Doris Pembroke and Her Cats
By, J. Paré
Doris Pembroke’s house was consumed with photos of her cats. Twenty furry companions surrounded her, and it was time to eat. The cats waited patiently as Doris bent over each of their bowls, her plump upper arms shaking as food filled the empty containers.
“Pebbles, Boots, Toothless…”
Doris called each cat by name as the pellets spilled out of the bag.
“Time to eat, my dears,” she called, then stopped for a moment to rest. Her hideous cat-printed dress stuck to her skin with perspiration and she was soon out of breath. She wiped her sweaty face with a cloth while the cats paced in front of their bowls, crying.
“What’s the matter sweeties? Don’t you like your food?”
The cats responded with a cry desperate for anything but the dry, stale food that was given to them. When Doris could not ignore the wailing any longer, she got up and emptied the bowls. Searching her refrigerator, she found five unopened steaks. Cutting them into little pieces, she portioned the meat evenly among the cats then waddled into the living room and threw herself onto the old, worn out couch the cats used as a scratching post. There were no toys, no cat trees, just the used-up furniture that littered the dimly lit living room. The walls were covered with china plates, each depicting furry little kittens on them. Doris would sit and admire them while she ate junk and flipped through the channels on her tiny black and white television.
With the cats fed, Doris thought she was free to carry on with her obsession . . . watching The William Moore Cat Show. But the rations weren’t enough to fill their stomachs and they began crying again. Doris tried ignoring them, but they wouldn’t stop. She threw a bag of chips roughly on the table beside her and got up. But there was nothing else to feed them and she slammed the refrigerator door in frustration.
“I have nothing for you, go away.“
Still, they cried.
“Shut up!” She yelled, from the comfort of her chair.
It wasn’t until two hours later that the cats finally gave up with their wailing and Doris finally started to relax. Little did she know that her beloved cats were about to turn on her. Three-hundred and sixty sharp claws itched in anticipation. They would be fed one way or another.
THE END
Music Credit:
Halloween Theme 1 by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
