“Candy, quit meddling, would you?” Jack spat from his seat on the barstool overlooking the Ilse of kitchen.
“No! I don’t want to. And why should I?” She mused, knock, knock knocking on the pane. “That wasn’t the purpose!”
The scene playing over the bay window had changed a peaceful moment sipping coffee, getting ready for a busy morning, to a frantic plea. A call to action, and when neither party involved seemed to be listening.
Candy braced herself, ready to stage a total intervention.
She rushed to the door, tumbled into her boots,
hop hop hopping one foot into the mouth of each. She smiled and called “have a heart!” Over a shoulder.
“I do, but it’s just a bird, and it’s what cats do. Let nature take its course sweetie, you’re being silly.”
She squeezed her eyes, and pursed her lips too.
The expression fell away from her face like a weightless stance and quickly enough to be missed. She hid the feeling in her tangles of hair, digging her heels into the soil of silence, allowing the inkling time to build to its point… in the end deciding to leave the guidance behind her.
She wouldn’t let nature take its course because a fully domesticated house cat hunting wild expressions of a separate variety… and for fun with no intention of following through and eating the damned thing… Boogie had proven her intention in the past by killing the poor feathered friends and bringing them to her feet, like trophy’s!
There was nothing natural about it… Or… maybe it was, but it wasn’t like the thing was hungry. It was ruining something she’d done.
Candy tossed the ideas as she tied the final knot in her shoes.
She wasn’t sure how to say why the saying let nature take it’s course made her feel so sour… She wrapped the scarf around her neck and reached for her hat, turning her back on the idea completely, she reached for the knob.
Maybe its how the ones saying it so often sound… flippant about lives being taken so long as it isn’t them on the chopping block…
…
The snow crunched under her movements. Maybe it would have felt different if she hadn’t been the one to draw them…
She followed along the rock path leading to the back.
She’d bought the seed that lead them to follow suit. Of course, after a lifetime of scrounging they would be happy to accept the easy meal, and they’d done so gratefully.
… and Lord knows the feast only comes so often in the middle of a winter like this one… Candy flung her hands into the air, scaring the miniature panther slinking toward the chirping bundle hopping around her offering. HEY! She yelled, now flalling.
Liftoff!… Her burst of energy sent them soaring.
“Bad kitty!”
Meower… It answered back, changing from the posture of a lethal assassin to a purring cuddle bunny…
Mission accomplished. Candy watched them land safely to the fence top, where they continued to hop hop hop side to side while looking at her sideways. Wondering what she was doing probably.
She chuckled as the cat and she closed the gap between, until it was lacing itself between her feet. She stooped, laughing to pick the fuzzy thing from the ground.
“You’re comin’ with me, Bart.” She declared, leaving no room to argue, she spun to walk the way she’d come.
She walked the rebellious feline to the door, countering his claw-filled protests as best as she could.
Maybe I should have left it… but then, she smiled as the thought sank it’s teeth in.
But then, maybe someday, after flying and flying and searching and landing only to find a bunch of nothings… maybe I’ll stumble over something too. And when I do… I hope there’s something looking out for me too.
… So if some monstrous death machine is slinking just outside my senses reach while I’m enjoying the fruits… I hope the one who led me there rushes to reveal the danger and remove it from before me too.
Candy was glowing, nearly skipping as she reached the door. She loved the direction developing under the impression as she tossed the clawing beast through the mouth of the house, closing it behind him as it’s tail whipped around defiantly.
“Merrrro…” The metallic click of the tongue closed it out to reveal the crisp, underlying quiet.
As she walked more gently over the same prints she’d left on her way to swoop in. She could hear the assembly gathering to feed on the seed she’d left out lovingly, excited to see who the gift might bring… She reached the edge of the walk way and crouched down. She giggled at the tubby finches hop hop hopping around. Tweeter-deeing happily to one another while exploring the treat they’d somehow found…