TRIBULATIONS OF ROYALTY

The eyes were visible behind metal bars. They were vertically slit and, in the light, shone like two lanterns. The rest was obscured by shadow. The cat, with these eyes, watched all the other eyes, behind bars, stacked up to the ceiling in boxes. Their eyes pointed toward the ground looking at nothing. Like her, their humans had abandoned them. She heard the sound of footsteps somewhere beyond the room; the man was coming again. Her ears folded back as she suppressed an urge to hiss. The man in a white coat walked in. The room was silent.

“Who’s next?” he asked.

From her, he walked by three cages, stopped, and opened the bottom one taking out the dog inside. She did not look at it. No one would ever see its eyes again and soon it would be her turn.

Later, different footsteps foretold the arrival of someone new. They were much lighter than the heavy footfalls of the man. They bounced up and down. She heard them, now on the left, now on the right, and then silence. The door slowly opened. Two hands became visibly outstretched and then a small human followed. The door hit the wall as he let go and ran in. The door swung slowly shut. He looked from cage to cage jumping up and down with barely suppressed excitement. The man came in behind him.

“Can I have all of them?” The boy asked.

“No, just the one,” the man said.

She rubbed her head against the bars. Her back arched. There came a sound from within her like the hum of an engine. The boy did not look at her as he ran straight for a cage to the left. From the cage, a wet lolling tongue appeared and licked him on the face. He smiled then laughed. One less animal in line before it was her turn. She turned her back to the bars and lay flat on the floor as the emptiness consumed her.

The next time the man came and took the last one.

“You’re next kitty cat,” he said. She hissed at him. Rage filled the emptiness. She would not die without a fight.

He came for her after that. He undid the latch. She stepped back and then catapulted into the door. It sprang open hitting him in the face. She hit the floor running. The door almost closed on her tail. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the sudden bright light. There was a desk with papers on it and a person sitting behind it. There were chairs and people setting in them.

“Lord Mittens,” that sounded like her human. She saw the little girl who had abandoned her and jumped into her arms. The man swung the door open, saw her, and shook his head.

“Have you been causing trouble Mittens. We only left you for a couple of hours.”