Willy, the Cat

Family Reunion

Smokey had told me his plan to see mom again. We each were carrying our papers with our jaws; the papers that had our pictures and information on it.

I wasn't quite sure why we had to do this, but Smokey said it would let the humans at the door take us to our humans.

We arrived at a very tall and wide building.
Does it go all the way to the clouds?!

I gawked at it with surprise.
Smokey sat in front of the entrance and told me to do the same.

"What is this place, f-f-father?"

I was still getting used to the whole Smokey-as-my-dad thing.

"It's called the 'vet' where cats go when they get injuries."

"How did you know about this place?"

"Apple told me. She thought it would be necessary incase she ever got an injury and I didn't know where to find her again!"

Smokey snorted with humor,

"She was so certain that her old bones would give in at some point, but her death wasn't until months after."

"Smokey, how long have you stayed with Apple?"

He sighed,

"Almost two years I think, but it felt like two weeks."

"Did you...ever want her as a mate?"

Smokey snickered with laughter,

"Oh Willy, I thought I explained to you how she was much older than me. Although, if she WAS my age back then...I probably would hav-"

He was cut off by a human as they opened the door. They looked quite shocked to see us there with our papers of our pictures.
They yelled at something and we watched another human approach.

They swiftly picked us up and carried us.

"Where are they bringing us, Smokey?"

"To Snow...I hope."

The human holding me used their right hand to open a door.
Inside, I gasped.
Mother was there, and she had patches of fur still missing, but besides that, you couldn't tell she was ever in a burning house!

She jumped up with delight and hope. When the humans put me down, she ran towards me like there was no tomorrow.

"Willy! I thought you were gone for good! This is a miracle! How did you-"

After she nuzzled me, she looked over and saw...

"Smokey?....."

Smokey stepped forward and spoke before she could say something else,

"I know I'm probably NOT the cat you want to see right now, but...I'm sorry I abandoned you two. I shouldn't have left my family."

Snow snickered at him,

"Oh Smokey, you think this is YOUR fault? I'm the one who yelled back at you and was being stubborn! I'm the one who told you to leave!"

"Guess we both messed up," Smokey chuckled.

"But we can make things better," Snow said.

"Huh? How mother?" I asked.

She turned and looked Smokey directly in the eyes.

"You were right from the beginning. We should have left those humans. I have suffered, but I learned," she continued, "take us to the forest you dreamed of bringing us to."

Smokey shifted his paws nervously.

"There's one issue with that..."

"How so?"

"...when I first saw the 'forest'...it wasn't what I was expecting..."

"Why's that?" I chipped in.

"I'll tell you another day. Just because we can't go to 'that' forest, doesn't mean we can't go to another one."

"There are more?" Mother said shocked.

Smokey bowed his head, "We should escape now, and I'll take us to freedom. I'll show you the life we can live outside of this human-arena-thing."

"Like...right now?" I asked.

Smokey nodded and said, "Follow close behind me. We're going to run."

He did a countdown before he bolted. I was behind him and Mother was behind me. We dodged around humans and watched as other cats scampered out of the way.
It was a long narrow path we ran through, but eventually, we sprinted into the main room. We noticed and watched a human open the door out.

"Quick! Now! Before the door closes!" Smokey shouted and quickened his pace.

I ran for my life. Flashbacks of the fire at the house flickered. I was running and running, secretly not knowing if my mother was behind me or not.

I prayed that she was this time.

Smokey was out, then I was a second after and...
Mother came out too.

"We made it!" She exclaimed.

"Not yet. We have to keep moving before they come after us."

"Let's go!" I said, and Smokey lead us out of this place.

The moon was out when we stepped foot from that crowded human area. We kept walking, even though our paws ached, to the hill in the center of the plains.

We nearly collapsed when we got there. The tree's leaves silently rocked throughout the night, helping us drift to sleep.