Feline Fine

• Gabriella Dasey, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

The sun flowed in between the curtains that Jade had forgotten to draw in last night’s excitement, shooting rays onto the duvet. Jade felt warm, thinking about the strange stray cat that she had found, and she decided to get up to check her mobile. Would there be any messages from the vet she reported it to? She hoped not.

Jade yawned, her mouth cracking startlingly wide. As she looked up, the ceiling seemed higher than usual, and she felt strangely dizzy. Twisting onto her stomach, her jaw dropped as she noticed another person beside her. Except, it wasn't another person – it was her. Jade panicked, and looking down she realised she now had four legs, whiskers and black fur.

She screamed – although it came out more as a mangled hiss – and she fell, paws out in shock. The person in her bed stirred, got up and looked down at Jade.

“I’m sorry,” Jade-but-not-Jade said. “I had to. Go find someone else. Then, when they’re sleeping, concentrate on them deeply. Imagine your soul transferring into their body. Good luck!” Then she picked Jade up and unceremoniously dumped her outside onto the street.
Kicked out of her house, out of her own body.

Jade stumbled down the street, her paws, making a soft pat as she walked. Everything seemed bigger, taller. Her feline brain started spinning plans. She knew she had to find someone. It would be easy. People love cats.

She approached a young woman who was feeding ducks. She had copper hair and a smile that crinkled her eyes. Jade meowed cautiously, and the woman's face lit up. “Hi kitty!” she purred, “Are you lost?” The woman scooped Jade up. “No tag? I guess you’re coming home with me! I’m Vivianne” Jade sighed with relief, but also felt a pang of shame as she sat in this kind woman's arms.

As they walked across the park, Jade’s attention fell on a red-faced girl screaming at an old man loaded with shopping bags. Vivianne noticed them too, and ran to help the old man, putting Jade back onto the ground. Time for plan B.

Jade bounced towards the angry girl trying to look as cute as possible, widening her pupils and purring. Success! The girl petulantly declared to the old man, “I’m going home! And I’m taking this cat with me!” The old man sighed, “Okay Lauren.”

Lauren tightened her grip around Jade as they arrived at her house. “You’re sleeping in my room,” she asserted. Jade’s heart sped up. When night finally came, Lauren kept her word, huffed “Goodnight kitty” and slipped them both into the bed. Jade waited until Laurens's breathing grew steady, then concentrated. She closed her eyes and a soft humming filled the room. When she opened her eyes again she felt herself under a heavy duvet. The Lauren cat stirred and gave a howl when Jade picked it up and placed it outside, “Good luck” Jade smiled and then shut the window.