on the right side, turned here, and noticed the hole in the fence. She looked at her cat. The cat was sleeping.
After she found macadam road, she turned into it and just drove. She was not thinking about what was going on.
She drove for fifteen minutes and suddenly saw the lights and dozens of small houses. Tiny houses. As she stopped her car and turned the engine off, doors on the homes started to open, one by one.
From each door stepped a cat. And a woman.
They were welcoming her.
