Val

Valorie sat in the window seat aimlessly staring at the counter where her beloved coffee should’ve been brewing. She had grabbed an energy drink in the meantime, but it wasn’t the same. Val clicked her tongue and quickly downed the rest of her drink.

Directly after this, she heard a clang and her coffee machine was back; she hopped up and went to grab the mug. After the first sip she paused, her coffee never tasted this good. Val frowned at the coffee, it wasn’t black coffee like normal, it was a latte. 

As Valorie noticed that the machine was unplugged, something caught her eye, it was a note that had been taped to the side of her coffee maker. It read:

“To my mysterious housemate: please don’t murder me in my sleep. Thank you and enjoy.”

Valorie sat there, staring at the note for a few minutes; she was baffled.

“Murder you..?” Val furrowed her brows, why had the being in her house decided that she was able to kill it? “How do I send a note back?” 

She inquired into the still air around her when a meow suddenly echoed throughout the house. Valorie jumped up and looked around for the cat that was surely in her home. A fluffy white cat with piercing green eyes turned the corner into the kitchen and trotted up to her.

 Valorie noticed that the cat had a green collar around its neck with a small tag hanging from it. She clicked her tongue softly at the cat who in turn walked closer and nuzzled her open hand. Val checked the tag, the cat’s name was Jade.

“Hi, Jade…” She murmured and she scratched under the cat’s fluffy chin. Valorie suddenly had an idea and scooped the cat up gingerly. Jade simply started quietly purring as Val placed her on the counter and started rifling through drawers for a piece of paper and a pen. Jade found her actions amusing and sat on the counter watching her with her sharp emerald eyes. 

After locating a pen and paper, Valorie paused, suddenly finding that she wasn’t sure what to write.

“Dear stranger, I won’t kill you…” Val spoke as she wrote and paused, 

“Oh wow, that sounds horrible.” She started on a new line, “Dear whatever you are, my name is Valorie, I can’t see you in the first place, so I can’t kill you.” Valorie cackled, “That’s such a bad idea.” Jade looked at Valorie in a way that could only be described as a frown, clearly uncertain of the decision to visit her.

After a few more trial and error notes, Valorie decided to write: “Dear correspondent, my name is Valorie, I draw, I don’t kill people. Anyways, it seems that your cats can reach both of us? Perhaps we could use them like messenger pigeons. And thank you for the coffee, it was delicious.” Valorie folded the note up and tied it with some string to Jade’s collar. 

Before sending the cat on its merry way, Valorie gifted Jade with a few bites of cheese.