Climbing on a fence in a small square in the middle of four apartment buildings, Sylvester and his son Junior began looking up at the night sky. They had been trying for the better part of three nights to see if there were any cat-shaped constellations the sky, for no particular reason than to have something to do as a father and son.
"Do you think we'll find one Dad?" Junior asked, looking up hopefully at his father, who laughed in response, amused by his son's optimism.
"I bet my whiskers on it" Sylvester replied, "I mean they have everything else up there. Who says there can't be a cat up there too?"
Junior smiled and gently brushed up against Sylvester, who returned the gesture by wrapping his arm around him, enveloping Junior in a calm and loving embrace that came with the added security and power of the word Daddy.
As Sylvester looked up at the night sky, his eyes searching for familiar patterns, he felt a sense of completeness; that nothing bad could, or would, ever happen to him again; that peace and total self-fulfillment had finally been attained and that for the briefest of moments they were the only people in the entire world. Sylvester had had similar thoughts once, although instead of being with Junior he was with Penelope. During that time he was definitely a happier cat, although to say that he wasn't happy now would be an insult to the moment. Sylvester was content and he was content because he lived with the knowledge that Penelope was happy, that she was living her dreams, and that love still existed between them.
"What are you thinking about?" Junior asked after a long silence, Sylvester not breaking his gaze from the sky.
Sylvester shook his head for a moment, bringing himself back to reality and stared at his son. He noticed that Junior's eyes were a bright shade of green, like his own, he also noticed that for some reason he had let go of Junior, the wall of security and protection that his arm created having been replaced by the cold night air. Sylvester looked down at the fence they were sitting on, the wood that made it was cracked and full of splinters, no real place for sitting and especially not for stargazing.
"Dad?" Junior continued, "You okay?"
Sylvester nodded, giving his answer. He causally began looking around the square, searching for a fire escape or an open window in order to climb to a roof for optimal viewing, he found no such thing, for the fire escapes were on the other side of the building, facing the streets, and all the windows were closed to keep in the warm air of the inside.
Jumping down from the fence, Sylvester turned towards his son, arms outstretched, prepared to catch him.
"Come on son" Sylvester said, "Let's get out of here."
Junior raised his eyebrows in confusion, for they had only just arrived and they were already leaving. Usually they had stayed until they were beginning to fall asleep.
"What about looking for cats in the sky?" Junior exclaimed, "That's our thing."
"It's still our thing" Sylvester answered, "Just not here. We need to go higher up, where we can see everything. Besides look at that fence-"
Junior looked at the fence and then looked at his feet, both were covered in splinters.
"Your butt is covered in splinters" Sylvester continued.
Sylvester then looked himself over, checking his own backside, he found splinter after splinter as if he were a porcupine. Junior, curiosity getting the better of him, touched his and winced in pain before jumping down and landing on his feet hard, hurting his legs in the process.
"I'd like to meet the cats who thought sitting on fences was a good idea" Junior exclaimed as he stood up, rubbing his hide at the same time, "Give them a piece of my mind."
Sylvester laughed and shook himself, attempting to get what loose splinters there were out of him before making the terrible and painful walk out of the square, onto the sidewalk and towards home.
Making their way towards home, which was in the adjacent building to the four apartment complexes, Sylvester and Junior casually talked about getting a place of their own, something that Sylvester had been trying to do since he moved to the city, in order to give Granny and Tweety, whom they were living with, some much needed space. Upon reaching the porch a short race to who would unlock the door began with Junior winning by a second and a half.
Five minutes later they reached Apartment 725. Wiping their feet on the welcome mat in front of the door, Sylvester and Junior tested the door, Sylvester by jiggling the handle and Junior by pushing it. Upon finding it was locked, Sylvester pulled out his key and unlocked the door, entering a dark living room.
"Okay" Sylvester said, keeping his voice down to a whisper, "Follow me. Let's make our way to the bathroom, get these splinters out and find ourselves a nice rooftop."
Junior nodded, "Don't you think we should wake Granny? She can help us out."
Sylvester shook his head fearfully, having had first-hand experience with Granny and her lack of sleep, and the frying pan or broom that hit the back of his head whenever he tried to get her attention in the middle of the night.
"Are you insane?" Sylvester exclaimed, "You might as well have said "Dad do you want to commit suicide?" because that is the equivalent. Now do me favor, shut up and stay close."
Creeping through the living room and trying not to knock anything over in the process, Sylvester, followed closely by Junior, made his way towards the bathroom. Entering the hallway without incident, they were relieved to find that not only was the bathroom incredibly close, but that Butch, Granny's bulldog, was nowhere to be found.
"Thank God" Sylvester whispered to himself, turning around back towards the living room, looking at his son reassuringly, "That's one less thing we have to deal with-"
Junior slowly backed away, heading in the opposite direction towards the living room.
"What are you doing?" Sylvester asked, curious at his son's behavior.
Junior nervously pointed and hid his face, covering his eyes, not wanting to witness what was about to happen. Sylvester, in response to this, turned around, staring back at him was Butch, his mouth already in mid-snarl.
"What are you runts doing here at this time of night?" Butch asked suspiciously, "You ain't looking to cause trouble are yah?"
Sylvester gave a meek smile and a slight wave, accompanied with a nervous laugh.
"Hey Butch" Sylvester began, "Long time no see, listen, me and Junior were wondering if we could use your bathroom? You see we were outside sitting on the-"
Butch slammed his paw down on Sylvester's foot, cutting him and causing the cat to hold his breath to prevent himself from screaming and alerting Granny. The bulldog smiled deviously and laughed.
"Last I checked you weren't welcome here cat" Butch declared, "Now get out before I start barking."
Sylvester exhaled as he worked his foot out from Butch's grasp, accidentally letting hot breath, rank with tuna and alley garbage onto Butch, who casually waved it away as if it were nothing in an attempt to be nice.
"Please Butch" Sylvester began again, this time making an effort to sound as desperate as possible, "At least let me take care of Junior. He's in so much pain-"
Sylvester gave a side wink Junior's way, who immediately became a ham, rubbing his hide and wincing in pain like before, but also pushing the splinters further into his body to produce tears and bleeding. Butch only raised his eyebrows in confusion at the spectacle, not really sure what to make it, or if it was even real.
"He does look pretty bad" Butch said
Sylvester nodded, equally surprised but deciding to roll with it, "So does that mean you'll help us out?"
Butch groaned and rolled his eyes, slightly hating himself as he stepped aside, allowing them both to pass.
"Bring him to me when you're done" Butch exclaimed as he made himself comfortable in the middle of the hallway, "A kid can't leave here without saying goodbye to Butch. House law."
Sylvester smiled at the notion, for he knew Butch's weakness long before Junior came into his life. The dog had a soft spot for children, surprising for a bulldog of his size and nature but not unwelcoming. In fact, Sylvester thought it was a nice change of pace.
After a few minutes Junior was mostly clean, Sylvester only missing those that were too deep to get with pliers or claws. There was nothing to be done about them but to wait until they worked their way out. Junior, in an attempt to return the favor, managed to get out most of Sylvester's splinters as well, but left the relatively big ones alone, mostly out of fear of getting them stuck inside of his own hand.
Stepping out of the bathroom and back into the hallway, Sylvester was somewhat pleased to find Butch sound asleep in the hall, snoring as loud as a bear. Junior smiled and gently hugged Butch as carefully as he could, purring at the same time.
"Good night Uncle Butch" Junior whispered, "Please don't eat my Dad, I kind of like having him around."
Butch, who was sound asleep, did not respond directly, his tail however wagged happily, giving Junior an answer.
"Come on" Sylvester said, a hint of pride in his voice at the display, "Let's go."
As quickly and quietly as they had come, they had left, double timing out of the apartment and back onto the city streets.