American Catseye

Chapter 14

Several hours passed
before the next text
came in.
When my
now fully charged
phone buzzed
from the tail end
of the curly white cord
leading to the wall,
we gathered around
to read the message.

SMS:
We return to Lahea
to explain the poke
server was a lizardman
but when we arrive
at the Cat Sanctuary
the volunteer hoomans
tell us, "A Philosopher
Jones and DeeJAY
filled out adoption
paperwork for Rhea
already; she's on her
way to the ferry,
to boat to the airport,
to travel to California,
her new home."

Phoebe:
You did that?

DeeJAY:
The Internet
is a wonderful thing.

Philosopher Jones:
So are the credit cards
I took from their wallets.

SMS:
As we ride the choppy
Hawaiian seas on a ferry
between Lanai and Maui,
heading home,
I wonder how
we ever came upon
these galactic cats
in our house;
had I never adopted
Philosopher Jones,
or had I never brought
DeeJAY home,
would we have lived
normal hooman-cat
lives, or would we instead
host different cats
in the battle against
the Babylonians?
Of the six hundred
other cats
at the Lanai Cat Sanctuary,
how many of them
already knew
the president is a lizard,
and how many of them
brought hoomans
into their fold?

How many American
hoomans and cats are
aware of the threat
of Proxima Centauri B,
versus those who live
in blissful denial?

Had we not known,
could we have ordered
delicious poke in peace?

Is truth worth it?