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I feel my claws begging to dig into the air, to shred this mask into bits! But that… would be a pretty bad idea.
It feels so wrong to be petted. It’s dehumanizing (well… you know what I mean). They think they’re better than you, and you’re just something to play with, like a toy.
So, I wear my mask, even though it makes my face sweaty, and my fur gets all messed up beneath it. It’s hard, but it could be worse, you know? If they knew… I’d never be respected as a real leader. That thought alone drives me to keep going the way that I am. Right, speaking of leadership, I have a meeting with Joel.
I strap on the mask, brush some fur off of my skirt, allow myself one last lick of my paw. (It feels quite nice, you should try it.) Deep breath in, and deep breath out. Time to be a human leader.
— — —
“So I was hoping the shipment of amethyst could be delivered to upper Stratos…” Joel rambled on and on, I really should have been listening, but I just couldn’t. The way my sleeves pinch and pull at my arm is a searing sensation, like that one time I reached into an anthole (curiosity, it does kill the cat). I can’t sit upright for much longer, I’m not built that way! I’m built to climb, and lurk, basically anything but long, boring, political meetings! And, any time there’s silence for more than a second, the blood rushing through my ears more than fills that void, with the way my ears are crushed against my head by this stupid wig!
Maybe I could just, for a moment, be free from this. Take a small break? Or even just slip my paw under my wig to scratch my ear a little bit?
I close my eyes and remind myself why that can never happen. Thinking of the pictures I’ve seen, and the stories my mom would tell me as a kitten, of our ancestors being dressed up and put on display for the world, that would be horrible! They’d call me a stray, a joke, a domesticated pet.
“Lizzie?” Joel interrupts my thought, “What do you think? Are… you okay?”
I quickly gather myself and put on a happy face, throw in a nod for the effect, “Yeah I’m fine, just thinking about some of the logistics. That sounds perfect, thanks so much!” … what did I agree to?
I feel my ear do a very slight nervous twitch, and my eyes widen in fear. I don’t know what that must’ve looked like to Joel, but it can’t have been anything good.
He leans forward, his eyes narrowing into lasers piercing through my facade. I shift in my seat, did it get hotter in here? Goodness I really wish I could take off this mask I’m sweating so hard right now.
“Lizzie,” his tone is just as curious as it is suspicious, “did your head just, pulse?”
I start to panic, “I don’t know what you could ever mean, I have a normal head, normal ears, normal face, normal girl! Everything is fine! Everything is normal here in Animalia!
He leans back, skeptical, “Alright, whatever you say Lizzie.”
“Oh for goodness sake, don’t you have some, god things to attend to? Isn’t there meant to be a storm tonight? You better prepare!”
Joel lets out a long sigh, “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you next week!”
Politely, I wave him away, “Mhm!” my hand drops, “See you.”
The second he leaves the room I slide to the ground and let out a long, exasperated sigh.
Reaching up, I slowly peel off my wig, the way my ears spring up fills me with such immediate relief it’s serene and beautiful. I scratch them to shake off the cramped feeling that, thing gives me.
Curling into a ball, I succumb to the exhaustion of the last hour, and I cry. I cry for a while, tears running through my fur and into my stupid human clothing, it’s all wet! I lick my paws and scratch my ears as much as I want. For a moment, I can be a cat, I am a cat. Stretching out, I extend my claws and scratch the carpet, just to feel that nice, tense feeling of it running between my claws.
Eventually, after who knows how long, I sit up and brush myself down. I think, I need a walk through the city, that might make me feel a little better.
— — —
I couldn’t bring myself to put the wig back on, so I’m walking through Critter City with just a hat on, a hat and this mask.
The breeze brushes through my fur, oh how right I was, I feel so much better!
Seeing the little foxes running around playing with each other, switching between two legs and all-fours at will, not worrying about anyone seeing. It makes me glad that I’ve been able to provide them that, but also, I wish I could have it myself.
The last straw for me was their tails, seeing all their tails waving and wagging. My tail has been trapped in this stupid skirt for weeks, free only when I cat nap.
Something catches my eye, I turn around, searching for this wonderful thing. There’s a light, a small spot of light, bouncing around on the ground.
My instincts take over, my tail goes rigid, despite the muscle cramps in it, and I crouch down, prowling towards it. I pounce! And the light moves. Growling, I scan the ground to find it again, and there it is, by the amethyst in the center of town.
Slowly, I approach the light, trying not to scare it this time. I take another step toward it, and another, then I pounce again! But the light runs away.
For a while I indulge myself, chasing after the spot, around and around the town square. Until, a terrifying noise stops me, laughter.
Not fun laughter, and not from an animal, It’s Joey, Pirate Joe. Sitting up on the roof of the butcher shop.
“Oh hey bighead, having fun down there?” he smirks down at me with his stupid human smile.
I stand up, to try and save some dignity in this, “I’m doing well, just got a little carried away with myself.”
Then, I see, in Joey’s hand, he’s holding a mirror. He made that light! He set me up!
A hot rage runs through me, he was fully aware of what he was doing, wasn’t he! My ears press back against my head, and my claws extend, wanting nothing more than to ruin that trouble causing hand holding the device.
“Oh calm down kitty,” he waves me off, “don’t throw a hissy fit about it, I won’t tell anyone! For now at least. You wouldn’t want this cat to get out of the bag, would you?”
Breathing hard to calm myself down, I smooth some of the ruffles in my fur, “No, that wouldn’t benefit either of us.”
He smiles, and jumps off the shop.
My breath catches, he knows. Of all the people who could’ve found out! It was Joey! It may not seem like it, but I’ve just been forced into contract, I agreed to be controlled, by a stupid, illiterate pirate!
I fasten my hat back in place, painfully pinning down my ears. And I walk back into the town community center, all previous hopes about a nice, peaceful walk through the town lost. I have some things to think about.
— — —
Not long after I step inside, I need to leave again. I’m done. I need a real break, not just for a few seconds.
Glancing around to make sure nobody sees, I lift off my hat, and let my ears out. It feels so good! Next, I remove my socks, and my shoes, letting my back paws breathe a little. Soon after I remove my jacket. More carefully, I take off my mask, then, I throw it across the room (slight overreaction maybe, but I don’t care. Finally, the skirt. My tail is free!
Leaving out the back door, I bend down, and I run.
Running like this, the way I was made to, through the forest, it’s so freeing!
The wind pushes back my whiskers, and the forest smells rush my nose. Dirt gets all over my paws, and I stop to lick them whenever I please.
Nobody’s out here, nobody will see me, so I don’t need to be afraid!
Or, I thought nobody was out here.
A sharp, piercing sound of a goblin whistling interrupts my fun. Panicking, not knowing what to do, or where to go, I climb up a tree.
Down below, I see Fwhip walking past with his boar Sniff. He glances around, “I could’ve sworn I heard something over here Sniff!” What kind of crazy person talks to a pig?
Anyways, he moves on pretty quickly, must have something to deal with in Gobland. But, I run into another problem.
I’m stuck in the tree!
It isn’t my fault! Trees are so easy to climb, you’d think they’d be easy to get out of too. But, nope, they aren’t, and I’m stuck.
I don’t know what to do! If I call out, Fwhip would hear me and maybe he could help, but how would I explain this to him? Head pulses and tail twitches are one thing, but being caught, in a tree, without my mask on? That won’t go over well.
Maybe there’s, someone else I can trust more?
I pull out my communicator, am I really doing this? Scrolling through my contacts one of the names jumped out at me. Joel.
Why Joel? Why do I think I can trust him with this?
Figure it out later, for now, I really need to get out of this stupid tree.
My finger hovers over the call button for a moment, before I press it.
Joel answers on the third ring.
“Hey Lizzie, what’s up?”
My breath catches for a second, “Hey, Joel,” and suddenly, I get the urge to say something, maybe it’s a memory from a different life, “Would you still love me, if I was… a cat?”
— — —
I try not to panic as I see the emperors flying in, Fwhip, Shubble, then Scott. This was my choice in the end, to invite everybody here for this, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a little panicked about it.
“Hey Lizzie,” Joel nudges me, “Don’t worry about it, you’ve got this!”
Breathing deeply, I look around the room, it seems everybody’s here, Gem, False, Sausage, and Oli, even Pix! Yep, everybody’s here. Katherine and Jimmy laughing down at the end of the table, and Pirate Joe lurking in the corner.
Joel stands up, “So, Lizzie has something that she wanted to tell everybody.” He looks down at me and whispers, “I can tell them if you don’t want to.”
Shaking my head, I stand up, I have to be the one to do this. I slide off the mask and the wig, “Hey everybody, well, I’m a cat!” I twitch my ears and flick my tail, finally able to be completely honest with my friends.