Kitty 21

I am participating in NANOWRIMO this year. I will attempt to post my daily ramblings in the hopes that eventually it will become a book which will entertain you as well as myself…

This is a work of fiction. No real people, places or events were used. Copyright ã 2011 Plot Roach.

Kitty Part 21

By Plot Roach

The walked the several streets down that Shakes remembered on his walks with Craig before coming to a stop before the brick wall that was the side of the supermarket. “Do you want to wait here?” Shakes asked Kitty. “I know that you hate being locked indoors and you are fearful of humans, so I could go in alone while you wait for me here -if you decide to wait here.”

“I think I can tolerate the conditions long enough to keep you company -and out of trouble,” Kitty said. It had been kind of him to consider her feelings in the matter, but if she wasn’t going to abandon him here and make a run for the open streets, she wasn’t going to let him walk into a human store that might hold a trap.
Both dogs walked around the side of the building and to the front of the store. Bright lights and a multicolored sign stood out among the gathering clouds, their colors clashing with the drab deep rust of the bricks the store was constructed from. Shakes walked up to the front of the two sliding glass doors and growled.

“What is it?” Kitty asked.

“The doors were supposed to open.”

“Maybe there is some human trick that needs to be done to open them?” Kitty suggested. For she knew that humans had many tricks that served them in their everyday affairs, making life more difficult for the rest of the creatures that shared the world.

“No,” Shakes said. “It always worked before. We would stand in front of the doors for a moment and they would swing open on their own.”

“Maybe it only works when there is a human present?”

“Maybe,” He said. “Or maybe it doesn’t work because there are no humans inside the place.”

“What makes you say that?” Kitty asked.

“The overhead lights are off,” he said. “Every time we were here before, the lights were always on and blazing away, even though I could see my way around and Craig doesn’t need them.”

“Maybe the other humans there needed it to see. I’ve always found that humans had such poor eyesight when they tried chasing me away from their houses -and garbage- at night. It’s a wonder that they have survived as a species at all.”

“Too bad Maria is not here,” said Shakes.

“Why? Could she open the door for us?”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I was thinking more along the lines of her helping us to bring more food home to Craig. With Maria not checking in with us that it might be some time before we can get more groceries from her. And I’m worried…”

“You should try living on the streets sometime when you don’t know if you’ll get fed from one day to another,” Kitty said.

“I think I’ll pass on that, thank you.”

“Where do we go now?”

“I think we should walk past some of the other buildings and see if we can find any humans out and about.”

So Kitty followed the service dog as they wandered across several blocks of a well lit, but seemingly abandoned city. She made a mental note, however, that building such as the one that they had just visited may contain an untapped source of food if the humans had left it behind. All she would have to do was find a way in.

They visited a few more buildings with the same results, not a human was around to help them in their quest to get Craig to a hospital. In their wanderings they passed not another living soul, human, dog or cat.

“That’s odd, isn’t it?” Kitty asked her companion as they turned back to the apartment complex. “You would think that with so many sick and dying that someone would come and check to see if the survivors needed help.”

“Maybe those that would help are off helping others and they haven’t gotten to us yet,” Shakes suggested.
And maybe there is no one left to help, Kitty thought soberly. Though she kept those thoughts to herself. They began the long climb up the stairs and Kitty thought that though it had been awkward coming down the four flights, it was torturous going up them again. But the doors had been left propped open and nothing seemed to have changed in their absence.

“I can’t help but think that there is something that I can do to help him,” Shakes told Kitty, once they returned to the apartment and found Craig still asleep upon the couch. He interrogated the cats as to whether Maria had shown up or if the power had flickered back on and off once they had left. But the cats had nothing to report to him with the exception of boredom, the cravings of canned human food and the hopes that they would not have to spend the next few days without electricity huddled together for warmth in the cold of the night.

Shakes took up his post beside his blind master, a worried look across his face as the man’s breathing remained labored. The cats sat on their usual spots, flanking the couch in their overstuffed chairs. Kitty returned to her sleeping spot beneath the living room table. She heard the man’s breath throughout the night as he had one coughing fit after another in the coldness of the apartment. And though Shakes slept near him to keep him warm, it was not enough.

The following morning, the cats barely stirred and Shakes watched his master’s breathing like a starved cat watches a mouse hole. Kitty paced the apartment, no longer scared of the human, but fearful of his passing. For the death of the man would render the service dog inconsolable.

Kitty had lost her home, her pack and even her unborn pups. But she felt that she never endured a loss of the same enormity as the service dog now faced. About midday the cats began to complain about their empty bellies. And though Kitty had been through far worse while living in the wild, she had to admit that her stomach complained at the lack of food. Her life among Maria and Craig had turned her soft and she was now used to regular meals.

“I need your help, Shakes.”

The dog lifted his head from the couch and merely watched as Kitty approached.

“I need you to show me where the food is so that I can try and feed everyone.”

“Craig will feed us when he gets up,” the service dog said.

“He hasn’t been awake for a while now, Shakes. And we need to eat,” Kitty said.

“He’ll get up in a few minutes. I know he will. He loves us. He won’t let us starve.”

“Shakes, either you help me do this or else I’ll leave,” she threatened.

“Go ahead, Kitty. Craig is going to get up any minute now. You’ll see.”

Kitty hung her head in grief. A growl grew in her throat and she was about ot unleash her venom on the golden retriever when the calm calico cat padded up to Shakes and pounced on his back, landing with her claws fully extended.

“What was that for?!” he howled in pain and with fury.

“Kitty says that it’s time to eat now and you need to help her,” Lucy said.

“And we’re taking orders from kitty now, are we?” Shakes growled at the small cat.

But Lucy merely stood her ground while she looked up at the big dog. “There’s no sense in all of us suffering while Craig is sick, and you know it. He wouldn’t want us to go without just because he couldn’t feed us.”
Shakes merely blinked at her as she padded away, her message having been received by his large shaggy ears. “I’ll be waiting in the kitchen with the others,” she said.

Shakes looked to Kitty who stood up and then followed the cat. He won’t listen to me, she thought. But maybe he’ll listen to the cat.

When all the animals had gathered in the kitchen, Shakes pulled out the bags of dried cat and dog food from under the kitchen cupboard. “I don’t know how I’ll fill the bowls though,” he said.

“You don’t need to,” Kitty said. ”We’ll rip open the bags and eat from the floor.”

“Craig will be mad when he sees the mess,” shakes said, a flatness to his voice.

“When Craig gets up an is well enough to punish us, I’ll step up and take all the blame, okay?” Kitty asked. Though she knew that the chances of that were slim to none.

“Why are you still here?” the service dog asked.

“I said that I was going to stay until I could help you and I intend to keep my promise.”

“What about water?” Blue asked.

“The faucet works on a lever,” Shakes said. “If Kitty holds the bowl in the sink, I can work the lever and fill the bowl.”

So using Blue’s guidance, Shakes’ skills with a lever and Kitty’s strength and dexterity, they managed to get themselves water, with a few droplets sinking into their fur, much to Blue’s chagrin.

They settled down to their meal in silence. The cats were quiet pleased at being able to fend for themselves, while Shakes worried about his sick master and Kitty contemplated the inevitable.

“Craig needs to eat something,” Shakes said.

“I don’t think-”

“You said that you would help us, Kitty,” the service dog said. “So help me with this.”

“I don’t-”

“Help me!”

“Okay!” Kitty barked. “But first we have to get him to wake up. It does no good to go through the trouble of it all if he won’t wake up enough to eat it.”

“What are we going to feed him, dog food?”

“No, his food comes in cans.”

“Oooo, like tuna,” Prue purred.

“Tuna! Perfect!” Shakes barked. “We won’t have to cook it and it’s already pre-chewed.”

“And we can have the leftovers,” Prue said. But Shakes shot her a dirty look that stopped her from further verbal ramblings regarding the canned fish.

“Do we know where the can is?” kitty asked. “And once we do get it, how to we open it?”

“The cans are kept in the top cabinet here,” Blue said, patting the area with a paw.

“Can you open the cabinet and knock one down to the floor?” Kitty asked.

“I can certainly try,” said Blue. The next few moments would have been funny to Kitty had Shakes not been so desperate to feed his sick human, with the two dogs trying to help the cat coordinate his movements enough to open the cabinet and knock down the right can, all while trying to keep from falling down himself in the process.

“This is tuna!” Prue said, swatting at the picture of the fish on the side of the can.

“Does all human food have a picture of the animal that is inside of it?” kitty asked.

“Not always,” Blue said. “The cat and dog food have pictures of the animals to be fed on the outside of them.”

Kitty decided not to share her theory on what happened to animals killed at the pound with them, lest she put them off of their food for good.

“Now what?” She asked the service dog.

“We need to open it.”

“That’s when Craig uses this thing over here,” said Lucy, her tail curled around the electric can opener.”

“Great, now we have to get the can back up on the counter,” Prue complained.

“No,” Shakes said. “It has a pop top, like the cans of stew that Craig opens for himself.

“So if we hand the can to him he should be able to open it, right?” asked Blue.

“We need to open it for him,” Shakes said. “We need to feed him like he would for us if we were this sick.”

“And what about water?” Prue asked. “He can’t lap it up out of the water bowl. I’ve seen his tongue and it’s far too short.”

“Get a bottle of water, Kitty.” the service dog said.” They are under the sink where the bags of cat and dog food were. He takes them with us when we go out on walks together.”

Kitty found the bottle of water that Shakes had told her about and followed the other animals out into the living room where Craig’s heavy breathing permeated the room. They gathered around him while Shakes opened the lid on the can, holding a portion of the tin down with one paw while he pulled at the top with his teeth. With much maneuvering of his head and paw, Shakes was able at least to get the tin open, spilling most of the can’s contents across the floor. As the cats rushed to remedy this error, Shakes stopped them with another glare.

Shakes nosed his master’s hand and received no response. He whimpered and tugged at the sleeve on the blind man’s arm. But the arm flopped limply back to the human’s side. Shakespeare barked, but the man did not even flinch at the noise.

“Chew on his hand,” Kitty suggested. “The pain will wake him even if little else can.”

Shakes nibbled on the edge of the man’s fingers.

“Harder,” Kitty said.

Shakes whined and looked at her, but her eyes were hard as stones. He leaned forward and tried again, this time taking the man’s index finder in his back teeth and worrying it like he would a bone.

The man gasped and struggled where he sat. “What? Shakes, where are you boy?”

Shakespeare barked and jumped up next to the man on the couch. “I must have been sleeping for a long time, huh?” Craig said. “How about getting me the phone?”

Shakes did as his master instructed, but knew that the man would not be able to call for help, as there was no ring tone when he lifted the receiver off of its base. But the old man tried anyway. “We’ll check back later, boy.” he said and set the phone back in the dog’s jaws.

Shakes picked up the can of tuna and dropped it into his master’s hands. “Now how did you do this?” he asked, between mouthfuls that he scooped up with his bare fingers. He coughed, and had to stop before he could catch his breath and finish off the rest of the can. “Boy that made me thirsty,” Craig said. And no sooner had the words come out of his mouth than Shakes had taken the bottle from Kitty and plopped it down next to the man. Craig tried to open it, but the lid proved to be too much in his weakened state.

Shakes whined and kitty leaped up onto the couch and took the bottle into her jaws and gnawed at the top, pricking holes in the neck of the bottle with her back teeth. The blind man took it from her jaws and rubbed her between the ears as he sipped the lukewarm water from the holes she had produced.

“This must be our princess, out from under the table at last,” he said. “Sorry it took me getting this sick to get you to come out of your shell there, missy.” He laughed and it set off another coughing fit.

“I wish I could have seen you with my own two eyes, girl,” he said to Kitty. “I bet you’re a damn fine sight. They told me that you were part coyote and part German Shepherd. And my guess is that you’re the best of both lines. What do you think, Shakes?”

The service dog barked excitedly beside him as if in agreement.

“I love all my children, no matter what fur they might be wearing.” He said. His hand reached out to each cat in turn, and ruffled the fur on their heads as if he could find the with their purrs.

“Blue, you’ve been with me fifteen years now, ever since my sister couldn’t keep you anymore. And Prudence, you always were my little darling, just as I knew that you would be when I saw you abandoned behind the local Wal-Mart.” His hand reached over to Lucy where it wavered in the air before her. She bumped it with her head and let out a thunderous purr. “Family at last,” he said. “Though I’m sorry it took this long to make it so.”

Kitty jumped down and the cats backed away, letting Shakespeare share this moment alone with his master.

“My best friend, my eyes and my hands, my dear Shakespeare. You’ve been closer to me than most friends and family. You never judged me or called me feeble, but always stood by my side. You deserve more than this,” the blind man said. “But it’s all I have left to give.”

Man and dog sat on the couch. Craig patted the dog on his head with the last of his strength as large silent tears escaped the golden retriever’s eyes. At last the man fell asleep and Shakespeare stayed by his side even as his master drew his last breath.

Shakespeare remained next to his fallen master as the cats took up their usual position in the overstuffed chairs that flanked the couch. Kitty did not hide beneath the table, for now there was no need. She lay at the foot of the man she realized she need not have feared, for his heart was bigger than she could have ever guessed. And it showed in those that he left behind.

Kitty knew better than to try and move Shakespeare away from the body. There would be time enough to get them all out of the apartment in the morning. The apartment was silent and it seemed to grow colder with the blind man’s passing. For now she let each morn in his or her own way as there was one less member of the pack.