Water rippled around my paws as I dragged the fish out of the ocean. I pulled it up to the shade of the trees and sat down, laying my head on my paws and staring out over the ocean. The blue-green water stretched out in every direction as far as I could see.
This island is all I've ever known. I was born here, raised here, and I've never known anything else.
As far as I know, I'm the only cat left in the world.
Of course, Moon, my mother, told me about other cats – ones who lived in huge groups called Clans, and worked together to feed and take care of the others.
I could never really tell when Moon was telling me a story or about past experiences.
I chewed my fish thoughtfully. Little food was available on the island. A few mice, maybe, and the odd squirrel, but mostly I had to swim a little ways into the water and catch a fish with a perfectly timed swipe of unsheathed claws.
Living alone on the island had never been a problem for me. Instead, having no one to talk to gave me a sense of peace and tranquility, a sense I was sure I could find no where else. I couldn't imagine meeting another cat – I would probably seem a little, if not very, antisocial, but talking wasn't one of my strongest points. The only talking I had ever done was back when I was a kit and Moon told me stories, but ever since the tree fell on her during that storm… well, I haven't said a word.
After I finished the fish, I turned to head up into the heart of the island, where his cave was situated pleasantly against the side of a hill and right next to the freshwater creek that crept around the wooded hills. I maneuvered between trees and over huge boulders that had been there since before I was born until I made it to my cave, pushing through the sheets of lichen and moss that covered the entrance.
When I slept that night, my dreams were filled with fighting cats, surging masses lunging for each others throats. I writhed and twisted all night until blood bathed my paws. When I jerked awake, my heart pounding, I had one thing on my mind: There couldn't be anything worse.
If I only knew.
