Nine Lives (Short Story)

Hi all,

It has been awhile since I've posted a short story. I'd like to share a new story I wrote today. I hope you enjoy it. This is a prompt at Acrostic Only.

Now and then, the old man with yellow eyes appeared from a vacant window. He lit the bud of his cigarette into the dark night. The moon exposed his silvery whiskers. His lips drew open but he never spoke.

Ira and I threw jagged rocks at the man. He hissed and cursed at us. The yellow in his eyes grew violent and red. He jumped out the window and chased our shadows. Our legs stretched beneath the starry night. We do not look back.

Nana scolds us when we reach the porch of our house. She rocks in her chair silently with her head bowed down. “Why do you torture the man with nine lives,” she says. “You should pity him. He has no companions in this world.”

Earth has many secrets but I shall tell you this once. There was a black cat abandoned when he was a wee kitten. He became a companion of the night and traveled everywhere with the moon. One day, the cat veered off course and onto a busy road. He was struck by a car without warning.

Life claimed it as its own, but the night mourned its little friend. Night heard the cat’s dying plea for life. The cat asked night to grant him nine lives.

In Nana’s eyes, I watch tears well up like a fountain, full and visible beneath the moon. “Ah, this part of the story makes me weep,” she sobbed.

Vainly, night sought to help and save the cat. But no one would open their door. Only screams of the cat echoed from the road.

Eternity opened her arms to the cat, but he refused such a fate. He summoned the courage to run away, and he was chased to the four corners of the world. Alas, Eternity looked but he alluded her.

Some say the cat of nine lives took on the form of a man. There he gazes longingly into night’s face.” Nana finishes her tale and looks at Ira and I with deep angst. “Take the plate of food on the table and offer it to him,” she said. “He likes to have company when he eats.” We obey silently and journey out into the quiet night.