This is a short story based on the Filmation cartoon Fraidy Cat which revolved around a cowardly cat on his last life, being tormented by his past lives whenever he said a number between 1 and 8 (a couple of eps are on Youtube.) Enjoy!
Nothing like music to soothe a guy.
Lying by the wall of the club, Fraidy could still hear the music within, finding himself nodding his head. He knew he couldn't enter the building - and he didn't try to, not wanting to take his chances with the bouncer- but he was pretty certain this was the next best thing. That harsh wind that blew his tangled fur in his face, the dirty water besides his feet, they all seemed less of a nuisance now. It was something in that music that seemed to slowly dissolve the lump in his gut, that seemed to simulate a roof over his head. Still he shuddered, but at least he didn't notice that he was shuddering. The tunes brought comfort, and he needed comfort.
Comfort? That always meant trouble. If he became too comfortable, he'd forget about his condition, and would say one or two or three willy nilly. Then they'd come and chaos would ensue. Instantly, Fraidy imagined that ghostly dinosaur picking up the bouncer and swallowing him whole, or Kitty Wizard waving his wand and turning everyone into frogs, or...
The sudden appearance of troubling thoughts insulted the music in the background. It was supposed to eliminate worries, and yet here they were. Now when he listened to the music, it punctuated his problems, just because he thought about them while listening to the tunes. So Fraidy walked away from the club; his musings were bad enough without having a soundtrack. That did mean walking away from the light though. That's how he had found the club. He always sought light on his nocturnal ramblings, and the neon signs were the only illuminations on this dark street he had found himself in.
As the sounds of the club grew fainter, so did the lights, thus Fraidy found himself aimlessly stumbling about another dark alleyway, crushing candy wrappers with his hind paws. While certain he had never been in this certain alleyway before, the smell was certainly a familiar one. Humans all think alike. They throw away the same stuff, so all alleyways are guaranteed the same stench. What we whiffed was like the music; it used to comfort him, but now he associated it with the ghosts because they came one time when he was smelling the garbage and said two accidentally or was it too or to or maybe it was three why do they come why do they come
'Oh d-dear,' said Fraidy to himself, a line he usually said when his thoughts got like this. Upon uttering those two words, he placed his hand over his mouth. Talking to himself was a habit he had to grow out of. It did keep his thoughts in order, and it meant talking to the only person that understood him, but all those ghosts and ghouls came about when he talked to himself. So no talking to himself then. People would think he was crazy anyway.
Sitting on a discarded bucket, Fraidy began to remember an incident when he found a pair of scissors, and tried to use it to cut off his tongue so he would never say a number again. That dinosaur of Cave Cat had almost destroyed the town, and he thought to himself enough was enough. He'd prevent himself from ever uttering another syllable for his and everyone else's safety. Holding the implement, he slowly placed it near his mouth. He did not feel the blade, but imagined it clearly.
When his mind described the pain he would feel, Fraidy discarded the scissors immediately, tossing them away in a dumpster. Cowardly, yes, but what do you expect with a name like his? He was 'Fraidy Cat' not a buccaneer like Captain Kit or a Western hero like Billy the Kit or...
He was them though. They were him and he was them. He once inhabited their bodies, but just couldn't remember it. Did any of his past selves, when they were alive, know which life they were on? Did they wonder what their last life would be like? Knowing some of them, they probably hoped their last life would be something spectacular. That they would go out with a bang. Their last life would be some Rambo type, and would end it all in a big explosion while trying to save the Mayor or something. Despite having them appear so much, Fraidy had never spoken much to the ghosts of his past lives, so he didn't really know how they thought. Every time they appeared though, he could see a sense of disappointment reflected in their faces.
He wasn't courageous. He wasn't a hero.
Could he be?
This coward, this 'fraidy cat', was who he has been his entire life. He had been like this for years, how can he possibly stop now? He could, he could. Why else would he keep trying to prolong his ninth life? Perhaps if he avoided death long enough, something will happen and his cowardice would evaporate. He'd be a brave, bold cat, finally defeat that nine cloud once and for all, and maybe he'd be saving the city from mad scientists and the like.
It had been years he had been expecting that something though. It should have come by now. Why didn't it come when he was being robbed by those cat burglars? Or those many times he found himself harassed by other, tougher cats? Or when that nine cloud made its appearance?
If he wanted to live long, why did he keep wishing he was dead?
That's what the ghosts wanted. They were dead and wanted Fraidy to be as dead as they were. Kitty Wizard's spells didn't really go wrong, he intentionally fucked it up. Why else would Cave Cat bring along that gigantic oaf? By evading them, Fraidy was only delaying the inevitable. He was going to die, and he would die at the hands of his past lives. If he tried to escape them, they would only try harder, and all it would take for the end to come was a slip of the tongue, an accidental mention of a number. The minute he says three or four or whatever, he's done for.
The tension has gone on long enough. Why spend years pondering on how he will die when he could just get it over and done with?
Maybe he needed someone to talk to about this. A second opinion.
Dare he?
His lips slowly and painfully scrunched up to sound out the word. A low hiss escaped his fangs. A pause as he wringed his paws. Then came 'ix'. Six.
Six.
Sure enough, a phantom six manifested in front of Fraidy, and he quivered by instinct. The number faded away, making room for a cat decked out in Victorian garb, his tall top hat almost eclipsing his small eyes. As he appeared, he clasped his paws together, as if expecting something.
Jasper Catdaver. If it was going to be any life, it had to be him, the one closest to having any intelligence.
Before Fraidy could greet his sixth life, the phantom took a look at his surroundings, still clasping his paws. Immediately, he darted over to a pile of rubbish sitting outside a group of dustbins. From that pile, he pulled out a rope, stained with gunk.
'W-what are you going to do...'
'Fraidy,' said Jasper, shaking his head. 'It's not what I'm going to do.' Dropping the rope, he balled a paw into a fist, raised it in the air, and relaxed his head, tongue sticking out.
'Jasper! H-how can you even think that?'
'Because you thought of it first, Fraidy, old boy.' Jasper's eyes narrowed. 'You're really going to do it this time. I know it.'
'T-t-that is why I s-summoned you. I want...I want...' He turned away from Jasper, paw in face. 'I want to know...why you all want...'
'Oh, that. Well, is it not obvious? We all want to enter the afterlife, but we cannot do so unless all nine lives are...accounted for.'
Fraidy swallowed upon hearing this. The afterlife had been another reason he had tried to avoid death for so long.
'Just think, Fraidy,' said Jasper, 'By trying to make your life longer, you're denying us Heaven.'
'W-what if you're n-not going to Heaven?' said Fraidy, slowly turning around to face the spectre.
'Are you implying something?'
'Yeah,' said Fraidy, forcing a smile, 'S-someone like you c-could end up i-in...in the Other Place.' A laugh. A brief, painful laugh.
'That was not a very nice thing to say, Fraidy.'
'W-well, you're not a very nice person.'
'I'm merely doing my duty, Fraidy. Making sure you go off with a smile.'
'B-but...I'm only twenty f...something.' Fraidy sighed at having to say his age. Living boogieman fears made him feel younger than he actually was, and the impending dooms made him feel older.
'Do you know how young your other lives left off? And you've certainly done less than they have.'
'Well...y-you don't think I can do...well, m-more?'
'No.'
Folding his arms, Fraidy actually made eye-contact with Jasper. 'F-fat lot of help you are.'
'Indeed, I do want to help you. I'm the only one who can give you an iota of common sense.'
Fraidy replied only with a tired grunt, walking further into the tomb that was the alleyway. 'What are you going to do, Fraidy? Go on living your pointless life, trying not to summon me and my friends?' Fraidy continued walking, scoffing at Jasper. 'That's right, don't listen to me. You never do.'
With that, Jasper evaporated into a blast of smoke.
'W-why did I do that?' said Fraidy, his paw nearing his face again. 'I really thought he could help m-me? S-screw him.' Talking to himself again. What else could he do? It wasn't like he had friends. 'I really should find some...' A slug to the forehead. Shut up, Fraidy. Keep walking. Just keep walking. Don't say a word.
That's what he had intended to do today. Travel. Look for new places. Enjoy life while it lasts.
Having wandered away from the club and escaped the alleyway, he now found himself in a lonely shopping district, the pavement framed by sleeping stores. Not currently displaying their wares, they instead bore metal masks. Fraidy made sure to find these places, for the possibility of humans dropping food from their plastic bags. Getting on all fours, Fraidy crawled about the pavement, feeling the slight chill on his paws. Nothing, except for assorted wrappers and sticky stuff. A sign, perhaps?
After returning to his feet, Fraidy looked up to see himself right beside a 99 cent store. 99. Nine.
His lips began to tingle.
No. No way.
In his mind's eye, he saw Jasper, a smug grin below his whiskers. 'You really think you have a choice, Fraidy?' he said.
Light. Light was what he needed. Just walk. There. Look. Streetlights.
Ninety. Nine. Cents.
Light. Nine. Light. Nine.
'Stop it!'
Nine nine nine. Light light light.
'Shut up!' Fraidy cried, before adding in a whisper, 'I can't say nine...'
He had to say. He wanted to say it.
For a second, all Fraidy saw was white.
A rumbling heralded the return of Nine. A small cloud floated next to a grocery, accumulating mass before taking on the shape of a Number Nine. The rumbling grew louder, beginning to sound more like a storybook ogre than a storm. Fraidy's mouth hung open as he beheld the being he had brought back into this plane, watching it pulsate.
'This kitten is splittin.'
True to his catchphrase, Fraidy did run away, racing towards the comfort of the street lamps. The cloud flew towards him, lighting eminating from its bubbly form. Daring not to look back, Fraidy stumbled into the road, embracing the street lamps for a moment. Light. Piercing the darkness. Bringing illumination and warmth.
Making him easier to find.
Still under the yellow light of the lamps, Fraidy continued to scamper, the crackling and grunts behind him growing louder. Still he could see Jasper burnt in his brain, snickering to himself.
'You brought this on yourself, Fraidy. Give it up.'
Let the beast have him. If he doesn't, it will continue to wreak havoc, annhilating anything in its path. It's near those comforting street lamps. It could cause one to tumble to the ground, its light gone forever. It'll go away in a few minutes, but it'll be back. The only way for it to die is for Fraidy to die. Come on, Fraidy.
Jasper.
'Fraidy.' A low voice from the cloud.
A bolt of lightning burst from Nine, singing the end of Fraidy's tail. Upon receiving this little present, Fraidy ceased his frantic darting, and turned to face Nine, the latter chuckling away. Since Nine had no mouth, Fraidy imagined that laugh coming from the mouth of Jasper Catdaver. Still standing in place, Fraidy's face twisted into a fierce grimace, an expression that didn't belong on his head.
'I'm...I'm not afraid of you.'
Still chuckling, Nine let loose another bolt of lightning, which Fraidy leapt to dodge. Another chuckle. Fraidy scowled. Another bolt. Another dodge.
'Get.'
The cloud floated still, grumbling and throbbing, as Fraidy stared with narrowed eyes and arms on hips. His tail swayed rhytmically. Nine no longer laughed, but Fraidy chuckled slightly. His foot tapped impatiently.
Nine left.
Fraidy was alone.
He laughed.
A hearty, boisterous laugh.
Alone in the light.
As he awoke that morning, Fraidy swore his heart was still beating rapidly from last night's encounter. With it still in his mind, he leapt onto his hind paws, surveying the area. Nothing. Nothing but the bright sunshine illuminating the grass, and the city below. Sunshine. Why hadn't Fraidy seen more of it?
Fraidy shook his head. 'C'mon, Fraidy,' he said, 'forget about what happened. As long as y-you don't say that number again, you'll be alright. J-just look at the scenery.' So Fraidy followed his own advice, and stared at the city which the hill overlooked. This was supposed to be a place where human couples would come and make out, but Fraidy didn't see any when he found it. His own private spot. 'Wow.' He continued his conversation with himself. 'W-what a wonderful view.'
Wonderful. Won-derful. One.
'Whoops! I said one!'
Once again, his heart slammed itself against his ribcage as if trying to escape Fraidy's body. Any minute now, that moron Cave Cat and his dopey dinosaur would manifest right in front of Fraidy, causing trouble as they are wont to do. All Fraidy could do was crouch down and hide his head in his paws.
No giant stone '1' appeared. No fat sabretooth. No big dinosaur.
Still, Fraidy waited.
Nothing.
A little more.
Still nothing.
Maybe 'wonderful' didn't sound enough like one...he did say one afterwards though. Well, ghosts don't appear in the daytime, do they? Oh, yes they do. Captain Kit did appear in broad daylight during an embrassing incident best left forgotten, so the past lives don't mind the time. He said the number again, holding his head, and found himself waiting again. Snorting, he repeated the number yet again, and tapped his foot as nothing appeared.
'Two.' Nothing.
'Three.' Nothing.
'Where are they?'
Last night. Fraidy met Nine and told him that he wasn't afraid. Nine disappeared...so...
Fraidy shook again, but it was not his usual shaking. 'I...I did it.' From his mouth emerged a mixture of coughs and laughter. 'I really did it. I'm...I'm free.'
Captain Kit didn't appear.
Leaping into the air, Fraidy held out his arms to embrace the sky, and clapped his heels. Upon landing, he still held his arms high at the peak of the hill, as if he were going to give the entire city a hug.
'O-oh my! W-what am I going to do?' He ran his fingers through his fur, twitched his tail, all sorts of pointless things to his body. 'N-no. This is a sign. N-no more ghosts means...it means...' Placing his finger to his chin, he danced a disorganized dance to help him think. 'I can f-finally live as I want! Y-yes! Yes!' His arms tightly gripped his torso. 'I may have one live left...b-but I'm going to live it to its fullest!' After leaping into the air again, he ran to the city, his arms held high to the sky, still blathering and laughing to himself. 'Here comes Fraidy!' he squealed as he entered town. 'Merry Christmas, lamp! Merry Christmas, fence!' he cried as he rushed past those things. It wasn't Christmas, but it might as well be. When he realised what he was saying, he stopped for a moment and began chuckling at himself again. People had laughed at him before, but now he could laugh at himself too. The old, ghost-ridden Fraidy was just a joke now.
WOOF! WOOF!
Turning around, Fraidy saw another dog; a mangy, scraggly lump emerging from its hiding hole. Its attempts to create an intimidating expression on its flattened face made Fraidy laugh even harder. As the dog barked again, Fraidy approached the creature and blew a raspberry at it before running off. 'Can't catch me!' He continued to chuckle as he scurried into a dumpster, listening to the barks shrink away. 'Stupid dog.'
Looking up, and seeing no hide or hair of the dog, he began to ponder what he was to do now. In his excitement, he had forgotten that there wasn't much for him to do as an alleycat. Well, perhaps he would do as he always did and would just travel the city. Yes. He would look for new things, and explore them. Without those ghosts bothering him, he'd find so many new stuff, and use them to their fullest. No interruptions, no spectral screw-ups, just him and him alone, doing the best he could with his last life. So, he leapt onto the pavement, and walked about, peering around the city for something of interest.
Night fell quickly as it usually did, but, as it came, Fraidy still heard ticking echo in his head. Night was the best time for hauntings, so, Fraidy thought as the sun descended, perhaps his joy was not to last. What if, after the sky grew black, he would say those little numbers and Cave Cat and Kitty Wizard and Jasper and everyone else would be back to torment him again.
A test. That's it.
When night blanketed the city with its usual shadows and chills, Fraidy looked for a secluded spot - there, that alley - to summon his spirits. Leaping into a dustbin, he worked up his courage, cleared his throat as if delivering a speech, and said, 'One.'
Crouching in his metal shelter, Fraidy waited for the dinosaur to lift up the lid and cover him in ethereal saliva.
He waited.
No dinosaur tongue. No roars outside. No 'Hiya, Fraidy!'
Slowly, Fraidy peered from the dustbin. Nobody there but him.
'I've really done it,' said Fraidy, shivering in that new way, 'T-the ghosts are gone forever. I'm free...' He looked around again for Captain Kit, almost expecting a 'Yarr', but there was nothing. 'This calls for a celebration.' And where else could he celebrate? Plunging the depths of his memory, he tried to remember the way to the club. Recollecting that path involved certain landmarks; two broken streetlamps side by side, the graffiti of some unintelligible language. Soon enough, he found the glowing neon at the end of that dark and lonely street. It was silent at the moment Fraidy rediscovered it, giving him the smallest prick of disappointment, but he had all the time in the world now.
It took longer than he thought for the music to pound through the wall, but he knew it was worth the wait. His thoughts at the moment were positive ones, so the music would be positive too, and make those positive thoughts seem all the more positive.
Soft but fast-paced techno music echoed from within, making Fraidy's head nod along with the beat. The beat grew quicker, so Fraidy leapt from his sitting place and twirled around the alley. The damp and lugubrious street gave way for a silver ballroom, boasting a magnificent bifurcate staircase and a checkerboard floor. This room belonged to Fraidy and him alone, as he now sported a top hat and tailcoat in the same colour as the ballroom's walls, and a cane to complete the ensemble. Holding the cane in both front paws, he let his feet move as the music wished them to. Then, he threw his cane into the air, and spun around the room to catch it perfectly.
Hearing a sigh from behind him, he turned around and saw a female cat, blossoming with luxorious white fur. Fraidy offered her his paw, and she took it. Soon, the two felines glided around the room, letting the shimmering light cover them.
That's what Fraidy was meant to do. Have a loving wife by his side, both of them taking care of a beautiful litter. Fraidy would guide them and...
Laughter.
Hoarse chuckles and low sniggers eradicated the ballroom, exposing that lovely female as a filthy mop. Dropping his dancing partner, Fraidy turned to see two other cats, bigger and smugger as other cats usually are. Scoffing inwardly, Fraidy turned away, focusing his attention towards the wall. One of those cats tossed a tin can at Fraidy's head to get his attention, but Fraidy chose not to flinch. He stood still, until he heard their footsteps.
He had won.
Victory was easy.
Still, those cats had their own little victory; the music from the club now had associated itself with them. Unable to listen to the beats without remembering the two cats' faces, Fraidy began to walk back down the street.
A scream.
Not too far from when Fraidy had been dancing, a scream filled the air. What better way to prove his new bravery than with a daring rescue? With the image of a cape tied around his neck and his form inflated with muscles, Fraidy dove back into the alleyway. If he could defeat an array of supernatural forces, why not some common street trash?
Those two cats again, terrorising a female of their species, cornered against a wall. A sign. Fraidy would rescue this damsel, she would fall for him, they'd have kittens, both of them would live happily ever after.
'Hey!' said Fraidy, pointing a finger.
One thug turned around. 'Hey, look, it's that dancing fool!'
'Leave that lady alone, or I'll...'
'You'll what?'
Fraidy, still holding his finger in the air, said nothing.
'Well?'
After staring at his hand, Fraidyy let loose his claws.'L-leave her alone, or...I'll s-scratch you!'
Laughter again.
Fraidy lifted his arm to deliver upon his promise, but the larger of the two cats grabbed it and slammed Fraidy onto the ground. Feeling his stomach plunge again, Fraidy tried to leap back onto his feet, only to be pinned down. Those claws.
'I-I'm warning you!'
The other cat chuckled, admiring the claws he had just beared. Nice and long, never chewed upon.
'You know what I did with these babies?'
Fraidy shook his head.
'I made a great dane bleed.'
In seconds, Fraidy felt the claw pierce his body, and with his limbs paralysed by his brain, all he could do was close his eyes and wish it wasn't happening. Sure enough, his body slowly became numb. His legs were the first to fade away, then his stomach, save for its butterflies, then his arms. His head and the tremors in his gut were all that remained. Blinking open his eyes upon a sudden instinct, he saw none other than Nine and Jasper Catdaver standing silently together.
'You!' Fraidy leapt to his feet, even if he didn't know where he was standing. 'I defeated you!'
'It wasn't you,' said Jasper, with his usual shit-eating smirk, 'It was a little experiment from Nine here.'
Fraidy trembled, but it was another trembling he wasn't used to. This trembling seemed voluntary. 'Oh, I s-see. Just another j-joke. Well, ha-ha.'
'This isn't a joke.'
'You! You and your kind! You-you ruined everything! as if b-being on my last...l-life wasn't bad enough...you...you'
'Well, you don't have to worry about us ruining your "life" anymore, Fraidy.'
Fraidy paused to observe the void around him. 'So I-I'm really...'
'As a doornail.'
It happened. It finally happened.
Fraidy put a paw on his chest. Nothing.
'Yes, it was that ruffian. He must have been in a good mood. Just think, all those years of me trying to talk sense into you,' said Jasper,'and it was my absence that brought you here.'
'S-shut up!'
'Look on the bright side. At least you died accomplishing something.' Fraidy trembled all the more at Jasper's words. 'You did save that female. She ran away after those thugs turned their attention on you. A heroic sacrifice, was it not?'
A smile crawled onto Fraidy's face. Still, he trembled.
'I know you aren't ready for the hereafter just yet,' said Jasper, placing a hand on Fraidy's shoulder, 'that's why I'm here.'
What could Fraidy do?
What could he do but laugh?
Fin