The Cat before Christmas

Willow opened her eyes and looked around. She was on the bed, of course, and taking a catnap when a sudden noise from the upright human figures startled her well-being. The activity in the living room was familiar. The time was special and nearing the end of the year. This was when the light in the sky was less and darkness began to rule over the winter. This was when the upright human figures began hanging the little stars from the new evergreen scratching post that would always be set aglow with an antiquated but cozy warmth.

After anticipating the peaceful evening with the warm and glowing little stars, Willow stretched and closed her eyes again for just a moment. Just one moment before rising for the bountiful bowl of nourishment— that did not scurry— and a leisurely walk around her territory. A curious walk to examine the upright human figures and their latest and unexpected escapades. 

A moment after closing her eyes with her forepaws in place, Willow was drifting back through the little glowing stars, and the hundreds of seasons of more and less light, and the darkness that once again threatened to rule, and the endless wanderings and adventures of the felines who came before . . . and before . . .

When Willow awoke within her dream, she was back in the desert. She was different somehow and yet the same. The land was ancient, the human figures were different, the sights, smells, and the scurrying food was different, but all of her kind were special and revered by the upright human creatures who painted dark lines around their eyes to mimic the faces of the felines they adored. 

There was, however, always strife among the upright humans, as their many different clans never found common ground among their leaders. These were the days when the felines first began saving the humans in the desert from the sickness and the plague that came from the scurrying rodent food that was everywhere. This was when the darkness was ruling over the light and there was no beacon of light and peace and only the fear of the unknown and unexpected.

When the new star began to rise beyond the pyramids where the pinnacles of pointing stones were the only protrusions, the world and the desert began to change when voices in the sky began to sing and there was a new and shining light on the horizon.

Many summers and winters after the new star and the hopeful and shining light were a continuance of the season, a great migration began when the upright humans became restless and relentless for travel. The great contraptions of conveyance the uprights conceived were full of peril, danger and dampness, but the frightening travel over the churning waters continued until a new land became a place where the uprights and felines once again began to flourish.

The first few years in the new lands were harsh and the felines began to wonder if hunting the scurrying food was the only reason the uprights gave them passage and shelter. During one of the first years, the new world pilgrims would almost perish, but new lessons were waiting, along with the special season of light when the people would always gather to remember the shining beacon who would always chase away the darkness.

When the people once again began to move toward the setting sun and the new land that was waiting, the felines were on the wagons and on the trails to chase the scurrying food and to offer laughter for the children who grew old too fast. As the travels continued through the seasons, and the homesteads became home, the travelers who were no longer traveling began to celebrate the season of the beacon with all they could recall from the first years when the darkness was defeated for the first time.

As the children of the farmers of the new land began to learn new ways in the world, they, too, began to roam and seek new adventures. Of course, the felines and Willows of the earth were always brought along for the comfort, the laughter, and to chase away the scurrying food. When giant hives of upright humans began to gather in the many dwellings and call the new cities home, more food and well-being were easy to share with all the others that also came to seek their fortunes.

This was when the Willows of the world and the felines of forever began to share the growing comfort of their lives with all the believers from everywhere. The light over the darkness. The warmth and the glow of well-being over strife. The choice of peace over conflict, kindness over cruelty, and the sharing of all the generations that came before and after the desert and the pyramids, the pilgrims, the wagon trains, the homesteaders and the farmers, and the first who brought the evergreens into the cities and the houses. . .    

When Willow awoke from her dreams and slumber and her hereditary travels from the ancient world, and all the felines that share the memory of the beginning of the beacon and the defeat of the darkness, she stretched again before finding the floor of her territory. When she gained the great room with the evergreen that was already glowing with the little stars and spirit of the first light and the first Christmas, all was almost perfect except for the wolf creatures that were always impatiently waiting and wagging their tails. The panting and jumping creatures that were once wolves but now loveable companions and hunters who believe all felines are ever-present pleasure, or perhaps . . . scurrying food. 

Tom Williams is a Marco Islander and the author of two books: “Lost and Found” and “Surrounded by Thunder—the Story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men.” Both books are available on Kindle and Nook.