Revolution: Dream Country

“A Thousand Cats”
By, Revvie

A cool breeze whipped my whiskers; the night was brisk. Fall was not just coming, it was here. Leaves scattered atop everything, and luck that rain hadn’t returned; the air still wet with the possibility. Food eluded me for days, but I felt confident I could snag me something tonight.

I shook my fur, and let my paws fall to the cold train rail. The balance was easy, and my tail flailed; catching each possible misstep. The last bit of lamplight, and the scenery grew dark; air, thick with intentions. Omens. And possibly something that could kill the crap out of me (you know, despite everything, a reality check is a good sometimes).

So fate found me along the rails, and reality found me in the shape of a foul-smelling mutt. The damn thing rustled a bush, and was on me faster than usual. I hurried, scurried, zig, zagged, danced, rolled, and repelled from every item I could; couldn’t lose him. When a moment sprang forward, my eyes peeked a collar and tag. The name; McGurk.

”Hisssssssssss”
“Arf! Arf! Arf!”

The name wasn’t all I caught. He clearly was dirty, stinky, but that didn’t matter. He was just a dog who had got out of a house or kennel. Huge, still healthy, and easily quicker than anything I had tried to outrun in months. McGurk was a pure bred Doberman, or close to it. Like that changed how I got killed, and, or eaten at this point. If I couldn’t outrun him, I would have to do the only damn thing Cats do better than our Canine counterparts; outsmart.

A hedge was coming up, with a fence at the other end. I knew the yard well enough, but I hadn’t been in the neighborhood in a while. I didn’t make a habit of coming this way; so it was a roulette roll at best. This was my only chance to escape, I darted into a free space in the hedge (only big enough for a feline). McGurk yelped and took off. One could assume he meant me no harm, just part of a game to him. Damn hounds, and their weird ways. I never bothered to try to understand them, just glad they were dumb enough to be kept in line. Because tonight may have ended differently if they weren’t.

The hole under the fence took a small dig, but I squeezed through with ease after. The yard was pretty much how I remembered it; a slum. Glass from beer bottles, engine blocks, some tires, and a unique set of weeds that now were trees. However; something stuck out to my vision, and that something came in the package of a full-grown Pit-bull.

A box marked “Demento”, and if the name looked anything like his grin implied? Well, I knew this was wouldn’t end well. I always preferred happy endings, especially when it came to my wellbeing. I may be a stray feline, but I like living. Demento, he seemed to prefer me dead, “Here kitty kitty, I know you think you’re so witty.”

The massively muscled hound hopped to his legs, and nearly sent me to the air. I knew I couldn’t make a move though, because any deviation would result in instant assault. Personally, it was nice to see patient pooch, but the list of options for my escape were less than adequate. Tired, dizzy, but choices weren’t a part of the evening meal. I was force-fed that fact by the saliva dripping from Demento’s teeth.

“Come on Kitty Kitty. So small; you are itty bitty.” An instant thought; this was one of those moments you don’t think it could get worse. His rhymes were the worse, and were only further proof he couldn’t be that bright.

I made my move, and met Demento’s speed. Of course, I didn’t care about how fast the dog could run, because I only needed to make it to the nearest tree. I scratched my way up, and to a high branch as he circled. Granted, I was safer up here than I was down there. But Demento and I both knew the same thing; the only way out now, was through him.

Demento laid below, and didn’t plan to depart. His eyes sat brilliantly like spot lights, and they followed every unconscious whip of my tail. With options non-existent, I went over every unorthodox, and dangerous, idea my mind could concoct. The scheme wasn’t the best, and would involve some finesse, but I would be damned if I came this far to be beat by a dog named Demento.

I ran to the end of the branch, and the pooch followed with eager intent. “That is right Kitty Kitty, come to Dementy.”

“You know, that was sincerely the dumbest thing you have said thus far tonight.” I dialed into him for a moment, and tried to snicker for effect; didn’t work.

“Doesn’t matter what I say, you won’t touch another day.”

“We will see,” the words were muttered, but I couldn’t be sure if he heard them or not.

In a burst of fitness (I didn’t have), and expenditure of energy (also didn’t have), my legs sped across the branch towards the trunk of the tree. Demento stayed on me, and kept, until I leapt up. The leap was all show, and I quickened into a half turn in mid-air. Demento tried to follow my lead, but didn’t make a smooth transition. His feet scuttled beneath, and neared a face full of bark. I, however, didn’t wait to watch. My legs took off; back down the branch.

The edge neared, and for a moment I visualized myself as Evil Catneval, sailing across a row of busses. Then (for pure entertainment) I crashed into the fence, because there was no way in hell I was ever going to make it over. The only comfort; it wasn’t the first time this kitty smacked a fence at high-speed. I slid down the wooden cage, and slipped easily between the broken fence posts. Demento nipped at my heels; beckoning me, “Stupid Kitty, you will see, that everything you know, is FAN-TA-SY!”

Looney bunghole, no wonder they named him Demento. However, that excursion didn’t prepare me for the next yard. It was almost a better to have dealt with that McGurk mutt. His benign behavior was less of a problem than Demento’s teeth, and far less crazy than this crap before me.

The spectacle was lit with lawn lights, aimed at the main attraction. Two Cats were placed on a huge set of scales that jutted from the ground. In the middle was a third, hooded, feline. Curiosity carried slow and steady steps, followed by a silent ceases of movement. The closer I got, the clearer it got, and the more confused….I got.

A friend of mine sat on one side of the scale. It was Lauren, with her beautiful orange coat, and white spots. She had been by my side for a while now, and anger boiled, “What the hell is going on here!?”

The hooded cat threw back his garment, and laid a red glare on me. His fur was different than usual, and flicked with flames. “Welcome my elderly gentlemen, welcome to your climax, your high point, your great transition, your metamorphoses…sorry, my mind got away from me,” He grinned with spiked teeth.

“Why is Lauren on that damn thing, and just what the ? I mean really, I love my theatrics as much as the next guy, but seriously?” I tried to make it evident I wasn’t scared, and didn’t believe this was real. Honestly, I think I overshot my margin.

“HA! I love that fire, always have. But I am afraid I cannot take credit for this, nor can I take credit for the decision you must make. The choice of Lauren, your friend, confidant, and all around good person….or Scarlett, a witch; if such things exist.”

I blinked a few times.

“Which do you choose?”

“Why don’t you take your choices and stick them up your-“

“Oh, come now, is this really that hard?

I played along, “Alright, let’s say I do make a decision, then what happens? Does this big show end, do I get to go home? What then, do I get a hot meal for this bullcrap?” Ok, I may have added some heat, but who wouldn’t under the stress?

“The choice you make saves one, and damns the other; there is a reasonable choice here, but I have an eerie feeling you’re not much for reason.”

After hearing his answer, I took a long look at Scarlett. She looked scared, and her hairs quivered. Then back at the stoic Lauren, with eyes forward; unrelenting. Something felt wrong about this game, this choice, and all of it for what?

“Oh I am sorry, the timer has been ticking my dear sir, and now you have yourself a penalty. Don’t worry, you will still get to make the choice, but only after the penalty has receded.”

“Receded?” My quizzical gaze didn’t last long, as I saw exactly what he meant.

What I saw cannot be explained well with linguistics, unless you count wild horrified screams. The Horror that crept out of the shadows might have come from a Lovecraftian tale of madness. It tarried with tentacles, or maybe they were like spider legs? The ebb to their flow was smooth as the dark that concealed the creature; slithered and stiffened as they pleased.

The Horror did not have a tangible body, but an organically evolving shape. Attracted to shapes of what I feared most; molded and adapted to my phobic reaction. Run; I needed to get the hell out of there, but I couldn’t; helpless to some silent lulling of my consciousness. This thing had me, was in my head, tearing at the insides, fragmenting.

It undulated, and trudged towards my frozen frame. The venomous hiss of the creature was heard, and it gaped a maw, fit to swallow me. I tried to force a lunge from my body, but failed miserably; more like a wiggled toe, instead of a hastened evade. The Horror was undaunted.

I couldn’t do what I had done earlier, and run. No, I couldn’t run, hide, outsmart, outwit, or do anything to this thing. “Fine, eat me then!” I shouted in rhetoric, and got respite. The Horror halted, but now its body bubbled. Every so often, I could see the burst of ballooned goo, then back down and repeat.

“I no eat, I defeat.”

Great, another one that rhymes, “What do you mean defeat? What do I have to do with any of this, with you, with the crazed hooded feline up there?”

“I no know. Am sick, am tired, but am winner!”

“You’re sick and tired? Winner? What?” I could pass for a canine, while my mouth sat wide.

The Horror must have figured out the issue, or just stopped caring. Whatever his reasoning, I was back on the mile.

The black hole arrived, and I was consumed by the ghastly Horror; lost in its annals and echoes. My body dropped to the bottom of the well. The entirety of existence was empty, void, and I was one with it. Cold, endless, and painful. The white noise of silence caused a ringing in my ears, and shook me to my claws; my carcass convulsed in nothingness.

“What is the point?” A cascade of voices produced that one line; out of sync.

“The point of what?”

“Coming here.” Again, a round of echoes.

“I didn’t-“

“LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES!” A chorus erupted. I clawed at the sound, and sent blood into the dark; it swirled like a drain, and then each drop vanished.

I wasn’t lying, was I? “I got chased here by that damn McGurk, it isn’t my fault I got lost after that!”

“Not Lost.”

“I didn’t mean to come here, I swear.” Right?

“LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES!” The rambling happened again, but with aggression this time. I was confused, how could this thing be so sure of what was true, or false; especially if I wasn’t?

“Then you tell me what the point is, you answer your question!” My hair stood at attention as the words leaked from my lips.

The void came alive with eyes; various hues and size, scattered across the multitude. A giant pupil shook the empty walls with every blink. “Do you seek probability?”

“I seek whatever gets me out of this place…”

Every eye blinked at once, and heat enveloped my essence. Then the first, of a few, flash came, and the flames tasted my skin. Skin? Human arms, and a torso, stretched out before me; right down to a pair of boots.

My vision wandered in the scenery produced by the great blaze. Cheers, and a roar of applause. They were excited to see me, even though I couldn’t tell you how I knew; it was true. I loved them, and them me; where I was meant to be.

Another flash came, and the flames tore through the visage. The reel peeled back, and revealed another revelation. This time I saw a man before me, but blood poured out of a wound in his gut. A bloodless blade clutched in my hand, and my breath stifled. I heaved, and my heart slowed; pace declined. It was no surprise that I blacked out.

I fell back into the empty, and the bottom cracked. The small crease let its wings spread out, and around my body. I was at peace when the glass shattered and, toppled into the blaze, the eye, the void, the Horror, the fence, and back down the rabbit hole.

“He isn’t real! Isnt Real!”

----------

“Jason! It isn’t real! Jason!”

“L-Laurren?”

“I think whatever you were smoking might have had LSD in it.”