Stories Plus

The night was quiet, only the gentle breeze blowing between the tall buildings of the city and the soft pitter patter of the cat’s footsteps against the concrete breaking the silence. The young black feline followed the scent of trash wafted by the winds until it came across an alleyway with a trove of tossed food spilling out of the large dumpster. As it approached, it heard a soft crying hiding behind the giant metal bin. Freezing in place, it stared in the direction of the sound, hair on end. After a moment that felt like hours, the cat carefully walked toward the source. It jumped back upon finding the wisp of a young girl sitting with her back against the wall and crying into her hands. Letting out a low growl, it tried to ward off the wayward spirit.

The moaning stopped for a moment as the spirit looked up at the cat. It let out another low growl, taking a few steps back, waiting for the girl to disappear. Their eyes locked, staring at one another as if in a trance. The girl paused before sniffling and wiping at her eyes.

“My name is Molly,” she said, her voice a faint echo, almost fading into the wind. “Do you have a name?” It cocked its head at her curiously. “I guess not,” the young girl said as she reached out a hand. The cat hissed and jumped back. “I’m not going to hurt you!” The girl said quietly. It continued to growl watching the girl as she cocked her head at it, waiting.

After staring at each other for another eternity, the little ghost stood up, prompting the cat to let out another hiss. Soon, the girl disappeared into the dumpster. It didn’t take long before she pulled out an old can of tuna. She pried open the lid and dropped it on the ground before carefully sliding it toward the cat and sitting down again. She watched the cat as it stared at the open can. As much as it wanted to resist, the smell of the tuna overtook its senses. Before the cat knew it, it was leaping over to the can and devouring up the contents. Soon, it was licking up the last of the juices sitting at the bottom. It hardly even noticed the girl had gotten closer until her hand gently touched the top of its head. It let out a low growl, tensing slightly, but the girl slowly slid her cold lifeless hand down to its back, sending shivers down its spine. Still, it refused to give up the lost few scraps of its meal, so it endured the odd sensation.

“I think I’ll call you… Shadow! Since you’re all black and small, you’re kind of like a shadow!” the little girl giggled to herself as she continued to pet the small creature. “You’re not as soft as I thought you’d be. Then again, I can’t really feel your fur at all. I thought I’d be able to feel you better. It’s like I can only feel you’re there.” She sighs and slumps onto the ground. The cat looked up at the small girl, tilting its head as it watched her. She stared at her hands before welling up with tears again. “I’m dead… and I can’t find my home. I never got to say goodbye to my mommy or daddy.”

It watched her for a moment, glancing down at the small can of tuna before carefully approaching the girl. It nudged her with its head and she paused before heading down and petting it again. She smiled as she pet the small cat, which soon let out a soft rumbling purr. A small giggle escaped her lips. The cat soon found itself crawling into the girl’s lap, purring as she pet it and slowly fell asleep.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to develop a good rhythm. The girl… Molly could go through walls and fetch food for the hungry stray. Soon… Shadow found itself enjoying the new name and company when night fell. The other strays didn’t bother to go near it, too afraid of the spirit that lingered nearby. Shadow helped Molly search for her parents, but with no luck in such a large city. However, it noticed her crying less and less as the days turned to weeks. She became more interested in playing than searching. She found old shoestrings and floated away with them, Shadow trailing behind her and jumping to catch the prize. Molly laughed the entire time, before finally letting it play with its prize. Whenever it rained, Molly would sing and dance, stomping in the puddles. Shadow laid underneath whatever would shelter it from the rain and watched as she laughed. 

She talked to it about everything, her life and memories leading up to her death. Apparently, a man picked her up from school one day and didn’t take her home like he promised. She had felt so scared and alone. Once she became a ghost, she tried to find her home, to tell her parents she was okay, but when she didn’t recognize where she was, she sat down and cried before finding Shadow. It curled up against her, purring extra loudly in hopes of comforting her.

One night, the two were sitting in an alley again, Shadow was fast asleep before it heard a commotion across the street. It slowly blinked its eyes open to find two men standing near a van talking. Molly gasped, holding Shadow tightly.

“That’s the man,” she whispered. “That’s the man that took me from school.”

Anger boiled in the young cat’s blood. It let out a low growl before escaping Molly’s arms. It ran across the street screaming, hardly even hearing what Molly was yelling behind it. As soon as it reached the man, it jumped onto his leg, scratching at him. The man yelped and kicked at the cat before his companion picked it up and threw it back into the street. The two of them quickly got back into their van as Shadow got his bearings. It shook its head as two bright lights rushed toward it and everything went dark.

“Shadow?” Molly cried, her voice much clearer than it had ever heard. It slowly opened its eyes again, this time it could make out the girl’s features. She had dark curly hair, brown eyes, and freckles all over her pale face. Shadow blinked before glancing around at the much more distant world. It found its own lifeless body laying in the road. It jumped back landing in Molly’s lap. She felt much more… real now. The girl carefully picked up the cat, her hands much warmer now. “Oh wow,” she whispered as she held the cat close to her. “You really are soft.” Shadow purred in her arms, the girl giggling as she pet it.

“It’s okay, Shadow,” she said softly, “I’m okay. Now we can be friends forever!”

A friend? Forever? Shadow rubbed its head against her warm chin. That sounded nice.