Luke sat against the park bench and stared at the moon above. The air smelled of cut grass and the stars looked like fireflies. Ever since he moved into his apartment (the very idea of something being his made his lips stretch into a smile) he had had trouble sleeping. Most nights he would stare out his window and look out to the city. The empty streets, the warm air, the trees that looked like people in the far off distance. How could he sleep through anything so…wonderful?
There was no telling how long he was out before he was found, and there was no telling how long ago he had lost his own identity…but did that really matter? Night after night, he found himself wandering the streets of New York just…exploring. Looking at the neon signs at the end of Jefferson street made his insides glow. The humming of some distant air conditioner he couldn't find filled the alleyways. Somehow he found himself at the park near the hospital.
He scolded himself, he should go back home (that word made him smile, but he never understood why) he had work in the morning. He leaned back against the bench and stared at the moon. He should get some sleep…but the night was too pretty to sleep through.
"Meow."
He heard a soft cry coming from the far end of the park.
"H-hello?" Luke called out. He ran his fingers through his red hair and stood up. "Is anyone there?" He looked out into the distance, and in the night he swore he saw something move. Something small, and black inching across the grass.
Dr. Stewart tried to get Luke to join some kind of support group, or some kind of hotline. He thought Luke needed a little help in beginning a new life. Some advice on where to start looking for who he was.
"Doc, I love ya' but I'm not really in any hurry for something like that." He had tried to tell Dr. Stewart before, but he didn't know how to phrase it. Hell, he didn't really understand it himself that much either. Ever since he awoke, got a job, and a home, the last thing he thought about was who he was before any of that happened, in fact, he wasn't too sure there was a "before" to return to.
"Luke, don't you think your family is missing you? Don't you think there's someone out there who may want to see you again?"
Stewart always asked those questions. What is there is someone waiting for you? What if there is someone who misses you? What if there is someone who needs you? But every answer Luke came up with was, "And what if there isn't?"
Luke got up from his bench and slowly walked over to the small creature moving across the grass.
"Hello there."
It was a small black cat…no, cat wasn't the word. Kitten was. The thing was so small Luke could probably hold it in his hands.
"Meow." It's voice was so soft. Luke looked around, a kitten this small was too young to be all alone, wasn't it? The mother had to be somewhere, or perhaps it belonged to someone else? Luke slowly bent down and ran his fingers against the kitten's fur.
Who are you little one?
…it all seemed so…
He scooped the little thing into his hands.
"Where's your mother little guy?"
…familiar.
Sometimes Luke would go the library and look up stories about amnesia victims and how they coped. Each book was filled with tales about men and women who fought tooth and nail to recover who they once were. Their old lives, and their old friends.
"This idea of trying to find who I am was the only thing keeping me going." One of the books read. Even Dr. Stewart said it was normal for someone in Luke's condition to try and find out all they could about who they were.
"But what if you don't care?" He wanted to ask. "What if the only thing you want to do is live?" He wanted to ask. "What if the idea of knowing who you were before is almost…"
…a burden?
Luke held the kitten close to his chest. "Don't worry little guy, we're going to find your mom and everything'll be good." Luke sighed he knew what this creature was feeling. Lost and alone in a strange world, with only the help of a stranger to guide him through.
We're cut from the same cloth…
Sometimes he'd go to a cybercafé and surf the web. The smell of Lattes and creamer felt like a blanket…one of the new things he wanted to be around forever. Sometimes he'd type in amnesia, other times he'd type in different cake recipes, and even still he'd type in different books he may want to read, and something about the Avengers, and park benches that he may want to sit on, and pies that he may want to try someday.
And then somehow he came across a site about lost loved ones…
Luke held the kitten close to his chest. He looked down street corner, in trash cans, across alleys, looking for a cat this kitten may have wandered away from.
"Does any of this look familiar kitty?"
The little thing only looked at him and yawned.
"Yeah…I'm getting pretty tired too. But I'm not leaving until I find your mom, there's no way I'm letting a kid like you go without a home."
A handsome devil like this?
Online he had read somewhere that close spirits always found a way back to each other. Lovers found their way back, family members reunited, old friends catching up to chat…and the same thing was true in death.
Luke had been searching for hours, and the sun was rising over the horizon. He had been out all night again, and he wasn't any closer to finding this kitten's family…if he even had one.
Luke looked down, the kitten's eyes were like the moon at midnight. What if this little guy was the only one left of his family?
"Meow."
Luke gazed down at the little cat in his arms, he felt its fur against his palms, and its head against his chest.
"You know kitty. I get the feeling…something like this has happened before. As if this is…just like old times. You get me?"
The cat blinked
"Meow."
Even in death, spirits can find their way back to one another…if their connection is strong enough. Even across time, two creatures can be reunited…if the fates are kind enough.
Old friend…
"Well," Luke scuffed his shoes against the street corner. "Since you don't seem to have a family, and I don't have a family…maybe we could be each other's…family."
I've missed you.
The cat rubbed its head against Luke's chest.
"I'll take that as a yes." He smiled and wrapped the kitten in his shirt…the night air was getting chilly. This little cat, this creature who he met by chance, was his new family; something new to start with and build upon, something to signify the start of a new life, and the remembrance of one gone by. Two spirits who defied death.
"Not to go too fast into our relationship or anything, but you really look like a Leon to me."