Commitments

He stood impatiently by the door with his hand on the knob.

“Ava! Are you coming or not?” His irritability could be heard seeping through his voice.

“Just getting my coat on, Lucas. You don’t have to be in such a rush.” Ava said from inside a closet around the corner from the front door.

“I don’t really want to be paying to heat the whole neighborhood, and Yancey is eying the door.”

“That old cat is always eying the door.” She said with extra emphasis on the word always.

Lucas tapped his foot loud enough for the next-door neighbors to hear, as he impatiently stared down the cat. Yancey was a rescue cat. Ava and Lucas had always wanted a larger family, but weren’t quite ready for a large commitment. So they went to the local animal shelter and looked around for a new family member.

The interesting thing about rescue animals, is you don’t so much pick them, as they pick you. One has no idea what criteria each animal has, but they size up each and every soul that comes in looking for companionship and know who deserves theirs, and who doesn’t.

Yancey had obviously has a very full early life. He was missing patches of fur on his right cheek and his left hind quarters. His right ear drooped much like a lop eared rabbit, and his left ear was split down the middle from tip to base. What was left of his fur was a black and grey striped pattern from nose to tail, cropped short against his body.

When Ava and Lucas entered the shelter Yancey was almost entirely upon them. Even despite their protests. They were looking for… well, a more “normal” cat, but Yancey wouldn’t let off them. So in the end, he was the cat that became part of their family. And they ended up being very happy for it, just not until after they hosed him down and gave him a proper bath.

Yancey was folded in a crescent next to an air duct on the floor. One could see his fur tufting in the light wind being expelled from the duct. The cat opened one eye lazily toward the slight opening in the door and curled up more looking to deflect the chill. There was no chance this cat was going to trade the warmth and happiness he had now for an autumn romp.

Why had they decided to do this, Lucas thought, as he felt the bite of cold wind on his skin tight denim jeans. It sounded like such a good idea months ago when they first talked about it, “let’s go out and walk in nature! We can get back to our roots.” I mean on the face it was a great idea. But now he was staring at Yancey and thinking, that warmth of the register did seem pretty nice.

“Do we have to go outside?” Lucas asked, a slight pleading in his voice.

“Yes, yes we do, we’ve been putting this off for months, and it’s time we start doing what we promise each other. Also, I’m already bundled up for this.” Ava said matter of factly.

They exited the house and left Yancey to enjoy the quiet and warmth of the morning.

-V-

Branch

The television was blaring, bright colors were quickly crossing the screen. One would think it would be distracting, but she just stared out the window at the one lazy branch she could see from the couch. I moved slowly in the wind, nothing particularly interesting about it. The branch looked too weak to even support a birds nest. It was fairly gnarled, and had four leaves randomly placed along it. The seemed to be fainting in the heat, slowly dancing to make sure they were still living. The movement was entrancing to her though. She couldn’t pull her attention anywhere else in the room. Even with that television, she had no idea why she bothered turning it on anymore.

Perhaps it was just a ritual; after class: walk home, kick off shoes, turn on television, sit on couch, stare out window. How long had she been doing this? She’d be to bed before her mother got back from her second shift job, and out the door before mom would even be awake for the day. Kids dream of independence, but if this is what that meant, it was more like purgatory. Wash, rinse, repeat. Every day the same series of events. The uniform they made her wear didn’t help either, it just added to the monotony of the entire experience.

She was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice the lull in the sounds from the television and the creaking sound of someone ascending the rusted metal staircase leading to their tiny apartment. The light sounds of an old key slowly fitting into a lock. The door lethargically opened shining a strong beam of sunlight on her foot that grew up her leg and rested on her hands in her lap. The heat from the sun finally drew her attention to the door.

A man stood there, dark long hair matted down underneath a check patterned flat cap. He had a full beard, not terribly well groomed. His eyes were alight with a fire and a deep soulful fear. Part of her brain screamed, another part tried to sooth her. She knew this person on some deep corporal level. Her body trusted the part that was calming her.

She sat in place and just stared. Showing what she hoped was an expectant look on her face to the newcomer. He motioned as if he were about to speak, but just fell to the floor in a heap instead. Her mind screamed to her, “protect.” With decisive movements she was up and walking over to him. She leveraged herself under him and hoisted him onto her back. He was much lighter than she expected. It could have been the adrenaline, but even accounting for that he was certainly light.

She dragged the unconscious body into the well aged bathroom and rolled him over into the bath. Her sense of smell came slamming back to her, as the all the previous moments actions didn’t seem to need it. A world of scents her upon her, so many she had no way to describe, and one subtle light scent under the rest. One she knew, and could not place, but it was there.

-V-

Night Light

My eyes open to the random flittering of a broken street lamp outside my apartment. I tried to sleep past it, but its constant flickering was flashing red and black against my eyelids and sleep was not forthcoming. I needed to tire myself out, so I pulled on some socks and my running shoes, snagged my hoodie to throw over my bare skin, and dropped my keys into my pajama pants.

The door creaked to a close under my hand. I pulled out my keys and locked the door. The night air was damp and cloying, a whispery tendril of air tickled the back of my neck. I swung around prepared for anything, but found the street empty. The lights along the street were forcing the leafless trees to hunch ominously in the shadows.

I turned and walked into the street. Nothing was stirring around me, like I was alone in a vacuum. At least that’s how it felt in the relative safety of the street lights. In the shadows just beyond I could barely make out a mass of movements, much like an orchestra preparing to play.

A scream was carried on the wind. I squinted into the distance but couldn’t make out a thing. Caution winning out I walked with a steady pace towards the sound. Why as humans do we walk toward sounds of danger? I mean I know I was doing it, but in the back of my head a voice was letting me know that this was just plain silly. Was I going to beat off an attacker with my pajama pants? No. There was little I could do anyways, so perhaps I was just being a voyeur. After pushing my way through multiple umbras I found myself in a lighted patch of pavement. A girl sitting hunched over her legs.

“Hello,” I ventured, but she didn’t even attempt to acknowledge me. “Do you need some assistance?” I tried again, immediately realizing how lame it came out of my mouth. I didn’t really want to help her. Hell, I didn’t even want to be here in the first place. I looked around and found no one to be watching. She seemed alive enough, right? She’d be fine. I melted into the shadows and found myself back in another pool of light, much less distressed with people who clearly looked hurt.

With each light I passed under heading back to my home I felt less and less upset with myself. The situation was surreal, did it even really happen? I’m not so sure anymore. I mean, it could have just as easily been an owl hooting loudly, and the might have been a fallen branch of a tree that looked like a person in the shadows.

Back on my door step I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. It shifted open with it’s usual creaks and strains. What a night I thought to myself, as I put my head down for the night. I didn’t even notice the flickering light outside anymore.

-V-