Miss Kitty Fantastico looked through the dark branches at shadowy shape of her house. The rectangle of yellow light had blinked out long ago and all was quiet. Inside, she knew, was her blanket, her ball, her food, and her bed. Inside was warmth and safety and, if she was lucky, something to chew. But between her and all these good things was an entire backyard of dangers, not to mention about fifteen feet of empty air. She had never been this high up in a tree before, and her legs felt shaky and weak. The only things keeping her from plunging to the gravel below were her sharp claws digging deep into the bark of her tree, and she wasn't willing to loosen them even the tiniest bit.

What's more, although the three dogs had slunk off into the darkness, who knew if they were just waiting in the shed, or under the garden bench, or behind another tree--waiting for her to creep down so they could fall on her at once and tear her to pieces. MKF clung even tighter at the thought of it.

At that moment, she heard a welcome sound. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," came a soft voice from across the yard. MKF could see a head poking out the window and recognized her roommate, Devon.

"Here! I'm up here! Come help me. Come get me down," she meowed. A few minutes later, Devon came shuffling across the yard, rubbing her eyes and pulling her sweater closer around her shoulders.

"What are you doing up there, you silly? It's bedtime. Come home."

"There were dogs! They were chasing me and talking about making me into burgers. It was very traumatic! Can I come home now?"

"That's right. Come on down. I'm here--I'll take care of you."

Miss Kitty Fantastico started to loosen her claws. She slipped a few inches down the tree. A tiny branch broke under her weight and she slipped a little further.

"That-a-girl. A little further," said Devon.

But right then, barking sounded from a neighboring yard. It was the brown dog, MKF knew, recognizing his whiny voice. "I'm watching you," came the voice from far away. "Go ahead. Climb down from that tree. See what will happen to you."

Another dog, closer this time, joined in: "You're surrounded, cat. You think your person can protect you, but she can't. There are more of us than there are of her."

Miss Kitty Fantastico froze. Did she dare come down? "The dogs will come," she called down from her branch. "They'll eat me, I know it!"

"It's ok, little girl. Come on down, I'm here," called Devon. But it was no use. There were four dogs barking now, from all different directions, and one of them seemed even closer than before...

Suddenly, a black shape appeared in the moonlight. It was the first dog that had frightened MKF at the beginning. His attention now was on Devon, and he was growling low in his throat.

"Save yourself!" cried Miss Kitty Fantastico. "Run away! Don't let him eat you."

"All right, Miss Kitty," said Devon, with one more look up in the branches. "If you won't come down..." Slowly and warily she backed away from the growling dog and up the stairs to her doorway. "Sleep tight."
....................................................

The night passed slowly for Miss Kitty Fantastico. Each hour was colder than the last and her branch became more and more uncomfortable as the night wore on. The voices of the dogs quieted down eventually, but she could still hear them echoing in her mind. Moths and spiders came and went around her, and on the ground she occasionally heard the quick shufflings of nocturnal creatures. She felt that she could see every detail of the dark landscape around her and hear the whisper of every leaf shifted by the wind. How different this was from the nights she spent indoors, where she heard nothing but the ticking of the clock and the hum of the computer. The moon glowed overhead and MKF's branch in the tree no longer felt like a hideaway, but rather like a perch, from which she could survey the whole world if she wished. What did those dogs matter now? She almost felt that she wanted them to come back, so she could show them that she was no longer afraid of them. Almost.

The sky lightened, and across the yard, MKF heard a door squeak open. Devon's slippers came padding across the gravel once more. "Will you come down now, Miss Kitty Fantastico?" she called. "Will you come home now?"

MKF stretched her stiff legs one at a time and made her way, with much slipping and sliding, down the trunk of her tree. She gave the yard one last fond look and yawned widely. Then she allowed herself to be picked up and wrapped tightly in Devon's arms, her feet tucked in, and her tail waving free.

Labels: fiction, MKF

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Thursday, March 08, 2007