Did ya hear that?

Is it the cats?

Riiiing riiing

That's the sound of the lunch bell. One cat comes, then two. Until finally, there're 19 cats crowded into a small kitchen. "Sheeba! Where are you girl!" I yell. I'm too old to be running around looking for all of them. Suddenly, a black cat covered with gray hairs slowly walks into the kitchen. She does a low but soft meow before sitting down and joining the others. "Okay everyone.." I pick up multiple bowls filled with cat food and set them on the floor. My babies just sit and watch attentively, waiting for me to finish. "Okay go ahead." I tell them. They all start running to the bowls and eat every single morsel in each one. Sheeba gets her own bowl and special prescription food. I walk into my living room and plop down onto the couch. I look at the coffee table. It's filled with pictures of my children and their children, my grand babies. They're suppose to come tomorrow morning for a family get together.

Hisssss hisssss

"You guys better not be fighting again!" I yell. I rise from the couch slowly. I'm not as fast as I once was. I then power walk to the kitchen. Only a few cats are in here so I go into one of the spare bedrooms. The rest are in here since this is where they love to sleep. Everyone's calm. "I'm probably going crazy.." I say to myself. I always feel like I hear hissing sounds everywhere in my house. "Maybe it's a snake." I laugh. I go into the kitchen and start cooking for tomorrow. "I got to stop procrastinating!" I say. Going into the refrigerator, I start to prepare the food for tomorrow.
     "Finally I'm done." I say 4 hours later. I'll prepare last minute things tomorrow I decided. "I wish you were here Bennett..You sure were a better and faster cook then me.." This'll be the first family get together since my husband died last year. Damn cancer got him. I felt so lonely, so I'd decided to get 1 cat. 1 turned into 10, and 10 turned into 20. After reminiscing about the past, I got up to feed everyone dinner. Lots of food and cats later, I got into the shower. As I let the warm water hit me, I stare at Bennett's cane that I still kept behind the bathroom door. "Why am I thinking about this now.." I ask myself. For the next 5 minutes, I wonder if the water going down my face is water from the shower or my own tears.

Hisssss  Hisssssssssss

   "You guys! I said no fighting!" I yell. I get out of the shower and put on my robe. I look into the living room and count 12 cats. I walk into the spare bedroom they're often in. I count 7 cats. The only one that's missing is Sheeba. "Sheeba! Where are you baby girl?" I yell is desperation. She was the first cat I'd adopted since Bennett passed so she's special to me. I look everywhere, but can't find her. The only place I haven't looked is the attic, but there's no way she could be in there. You access the attic from stairs that you have to pull down from the ceiling. She couldn't have I mean... it's impossible. I walked up to the string that dangles from the ceiling. With a good pull, the stairs come down revealing the dark attic. I cringe because of how many cobwebs I see from up there. "Sheeba!" I yell toward the darkness. No answer. Not even a meow. I sigh. I start slowly climbing the stairs. There is a light, but it's in the middle of the attic so I've got to endure the darkness until I get there. I reach the top of the stairs cautiously. I peak around in the darkness stupidly, considering I couldn't see anything. A sound startled me coming from my left. It sounds as if a box fell over. "Sheeba baby? Is that you?" I start walking toward the sound. By this time, my pupils have gotten used to the darkness and I could see just a tad. There's nothing. Just a fallen box.

Hisssss Hissssssss

    "Sheeba! Are you hissing at me?" I hear a hissing sound coming from behind me. I turn around and see something human eyes probably shouldn't be able to see. Because of the light from downstairs, I could see it clearly. It's like a monster. It looks like a feral horrible cat but has human-ish features, like arms and legs. It looks like a horribly deformed werewolf. I stand there astonished. I then notice it has the same fur pattern as Sheeba. "Sheeba?" I ask. The monster, thing, whatever it is then lifts its arm revealing long claws. It then brings its claws down onto me slashing me in the face. I start screaming as loud as my lungs allow me to. It then picks me up by the  throat and walks toward the stairs. This whole time I'm just thinking.. Am I going to see you so soon Bennett?... it might not be a bad thing.. it then throws me down the stairs. All I feel is pain. Pain and also numbness at the same time. I can't feel my body. I've probably broken a few bones because of how high and powerful the throw was. It starts to walk down the stairs. As it steps into a brighter light, it looks more disgusting as it looked before. As it stands over me, I just want it to be over with. It grabs my arm and without even a struggle, rips it off. I couldn't even hear myself think because of how loudly I screamed. He throws my severed arm to the floor next to me. I just stare at the wedding ring Bennett gave me so much years ago on my-or what used to be- ring finger. As I'm slipping into unconsciousness, all I could think about was Who's gonna take care of my babies? While a pool of my own blood paints the wood floor crimson red.
      The sun shines through the window. Birds are chirping, and the cats are waiting for the breakfast bell. "Grandma! We're here!" Yells a child's voice outside the door.