Grace hugged the bowl of Tuna Delight as she approached the cats that always assembled at the play ground at her void deck. The cats leapt off the benches and came swarming to her.
“Here you go, Fifi, it’s your favorite Tuna Delight today,” Grace scooped a spoonful of tuna and dropped it in front of a white-cream cat, “Dipy, you look like you need a diet. Man, what have you been eating?” Grace poked gently at the orange tabby’s sagging stomach, “Oli, no fighting! There is enough for everybody,” Grace went over to the fighting cats and tapped Oli sharply on the butt. She spooned another ball of food especially for Oli, and then took a seat next to a black kitten with white chest and paws, which she called Oni. Oni was by far the newest addition to the family. The adorable little thing was pawing its food into a mesh before licking the juicy portion. She stroked the little kitten tenderly, turning around to look for a certain mosaic-colored cat.
Nini was not here again, Grace frowned worriedly. The last time she saw Nini was last Monday, and Nini looked ghastly that evening. She didn’t move or eat much, and she kept meowing laboriously, practically sleeping through the whole meal. Grace sighed helplessly.
Grace watched over her cats while they feasted, all the while maintaining a gentle caress across Oni’s back. When the kitten has had his fill, she picked him up and went over to the swing. As she rocked herself gently, she allowed her mind to wonder. She thought about Angel and Emily; she thought about her family (quickly skipping over her father); she thought about that creepy friend of Andrew’s; she thought about world peace. She has always found it extremely therapeutic to just take time out and ponder over things like that, stretched out in a comfortable position and gazing at the stars. Except that the swing wasn’t all that comfortable, and the night’s sky was heavily overcast. Still, this was a luxury most modern men seem to neglect.
Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched, a cold shiver causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand. She turned instinctively towards a dark corner of the HDB apartment somewhere to her right and saw a figure leaning against the postboxes. She could barely make out the outline of a guy, who seemed to be staring straight at her, although it was too dark to decide if he actually had his back facing her instead. Grace sat slightly straighter and tenser. Maybe it was this sudden movement that caused the cats to start sprinting away from her, and towards that stranger.
The stranger apparently HAD been facing her (and probably had been staring at her as well, Grace thought displeasedly) because he squatted as soon as he saw the cats approach him. From the silhouette, Grace could tell that HER cats were rubbing blissfully against his legs while he was returning the affection with purr-inducing scratches under the chin. She never felt more abandoned in her life.
Then, it thundered. It was a low, rumbling sort that forecasted an incoming storm. Grace looked up and saw the storm clouds, hanging so low in the sky that she felt she might be able to touch them if she stretched her hand out. After taking a last lingering look in the direction of the intruding stranger, she turned and started home. She tried to shrug off that feeling of heavy gloom. She tried to shrug off the feeling of being forsaken.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Here you go, Fifi, it’s your favorite Tuna Delight today,” Grace scooped a spoonful of tuna and dropped it in front of a white-cream cat, “Dipy, you look like you need a diet. Man, what have you been eating?” Grace poked gently at the orange tabby’s sagging stomach, “Oli, no fighting! There is enough for everybody,” Grace went over to the fighting cats and tapped Oli sharply on the butt. She spooned another ball of food especially for Oli, and then took a seat next to a black kitten with white chest and paws, which she called Oni. Oni was by far the newest addition to the family. The adorable little thing was pawing its food into a mesh before licking the juicy portion. She stroked the little kitten tenderly, turning around to look for a certain mosaic-colored cat.
Nini was not here again, Grace frowned worriedly. The last time she saw Nini was last Monday, and Nini looked ghastly that evening. She didn’t move or eat much, and she kept meowing laboriously, practically sleeping through the whole meal. Grace sighed helplessly.
Grace watched over her cats while they feasted, all the while maintaining a gentle caress across Oni’s back. When the kitten has had his fill, she picked him up and went over to the swing. As she rocked herself gently, she allowed her mind to wonder. She thought about Angel and Emily; she thought about her family (quickly skipping over her father); she thought about that creepy friend of Andrew’s; she thought about world peace. She has always found it extremely therapeutic to just take time out and ponder over things like that, stretched out in a comfortable position and gazing at the stars. Except that the swing wasn’t all that comfortable, and the night’s sky was heavily overcast. Still, this was a luxury most modern men seem to neglect.
Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched, a cold shiver causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand. She turned instinctively towards a dark corner of the HDB apartment somewhere to her right and saw a figure leaning against the postboxes. She could barely make out the outline of a guy, who seemed to be staring straight at her, although it was too dark to decide if he actually had his back facing her instead. Grace sat slightly straighter and tenser. Maybe it was this sudden movement that caused the cats to start sprinting away from her, and towards that stranger.
The stranger apparently HAD been facing her (and probably had been staring at her as well, Grace thought displeasedly) because he squatted as soon as he saw the cats approach him. From the silhouette, Grace could tell that HER cats were rubbing blissfully against his legs while he was returning the affection with purr-inducing scratches under the chin. She never felt more abandoned in her life.
Then, it thundered. It was a low, rumbling sort that forecasted an incoming storm. Grace looked up and saw the storm clouds, hanging so low in the sky that she felt she might be able to touch them if she stretched her hand out. After taking a last lingering look in the direction of the intruding stranger, she turned and started home. She tried to shrug off that feeling of heavy gloom. She tried to shrug off the feeling of being forsaken.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
No comments:
Post a Comment