The days were cooling with the coming of fall which suited Shady Cat just fine. Summer was a lazy time for her, often filled with naps, eating, and then more naps. Sleeping and eating, when done to excess, can be exhausting and she felt perhaps the longer shadows and colder nights might help instigate a more active lifestyle.
To prove this point to herself, she played a game jumping from the shade of the tree, to the shade of the slide, to the shade of the jungle gym, then up to the shade by the stairs. Shady Cats are very good at jumping from shade to shade. The kids were gone, but would be back soon, this too she knew from years past. The days grow shorter, and the young ones come screaming into the classrooms, the basement, the play yard, the garden, and the blacktop. Worse would be band practice. That she was not looking forward to.
Shady Cat padded up to the door where yesterday’s offering still lingered, old and spoiled now, and teeming with a thousand tiny black ants.
Late, she thought. She was irritated but not surprised. It seemed these days that offerings were decreasing both in quantity and frequency. Shady Cat had a vague sense that this would have bothered her far more in the past than it does now. She sighed to herself in exasperation with the world and jumped back to the shade of the stairs, and then jumped to the shade of a desk. Inside was warmer than out, a sure sign that the season was turning and she wondered if this year would bring snow. Most cats hate snow, and many hate rain, but not Shady Cat. She enjoyed the cold, loved the crystal sparkling of ice and snow, and was not particular about getting wet as long as it was not a full drenching.
Basement, she thought, when the weather turns the rats creep in.
She usually liked to play with them, but today she was hungry, so she nabbed the first furry creature she saw and neatly broke his neck with a stroke of her paw. Lifting the limp body up she crunched its head between her sharp teeth, working her jaw to crush the skull and release the juices inside. Shady Cat was careful to eat around most of the hair, and left the bladder, kidneys, and portions of the intestines on the floor as her own offering. The ants would be along shortly. The hair and skin she dragged up to the first floor and left in the hallway for the people to find. A little reminder of why they should not forget to keep the offerings fresh outside.
The school was nearly empty, but they would be along soon enough to notice her little act of spite and that made her smile. Shady Cat was just about to jump to shade when she noticed someone standing very still. The kind of still that grabs your attention in how purposeful they are still. Like at any moment they won’t be still and pounce, so you need to watch out! It was, she saw, a girl of about half growth with a dark red uniform that marked her as a student. She was concentrating so hard at being still, and staring right at Shady Cat.
“Hello kitty,” the girl said.
Shady Cat was a bit surprised to be addressed to informally, but these days respect must be earned it seemed.
“Cat!”
“What?” the girl startled out of her stillness.
“I am not kitty, not for so very long. I am a cat.”
“You can talk!”
“Oh yes, all Shady Cats can”
“There is more than one of you?”
“No, why would you think that?”
The girl looked confused at this. Perhaps, Shady Cat thought, she is not yet completely familiar with how language works.
“Are you going to leave that there?” she points at the rat skin.
“Yes.”
“It’s not nice to just leave your stuff around on the floor. I get in trouble if I do that!”
“I can’t get in trouble, I am a cat.”
“That must be nice. I wish I were a cat! Never get in trouble, don’t have to go to school or do homework.”
“Yes, everyone wishes they were a cat. It’s only natural.” The girl was starting to make much more sense to Shady Cat now.
“You must be a magic cat. Can you turn me into a cat too?”
“Yes I can.”
“Do it! do it!” the girl pleaded.
“Only if you do three things for me,” Shady Cat showed her best smile, still a bit bloody from the kill.
“Ok!”
“But if you fail in the three tasks, you have to serve me until death.”
The girl took pause at this and Shady Cat wondered if maybe she was smart enough to refuse.
“I have three rules for the three tasks.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, I won’t kill anyone.”
“Done.”
“Second, you can’t ask me to do the impossible.”
“No problem.”
“Third, you are not allowed to interfere.”
“I agree!”
“Ok, then tell me what I have to do.”
It was Shady Cat’s turn to pause, as she had not really thought much beyond just playing a game, but now it has become something serious. She put her paw up to hold the girl’s attention while she furrowed her brow in what she hoped looked to be deep concentration.
“First, you must build me a shrine befitting my grace.”
“Second, you must pet me 100 times a day, every day, for a year.”
“Last, you must tell me your true name.”
A whole year, thought the girl, that was longer than she had wanted. But the deal had already been set, and she could not back out now. So she squatted down right then and there and began to pet Shady Cat. She was pretty good at math and a 100 times a day for a year was 36,500 pets, so she had better get started.
……….
The girl was true to her word and built a beautiful little shrine in the school garden, complete with rope and bell, and space to place offerings. Around this tiny temple she placed small carvings of cats in various poses, some standing tall, others stretched out lazily or pouncing in play. Other students joined in, and soon the shrine was extravagant with its own tiny garden path through nine red gates that led to a bridge over a miniature koi pond. The teachers had joined in at that point and the whole of the school garden soon evolved into the grounds of the shrine to Shady Cat.
Also true to her word the girl found Shady Cat every day and pet her at least 100 times, sometimes even more, and as a bonus never failed to bring a tasty treat. This was always her hardest task, but luckily her parents both worked at the school and lived nearby so even on weekends she could come play in the yard and be sure to not break her promise.
Shady Cat, for her part, long forgot she had made any promise at all, or even what terms she had set for it. She simply enjoyed her new shrine and all the attention she was receiving, all of which, was her due and quite proper. Every day she laid out to be brushed and pet, and she talked with the girl about trivial things until the snows came and went, the flowers bloomed, and the sun came once again high into the sky. For all of this, the girl never missed a day despite sometimes needing to cry and plead with her parents to stay. She missed vacations, playdates, birthdays and sleepovers, but she never missed her time with Shady Cat.
“Hi Shady Cat,” the girl smiled brightly.
“Time for my petting?” Shady Cat stretched.
“Shady Cat, today is August 20! It has been one year since we made our agreement.”
“So?”
“Shady Cat! Don’t you remember? You promised to turn me into a cat if I did three tasks.”
“I did?” Shady Cat assumed she probably did. She will say almost anything to get food and love.
“I built you your shrine, and it’s the most beautiful shrine in the city. And I have pet you every day a hundred times, often more, for 365 days.”
“Sounds like two tasks. You are missing one!”
“Shady Cat. Don’t you remember the last task?”
This girl was beginning to be annoying.
“Of course I do!” Shady Cat had no idea.
“My name is Isabelle.”
With those simple words, Isabelle, whom Shady Cat had always just called ‘the girl’, changed into a beautiful sunflower-hewed Calico Kitty.