The Anointed, Sorta
It
had been raining, and the water soon turned to ice. I was a long way
from my destination, and the trees and moonless night kept me from
seeing anything in the way of a guidepost. As I reached a crossroads,
there on a hill above the forest I spied what looked like firelight
through a window. Maybe someone will give shelter to a hapless
traveler, I thought, and made my way up an old stone pathway that
apparently led to the building above. It did, and when I stepped out of
the trees I saw the place was a crumbling ruin of an old manor, but
there was a fire seen through the one ground floor window that was
intact. I walked up some steps to a door and lifted the heavy, skull
shaped knocker and hit the door with it three times. Nothing. I tried
again, pulling my old coat around my shoulders and adjusting my tail to
keep some of the rain off it. Still no answer. Well, shoot. I pushed
against the door in a gesture of futility and it swung open on recently
oiled hinges.
'Anyone home'? I called, but there was no response. I
could see the lit room's doorway down the hall so gathering my nerve I
walked to it. Looking inside, I saw a fireplace glowing with burning
wood and a blessed heat permeated the place. I took out my electric
torch and walked back to the hall, but a quick look told me I was in the
only habitable part of the house. Other than that cheery fire, the
rest was tumbled masonry and rotting furniture under open roofs. I
walked back to the fireplace, thinking that maybe the owner might shoot
me but I would die for sure out in that horrible weather. There was a
chair in front of the hearth and I sat down in it and worried. I fell
asleep, and then was awakened by the feeling of a presence. I looked up
and there in front of me was the biggest tomcat I have ever seen,
bright orange, eyes glowing with the intensity of the sun. 'Here kitty'
I said as I reached out a hand to stroke his head, and then that cat
said, 'Screw that. Are you John'? Astonished, I could only stammer,
'No. My name is Billy'. The cat yawned and told me he could wait. He
settled on a carpet illuminated by the coals and looked at me before he
began licking his fur. Frozen with terror I could only stare at the
demonic apparition, my ears standing straight up from fear. I twitched
my whiskers in a reflex brought on by great alarm. The big cat stopped
grooming himself and seemed to fall asleep. At that moment another cat
appeared from the dark and materialized in front of me. Pure white, his
eyes were glowing emeralds of contempt focused on me. 'Are you John'?
he asked and then the orange cat spoke up and said, 'No, he ain't'.
The white cat replied that he could see someone in the appointed place
at the scheduled hour and for damn sure no rabbit ever looked less like a
cat. 'I guess I'll wait'. It turned and settled by the fire and then
said, 'Whoever heard of a talking rabbit? Asshole must be lost'. Then
it too closed it's eyes and seemed to fall asleep. A demonic purring
could be heard. Frightened out of my wits, I decided to risk freezing
and leave that terrifying place. As I stood up a third cat, coal black
with the eyes of Satan himself, twice my size, put a paw on my shoulder
and hissed, 'ARE YOU JOHN'? The other two cats said 'Hell no! We don't
know who this is'. The black cat then put his face inches from mine
and said, 'Well that's too bad. The prophesy said here, tonight, and in
this very chair'. He snarled, and then all three stood and bowed.
'What's done is done', the black one said, and then took a shining
object from between his feet and placed it on my head. 'You're now King
of the Cats, longears, try not to fuck it up'. I must have
passed out then from fear and exhaustion, when I awoke I was in a
crumbling ruin of a building, the sun was coming up and the rain had
stopped. I got out of there and found the town was only a few miles
away. A dream, I thought, as I checked in to a hotel. After changing
clothes I decided a drink was in order and getting directions from the
bored clerk I set off for the tavern. That is, I would have set off for
the tavern except the street, as far as the eye could see, was thick
with cats. They followed me to the bar where I was immediately told
told to take my custom elsewhere and to take my cats with me. This
happened everywhere I went and I was finally run out of town by the
sheriff and told never to come back. Then he spit on me.
It's
been days now and I cannot buy food or shelter, fortunately the cats
would bring me mice and once a fat squirrel to eat. I even tried to
exchange my crown for a dish of milk but the old rustic laughed
maniacally and then hit me with his cane, kicking my bottom as I tried
to stand up, cows splashing mud onto my torn rags that were once so
natty and fine. I am blanketed by cats when I sleep as kittens tear
endlessly at my tail.
Oh, for the orphanage again!
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/meft/meft32.htm
Artist unknown.
Photo property of Diamond Pet Foods.
Comments
Post a Comment