My joints creak sometimes, and I’m generally just slow. I can still jump onto the couch, but I have to jump onto a chair to get to the table.
I knew I would die soon, but I didn’t predict how exhausting getting old would be.
Mittens and Julia have been planning to get married and agonizing over introducing me to Isabelle, Julia’s cat.
I’m neutered already, fortunately. I’m glad Mittens had to go through that and not me.
Finally they section off the bedroom so I can’t go in there, and put Isabelle in the room. They want to get her used to the space, since Julia will be moving in with Mittens.
Isabelle is wary of me, but when I show no interest in her she settles into the demeanor of a cat moved into an environment not their own, hiding under the bed and creeping along the walls.
I’m surprised Julia went forward with marrying Mittens when she can clearly tell he has no interest in romance.
“It will just be wonderful for both of us to get married, being as old as we are. He seems to have no interest in doing anything, but my family doesn’t have to know that.” Julia confides in me, much as I used to do with my cats.
I feel a pang. She would have been perfect for me. Out of my league, but perfect. And she’s talking like she’s sixty, not in her thirties.
Later that day Mittens walks up to me like he was looking for me.
“Isabelle is only eight years old, did you know that? So young. I won’t even have to convince Julia we need a new cat for a few years.”
What…? What is he…? No. No, I won’t let him.
I run, but feel Mittens’s hands around me before I can get away. He’s as fast as he was in the younger form of this body.
I struggle, but he holds me tightly.
"Are you ready, Mittens?
He carries me into the bedroom, where Isabelle is under the bed.
“Don’t be scared, Isabelle.” he says.
I blink. I’m under the bed. Mittens is holding… Isabelle. In his original body. She’s scared out of her mind, not knowing what’s happening.
This is what he’s going to do to Julia’s child. He’s put that poor cat in his own aging body just to preserve my life, and he’s going to do the same for himself with his child.
I scream and fling myself at him, trying to hurt him with my claws and teeth, the only tools at my disposal. Isabelle falls from his arms and scrambles away.
Mittens tries to pry me off but I’m too angry, squirming out of his grasp, raking my claws across his face, anchoring myself with my teeth in shoulder. I would have gone for the neck, but he shields it with his other arm.
Vaguely I’m aware of Julia coming into the room, exclaiming, pulling at me.
She finally gets me off him, but not before I’ve done some damage. Julia slams me in Isabelle’s carrier, locking it firmly.
“Why, Isabelle?” she says, distressed. “Are you okay, Josh? What happened? Why did she attack you?”
Mittens holds a hand to his shoulder where I bit him, catching his breath for a moment. He’s angry.
“I must have gotten too close to her hiding place under the bed.” he says, his anger bleeding into his pleasant tone.
I hiss at this.
Julia glances at me for a split second, then ignores me.
“She’s never been like this.”
“Cats get pretty scared when you put them into a new environment.” Mittens counters.
I hiss again.
“She’s hissing whenever you speak. I think she’s distressed by your presence. Go get an ice pack, I’ll join you in a minute.” Julia says stiffly.
Mittens clenches his jaw, but leaves.
“Do you not like him, Isabelle?” Julia asks me, crouching in front of my carrier. “You should have told me earlier. When I could still…”
She gets up, shaking her head.
“That’s nonsense. Cats don’t really have some magical sense of whether a person is good or bad.”
She paces back and forth.
“But what am I going to do? If you can’t live in the same house as him and can’t get along… God, don’t make me choose between my cat and my husband. No, we’ll keep you and him in different rooms.”
I have to convince her that Mittens isn’t trustworthy. But I’m just a cat, what can I do?
I can plant doubts. That’s all. And I will.
Julia leaves the room, never noticing Isabelle cowering under the bed in Mittens’s body.
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