- Writing by Moonlight
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Dog Days
Love did not come easy in those times, and especially not for Others.
The mug of catnip tea trembled in his hands, and his black fur bristled beneath his gray sweater as the heavy-voiced pitbull delivered the news. It was as if the TV set was underwater, and everything around him was closing in fast.
A gentle hand on his shoulder ceased the impending doom if only for a moment. He leaned against a broad wolf’s shoulder, his boyfriend’s gray fur ticking his pink nose. “Sorry, Striker," he sighed.
“Hey, you’re fine, buddy. Just drink your tea.” The wolf’s soft tone was much more welcome than the sharp delivery invading the dark living room, and Striker found himself thankful for the sudden downpour outside. “I’ll keep you safe. Always. You know that, right, Sam?”
“Thank you. Just… give me a minute. I’m sorry.” The cat sipped his steaming tea and waited for the blanket of calm to wash over him. It was hard to come across catnip in that day and age, but he was thankful to know a few who grew the stuff. It was getting harder and harder to find reputable sources for it anyway, what with the police dogs’ superior sense of smell. They could sense a few plants of catnip from a mile away. Bloodhounds were like that.
“Hey, why don’t we change the channel? I think it’s time for your favorite show, anyway,” Striker said as he fumbled with the chunky remote in his claws before switching to something more cheerful, and a beautiful white cat appeared on the screen.
She smiled with a glow that most did not, and she planted herself on a stool where she crossed her legs, her white sundress with palm leaves falling gracefully just above her knees. She pulled out a book and began to read.
“It was a rainy night in June when Tabitha fell into her dream. She rarely tripped or stumbled, or waltzed gracefully into it, but released herself into it fully, granting it ownership of her perceived reality. Sometimes she would fall flat or drift gently onto a chaise lounge, and at other times she would be welcomed by semblances of creatures she knew with blank faces, all smiling with whiskers upturned.
“Adventurous opossums and bats and platypi greeted her with kinship, and the Dodo once had her over for supper. She’d danced with butterflies and spoken to young foxes, and she stargazed with raccoons. She’d seen the future and traipsed through the past, Bastet greeting her with motherly grace.
“Through all of this, Tabitha knew peace and love, home and comfort, and it was her kind of unreality. It was her homesick and her tears, and her fond memories of yet to come.”
Samhain sighed as the catnip calmed his aching muscles and tickled his brain. He’d spent the better part of the day tense and with worry, the sight of Catty on screen bringing him a semblance of home at last. The news had been filled with nothing but bad things, and politics had become harder to swallow. It was bad enough that he was in hiding with Striker, and Striker knew as well the risks they had to take.
Love did not come easy in those times, and especially not for Others.
Samhain was Othered, and Striker was not. It was pure fate that they’d managed to find comfort in each other, and as the bulldog-majority government created more and more restrictions for felines in society, Striker stood by Samhain through all of it. He was as loyal a companion as canines were thought to be. As they were to their own kind and only their kind.
Tears threatened to spill over Samhain’s golden eyes as a poodle stood from the crowd on television. She barked loudly toward the stage and threw a rotten fish that landed directly on the book in Catty’s hands after it slapped her in the face. The short-haired cat paid it no mind and brushed it off, and she continued to read as if it hadn’t happened at all.
The poodle was ushered out of the room, and the cats in the audience began to murmur and growl in displeasure.
Striker grabbed the remote again. “Hey, we don’t have to keep watching this.”
“No, it’s fine.” Samhain’s claws drifted up to turn the wolf’s face to meet his, and he kissed him softly. “It’s far better than anything else on TV right now, and Catty is so wonderful. Her peace of mind is contagious.”
Striker’s face twisted in sadness as he watched his partner stare glassy-eyed at the TV, the catnip claiming his conscious thoughts. For a moment, a great emotion welled up within him, and his heart pounded behind his red flannel.
He turned Samhain to look him in the eyes, his equally as golden. “Sam, are you okay?”
“Of course,” the cat chuckled humorlessly. “I have to be, don’t I?”
The rain outside became a torrent and thunder resounded. Shortly after, the electricity in their small suburban home flickered. Striker paid it no mind as his ears drooped. “No, you don’t have to be. It’s okay to not be okay sometimes.”
Samhain paused and took a deep breath. His catnip tea was nearly gone. He turned to stare at the TV again, Catty having once more continued with the poetic journey of Tabitha the Persian cat. He then drifted back to Striker, who hadn’t stopped observing him.
Samhain's heart sunk. “I’m scared. There isn’t a way in this world for me, nor for anyone of feline descent. My heart flutters and my fur prickles, and my tail curls between my legs. My breaths come short and my purr is a deception to my truth, and every day I look into your eyes, as beautiful as they are, and I question you.”
“You question me?” Striker said with sadness.
“But then I realize you are not like them. I realize you are one of the lucky ones.” Samhain smiled and pecked Striker’s black nose before returning to Catty.
As the rain poured outside and the thunder boomed, the two became one with the sofa and basked in the sole light of the TV flickering in the room, and they knew they were with each other. They were where they needed to be and they would be safe.
They had to be.
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