Paws

Chapter 4

I opened my mouth to talk, but only an airy sound came out. I tried again and again until I was holding my neck. My face was probably red with rage for I could not speak. Nothing would come out from my vocal cords. I had lost my voice. Panic began to fill my insides as I asked myself in my head over and over, What if I can't get my voice back? What am I going to do?

A hand rested on my shoulder in a comforting way. Looking up, to see the blue-eyed man that's face shown sympathy. He moved both of his hands up to my neckline, where he then proceeded to pull my hands away from my neck. He took my hands and our fingers intertwined. I stared down at them as he spoke, "My name is Mathew and I promise that we will get your voice back."

Why? You don't know me at all. Why would you promise something like that? I thought. Unlike when we were cats, we cannot communicate through the mind in human form. So, he had no idea what I was thinking. I just gave a little nod of the head, still looking towards the ground. Mathew removed one hand from mine. His hand went up to my chin, where he lifted it. Making me look directly into his eyes.

A twig snapping broke the silence around us and made me notice how close we were to each other. My eyes widened and I stepped back. Our intertwined hands came a part and his other hand hung in the air for a couple of seconds before falling to his side. He ran a hand threw his hair as he let out a sigh. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by footsteps from inside the cabin.

We both turned are heads the window of the cabin. We could no longer see Henry sitting at the table. Panicking, I headed toward the cabin, but was stopped by a hand clasped around my wrist. Spinning around to hit the one, who had stopped me, and I saw Mathew looking down at me with amusement. "Where do you think you are going?"

I gestured to the cabin and shook his arm off. He made another grab at me, while asking, "How do you think he will react, when you just walk in there in human form."

He did have a point there. I would have to change back, if I wanted to stay here. I looked Mathew in the eye and tried to beg him with my facial expression. It seemed to work because he grabbed my arm and pulled further into the woods. Then he looked around to make sure that there was no human in site. He looked at me and said, "To change back, you just have to remember what being a cat is like. Remember how it feels to be on all fours with your claws digging into the ground. Remember your crouch as you stalk your prey. Remember the way your senses come alive. How you can hear things from miles away. How you can smell each and every individual scent. How you can see ever detail of life through your green eyes. How it feels to have the wind brushing your fur as you run. How you can taste the different flavors from the meals you eat. Remember what being a cat really is. Picture it. Feel it. Become it."

While Mathew was saying this, I closed my eyes and thought about my cat life. I started to feel a shift in my body. It started with my head this time. My ear started to stretch and form a point at the top. My nose began to get smaller. My brown hair retracted into my scalp. My whole head started to shrink as well as my body. I got shorter and shorter until I was about three feet tall. My spine broke in multiply places and then rearranged itself, while my hands and feet collapsed and formed paws. I was then forced to be on all fours. My tailbone broke through my skin and grew. Orange, black, and white fur covered my body again.

Once my body had stopped mutating, my eyes opened and looked at Mathew. He bent down and said, "Now little kitty, you should be getting home. Tonight meet me back here and we will see what we can do about your voice." And with that he got back up and started to walk into the forest.

When he was out of sight, I turned and headed to the cabin. Just as I reached the front door, Henry came outside with all of his work tools and a very gloomy look on his face. While looking up at him, I rubbed his leg and meow to get his attention. As soon as he noticed me his facial expression changed for the better. It was like me just being here made his day. He laid down his tools and picked me up into his arms. He petted the top of my head and around my ears as he started talking about how glad he is that I have come back. How he thought that I wouldn't come back.

I realized that he was so lonely that even a new "pet" of his leaving him would make him sad. He was so scared of losing someone. It saddens me to think that he was all alone before I showed up. I am glad that he found me and took me in because I don't like the thought of being alone and seeing others alone. My thoughts ventured once again to the cause of his loneliness because clearly he does not like it.

My body started to drift towards the ground as he bent down to swap me for his tools. He began to leave the cabin, but only turned around to look once more to look at me. He gave me a slight wave of the hand and then trudged on into the forest. My stomach grumbled for food and my eyes dropped from lack of sleep, but my paws were hurrying towards Henry.

I caught up with him and was jogging to keep up with his long strides. I gazed up to his face to see his eyes drift down to me. He gave me a smile before looking back to the path. We walked for a while until he stopped at an area that had about twenty trees cut down. Only stumps were left in their places. On one side of the field, there were logs stacked on top of each other with stakes holding them in place. Mr. Brun headed to the pile to put his tools down. I followed and leaped onto to the closest stump. I curled into a ball and watched him as he picked up his axe and began chopping away at the next tree. It was interesting to watch because he had tied a rope to the ground and wrapped it around the tree. This allowed him to control the direction of the falling tree. It amazed me how efficiently he worked, given his stature. His motions were fluid and with ease, unlike when at the grocery store. He seemed to be at peace here and once again hummed a tune to a song that I was not familiar with.

Granted, I haven't listened to music since I have been on the run. I only hear songs in passing when walking on the streets. I have been traveling for so long that I was out of date on almost everything. The thing about me is that I never stay in one place for too long cause I was always afraid they might find me. However, it has been 11 years and I haven't seen any evidence of them following me recently. Looking at Mr. Burn as he worked, I decided to stay here and keep Mr. Burn company as long as I can. No person should live a life of solitude. Everyone deserves a friend. There was also that male shifter, who maybe able to help me be human again.

I just hope they won't find me after all these years.