A cat sometimes is not a cat

Here in Hong Kong I joined a Meetup group of writers that gathers weekly to write and share their work. To help the process the group starts writing and sharing props. I randomly picked the one in the title from a coffee mug, and of course I started writing a fantasy piece on Beta. If you read this blog before you know Beta already so I thought it was nice to share this short piece here.

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Beta was moving between planes again, flat and beautiful at time, powerful when he puffed stretching into five dimensions, always faithful to his nature.

The fact that I was observing him, slouching on my bunk covered in popcorn dust, didn’t seem to affect his routine. In those moments when he was transmuting back and forth I simply ceased to exist.

That sense of non-existence was just my problem. I felt alone. I thought about calling him back, to attract his attention, and while pondering if that was at all a good idea a big wave struck us.

“What the fuck!?!” the cry came from Beta’s mouth as his eyes expanded and turned bright yellow.

“Relax” I said “There are two more coming”. As the noise faded two consecutive loud thunders shook the shell of the ship. During each acceleration the lanyard held me in place at the edge of the bunk and objects reshuffled into their new quantum position, mostly positioning themselves on a lower positions towards the floor.

Beta simply shifted his weight, he re-arranged his body to reach the famous tilted position and stood there in contemplation while the autopilot was resuming the course.

A quick glance out of the window returned a sky full of stars and a spooky silence, a sign of cosmic perfection in shear contrast with the inner explosion of things and emotions on many planes of experience. I’ve always envied Beta’s minimalism. A freeloading minimalism to tell the complete story.

“Why am I bringin him along?” I thought softly in my head, concerned that he could intercept my brain waves. He didn’t care much about my opinions anyway. Being ignored is the price to pay for having a private teacher, a reservoir of chi, a master of intention.

That sleepy fuck was napping again, his body still tilted to fight gravitational pull, now fully beyond dimensions in a quiet transmutation.

I reached the corner of the bed and picked him up, moving his tiny body upon my chest above the popcorn dust that was stubbornly adhering to my skin. I concentrated on my breathing and Beta raised and sunk following that natural motion. A soft purr was the signal he enjoyed the slow ride.

I was glad he came along for the ride. I didn’t know it would be our last one, even though I knew that he and I will be forever there somewhere between the intersecting planes of existence, beyond space and time.