Keeperofwords here sending you this one-shot written by me and lovingly edited by my wonderful co-author who I am so proud of. She is now a graduate of high-school! This is for fun and if you have not read our novel in progress, "Fragile Reunion", it won't make sense. It is not set up at any particular time but is a stand-alone piece. I love Barbra, Cassandra's beloved Siamese and pet of the Corcoran-July household. She is one of my favorite characters and does not get her due in "Fragile Reunion". This is an attempt to let her have her own moment in the spotlight to shine. If you like it, let me know via a comment please. I may be persuaded to write more. Thanks for your continued interest and love for the "Fragile Reunion" Universe
"Fragile Reunion" Oneshot: A Cat's Life
Barbra stretched out her front paws while simultaneously pushing up on her back feet until her backside was arched. She flexed her paws, extending and then retracting her nails while she stretched. The first twill of a mockingbird floated through the window, which was accidentally left cracked overnight in the child's bedroom window, where the siamese had spent the latter part of the night's darkness. The sound of a clock alarm beeped annoyingly across the hall. The cat opened her mouth to yawn before pushing herself off the violet-covered window seat cushion. She knew what that sound meant. Food. She could hurry that along if she put in a little effort. Sometimes the beeping sound had to go off more than once for one of her humans to get moving.
"Merp" the cat uttered, taking off in a fast trot out of the child's bedroom and into the hall until she was standing beside the closed door of the master bedroom. It was shut, as if that was going to stop her. It might make the small human that now lived with them pause, but not her privileged self. Her special person was in there with her mate. Her special person let her do anything she wanted, and her mate almost let her do just as much if she mewed the right way and let out a purr or two. Her cat eyes blinked twice before she sprung up, with paws extended. Her goal was to unlatch the door knob. She had to time this just right. It took two paws and she had to push her left one into the golden knob while pushing her back into the wooden door. She was an athlete though, afterall, and she could do things that her mistress could not even dream of doing. Her mistress could jump, yes, but not as high as she nor was her mistress able to target a spot and land up top of a window, bookshelf, or piano.
"Merp" Barbra vocalized again as the door knob made a click followed by the door giving way. The cat quickly entered, knowing sometimes the door closed back and not moving fast enough would defeat the effort she had just gone through to get inside the room.
One, two three, four, juummmmppp!
Some days, Barbra went straight to her mistress because she supplemented treats along with her regular breakfast. But Barbra had experienced a long night because of a new furry small thing she found under the kitchen table, eating crumbs the little girl left the night before. After chasing it up the hall in and then out of the dance studio and into the office under the desk, she had sat most of the night watching for it to come out from under it. She had waited and waited like the good cat she was, but then she finally had to go to the litter box upstairs and by the time she got back downstairs the invader's smell had faded. She had spent a good part of the night afterwards prowling in and out of rooms on the bottom floor before going through the kitchen. That was where she lost the scent trail. By then she was tired, so she made her way to her favorite room to pass the rest of the darkness away. All that being said, Barbra decided to wake her brunette mistress instead, for she was closer.
The siamese plodded along the end of the bed before walking up the brunette's leg and up her stomach, careful not to sink her claws in her food provider. As a kitten, Barbra had learned that did not end well. That had landed her in the bathroom with the door closed until her blonde mistress came and got her out after a long, long time. She was older and wiser now, so she carefully lowered her body to tuck into the prone brunette's. Barbra sat, cat and human touching stomach to stomach. She lowered her face until it rested on the brunette's breasts.
Then, she began to purr. It was low at first. She waited for her brunette mistress to stir and and let out a sigh. Encouraged, Barbra purred deeper and with more emphasis, waiting. Both mistress and mate's breathing changed when they woke up. There was one final step. When eyelashes fluttered, the cat extended her tongue and began to lick Shelby's delicate chin with her rough tongue.
"Oh," Shelby mumbled sleepily, opening her eyes blearily which only motivated Barbra to walk up the chest pillow and yowl.
"Breakfast," the cat prompted Shelby, nudging the brunette with a paw placed carefully on the brunette's cheek.
"I'm up, I'm up Barbra!" her mistresses mate mumbled "Jesus, why is it me every damn morning. Why can't you go climb up Cass for a change, stomping on her boobs and licking her chin with cat slobber..."
Though grumping, Barbra was heartened by the fact that the brunette sat up, dislodging her onto her mistress's body. That was okay with the siamese, for she had accomplished what she'd originally set out to do. She tucked herself into the blonde's armpit and waited for the human to go into the bathroom and then shortly return.
Breakfast time!! Barbra cheered to herself with a long series of merps as she trotted down the stairs, following Shelby. "Merp, merp, merp, merp, merp, merp," she sing-songed, making sure she sounded cute and not annoying. She lived in a musical house after all, so it was important how she vocalized. Each sound she vocalized was unique and meant something. Her blonde mistress and her mistress's mate knew this and had each one memorized. Well, almost all of them. She had let out a new sound at the invader into her territory last night. It had been a sound that she had never known she could make up until that point. But, up until that point, Barbra had also never seen a little furry invader.
Barbra brushed up against the brunette's long, shapely bare leg as the human opened the pantry door and got out her food. A series of "merps" was the prelude to a full "meow" as a cat dish was lowered to her mat on the wooden kitchen floor. It was then time for the full blown purr while she took quick, tiny bites. She was not a pig, after all. She was Barbra July and did not gobble less she get her beautiful furry face dirty with breakfast. Even though she always took time for an after-breakfast catbath, she liked to keep tidy. Barbra listened to the brunette talk to her while stroking the top of her head. The brunette did not do this when her mistress was around. The cat was not sure why not. Did she think her mistress would take offense? Barbra had more than enough cuteness to spread around. No matter what the case may be, it was her and her mistresses mate's secret, their times of soft words and petting when nobody else was around. Barbra loved her mistress's mate very much. That was all that mattered at the moment, along with her breakfast. After waking her mistress in the same manner, she could begin her busy day
. . .
Barbra cocked her ear and looked over at the front door from her place on the piano bench. It was the time of day where there were so many people all through the lower part of the house. For now, she had planted herself in the dance studio. There were people here and though they were not full grown like her mistress, they were bigger than the child who lived with them now. All of them were stretching and her mistress was talking. Barbra flicked her tail as she watched her mistress go and move the body of a male. Today's activities were boring the siamese. Her tail swished back and forth with disinterest. She wished the little one was here, but she was next door. Barbra plopped down off the piano bench, sniffing the air. She was still trying to find that furry thing that had invaded her territory. She was going to get it. She was determined. It would not be able to hide from her forever.
Time to go, Barbra told herself. But first time to mark her space. The visitors seemed to forget it was her house not theirs. She just let them visit because it made her mistress and mistress's mate happy. Some of them really had the most smelly things they left on the floor. One day a human had left a smelly shirt on the floor. It had reeked and she just had to take care of it. She had, up until then, just tolerated the smells because these people all left eventually. But this time, a human left a towel in her morning sun spot in the corner of the dance studio. It smelled of sweat with a faint scent of another animal like a "Dog". This would not do. This would not do at all. This was her house after all. They all seemed to forget that. Why should she have to put up with the strange odors? This was her domain. If anything, their stuff was going to smell like her. She would not have the room smell like anything except her or one of her people who lived with her. Barbra took it to task to mark every bag and article of clothing that came in the door and landed on the dance floor. All she had to do was walk on it and rub on it with her head. Her mistress did not care and she just hissed at the male who had tried to nudge her away with his foot. Her mistress did not like the male for doing that either and had talked to him in a loud voice while she ran behind her for safety.
After stomping on all the backpacks, duffle bags, and an odd pocketbook, Barbra slinked out of the room. She had another room to check out till it was time for her mid-morning nap on her mistress's pillow.
The Siamese had learned to time her visit to her mistress's mate when the little ones came. They wanted to pick her up and pulled on her tail. They also were loud, not that she was ever frightened. She was Barbra July and was scared of nothing. But she was also too curious to just let them alone. She did not like their smells any more than she did the older ones, but they did not tend to bring things beside jackets in cold weather. They sometimes dropped those so she could brush up against them like the older humans' bags, but the weather was warmer now. Still, it was her obligation to make sure she attended her brunette owner's class. She would keep it short. There were only a few that she liked to brush against and say hello. They were the ones that held out their fingers for her to sniff and smiled at her. So Barbra came in and said her greetings to them as per usual. The siamese always came when the kids were sitting in chairs in a circle singing and doing hand motions. As was her habit, Barbra made her way up to those whom she deemed fit to visit today. She made them work for it, however, and waited until they put their arms down and dangled their fingers at her. She rewarded them by bumping their hands with top of her head and with the quietest "mew" of contentment.
She ignored her brunette mistress's mate today, however. She and the brunette only showed that kind of affection in private. Greetings exchanged and the room checked out, it was time to go. Next step of her day, her morning nap. Out of the room, Barbra plotted slowly and up the stairs again. The door to the master bedroom was open now.
One, two, three, four, jump!
She turned three times before settling herself into her blonde's pillow. She just loved her mistress's scent. Content, the siamese fell asleep, ignoring the two different melodies coming upstairs. She dreamed of mice.
She woke up feeling refreshed and also keenly aware that the youngster she had allowed to live in her favorite room in the mansion was home. The young human was gentle, friendly and loved to play with her. Sometimes, the child did something that she didn't want to do, but that was rare. When it did happen, Barbra knew all she had to do was run to her mistress. Her mistress's mate was a close second to go to when the little girl got too exuberant, and the girl was always sorry and gave her cat treats to make up for it.
Up for a visit with the youngster, the cat was disappointed to see her mistress and the child in the studio dancing. Her mistress's mate seemed to be busy as well, in a small room playing on a piano with a boy that Barbra generally avoided like the plague. The boy tended to sneeze when around her and had once sneezed on her so hard it had wet her beautiful fur. It had taken thirty minutes to groom it out in the kitchen cabinet she had run into because he had frightened her. She decided she was going to have to make her own fun. The cat nosed into the partially closed office door. It was time to hunt!
Carefully, stealthily, the siamese stalked into the room. A good hunter had to be quiet and purposeful. Cat eyes trailed back and forth on the ground beneath her as she smelled the air. Nothing. She saw and smelled nothing. With a irritated "merp", the cat jumped on the desk, scattering papers gathered there. She was unconcerned when they dropped to the floor and flew across the room. She batted at an ink pen, trying to amuse herself, but it was just not enough to keep her interested. She tried a quick grooming session in the office chair before jumping to the bookcase to get up high.
High was good. She liked to be up high. From the window she could see the backyard. There was a squirrel's nest she enjoyed watching. She would love to go outside, but her mistress had a fit if she even got too close to the back door. The little girl took her out in the backyard once. It had been awful, though, because she treated her like a stupid "dog"! How would she like to be drug around like that?
After that incident, Barbara had avoided the little girl for a long time. It had been like that all the way up until after breakfast the next day, and she had only come up to her because she had the cat brush AND she had been warm and sleeping in the studio's morning sunbeam. Apologies meant nothing to her because she did not understand human talk. What had meant the most was the brush on her furry stomach and the slow scratches under the chin. She allowed the girl a purr. Apologies given, Barbra had not forgotten the draw of the outside. Fear kept her from slipping outside even when the door was accidently left open when the strangers came around.
Squirrels were fine but why did they stick to the trees? They should at least come to the tree next to the window. If they did, maybe she could jump out the window at them. They would be proper prey and much meatier than that tiny thing still lurking somewhere inside. The idea of that invader in her house was driving her crazy. A tiny growl curled on her cat lips and she decided she wanted her afternoon cat treat. It was the one her mistress gave her that satisfied her until dinner. The siamese just would have to go get her attention. That usually worked when she was being cute. And one thing that Barbra July could do was cute.
Sneezer was still in with her mistress's mate, so it was back to the studio. Thank god the window was open. That would make this easier. This window opened out to the shared yard with the women neighbors that might as well live in the mansion they visited so much. Her mistress had carried her over to that house when she got something in her paw one time. The humans there were nice enough. Their side of the yard was nicer. It had a bird bath and a big bird feeder. Entering the room, the Siamese could hear the chirps of the feeding, feathered animals. It was only because she had cat ears and could hear it over the noise of the music in the room as the blonde human and little brown human jumped and twirled around. She was going to have to pour on the charm and talent for this cat treat. They had not even noticed her come in today. That was just not supposed to happen. Her master was always supposed to notice her when she wanted to be noticed. As her mistress would say, it was "Showtime".
"Merp,merp, merp,merp,mrrrowwwl," the Siamese chattered out the window looking at the birds. Random moments like this always seemed to easily capture her owner's attention. In truth, Barbra was talking to the birds. But the humans didn't seem to know that. Her mistress's mate called it "charming". "Merp, merp, merp, merp, meow, meow," she called out in her most compelling of calls. The birds outside ignored her. She did, however, manage to get the attention of the young one in the studio.
"Mama, Barbra is singing!"
At this moment, it was important for her not to respond to the attention. The cat knew this. So instead, she called out to the birds one more time for good measure.
"Merp, mrowl, merp, merp, merp"
"No, she's not singing. It's more like she's daring, "Come to the window and I will eat you,"," Cass gave her opinion under her breath. She had spoken so softly the singer hoped Rachel had not heard her. Unfortunately enough for Cass, the young girl had heard every word.
"Mama no. Barbra eats cat food, not animals. She needs a treat!"
Yeah, I need a treat, the cat thought to herself, not daring to look behind her. What do I have to do to get food around here? It's not like I can go open the package myself.
"It's so pretty, just like Mommy singing. We got to give her a treat."
"Don't tell you mommy you said that kid," Cass laughed and shook her head in amusement. "But we can give her a treat."
Yess!! The cat thought to herself as her mistress picked her up and cooed over her. Why must this be so hard, Barbra wondered. In truth however, the cat did not mind. She liked to do this. Just getting treats for doing nothing would be boring.
Accepting the attention of her special person and the treats from the little human was a reward of a performance well done. The treat would hold her until dinnertime when she would go bother her mistress's mate and make her feed her. Then, after a nice dinner and the strangers came and went after the human's ate, the cat would get ready to hunt the little invader. Her day was far from over.
. . .
Daylight was fading now. She could hear the crickets starting to chirp. Her adventure was just starting. She was feeling generous tonight. She was "rewarding" the smaller human in the house. The tiny morsel of chicken that the girl had snuck her was so "goooooddd". Barbra sat tucked on the small ones lap and leaned her head into the human hand. She was having to train this one still.
She was going to get that furry small thing and bring it to her mistress tonight. Her mistress would really love that the invader would no longer be stalking about the house.
The cuddling she shared with her mistress was wonderful as usual. She had to paw at the desk drawer though. Her mistress almost forgot to give her a cat treat out of the pouch she was supposed to give her. After some soft cooing from Cassie, Barbra got not one but three treats tonight. It had been a great night.
It was completely dark by the time she began her hunt. She hopped off the small one's bed and walked across the hall. Her mistress and her mistress's mate were sound asleep. She quietly made her way down the down the stairs. Carefully, she started her search. Dance Studio, parlor, piano room, choir room. Slowly, slowly she made her way up the hall towards the kitchen. She did a quick sniff of the small bathroom. It was then that she heard it. It was a scratching.
Yes! She thought to herself. Hunting,hunting, focus, focus . . . one two three . . pounce!
Prize in her jaws, she waddled back up the stairs. Her mistress would be so proud of her. She knew her mistress was sleeping but she would not want to miss this. Right? Barbra was very careful not to lose her prize when she jumped on her mistress's bed. It seemed that Cassie was holding her mate on top of her body. They seemed to not be sleeping anymore and were moving around alot. Usually when they did that Barbra left the room. She could not very well nap on the bed with all of that going on. Tonight however, she put up with it. She had to show her mistress her prize. She surely would get a lot of cat treats for this. And if not, she would just go eat this instead.
Her humans did not seem to notice her. No matter though, she had this. She launched herself at the foot of the bed landing between four bare feet. She guessed she would have to climb up her mistress's mate's body to show off her furry trophy.
"What the. . ."
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Fuck!"
"What is that?"
"Oh my god, is that a mouse?"
"Ewwwuh,"
"She is your cat. Get that thing out of her mouth. I am taking a shower. I got mouse guts on my back and probably on the sheets. And Cassandra you go bathe her right now. I don't care how much she hates it."
"Wonder if Mickey Mouse was the only one or if Minnie is still in the mansion."
"Oh, don't go there. Call the exterminator. I don't care if it is midnight. But after you give her a bath."
"Yes, dear"
"And put that thing in the outside garbage can. I don't want it in my house."
. . .
What did I do to deserve this? Barbra asked herself as her mistress dried her with the towel.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," Cassandra warned her cat.
Barbra wanted to hiss but did not. She was too afraid she would get put back in the water. This was so insulting. On top of it all, her prize had been taken from her and she had not even gotten to show it to the little one in the other room.
"You had to bring it to the bedroom and your timing was impeccable. Right during Shelby coming. You dropped that dead mouse on her back mid orgasm."
Barbra did not understand the laughter. She did however understand the treats she was given and a tiny bowl of milk for an extra special treat.
"I've got to tell Holly this. I so have to tell Holly this,"
Barbra ignored her and concentrated on her special treat. It almost made up for her midnight bath. Gods, she hated getting wet. The next morning, her mistress's mate gave her canned tuna before the rest of the household got up. Her mistress's mate was proud of her, after-all, regardless of her timing, and Barbra gave her a happy mew.
Such was the life of Barbra July.