Wrote this for a writing contest. Thought I'd share it and see what y'all think.
Neko. That was me. Neko. Cat. I stayed low to the ground, prowling the tall grasses,
stalking the mouse that would've been my prey. My foot broke a twig and the little rodent suddenly scurried away.
"Sikota!" My mother called.
I sighed and flapped my way back into the sky. I was Fukoro again. Owl. An owl who
spent his free time being what he wasn't. "Yes?"
"Time to go to sleep." She told me. "You can't stay outside too late."
I sighed again. It sometimes really stank being crepuscular. Can't be out when it's too
dark. Can't be out when it's too bright. Dawn and dusk. I can only be out at dawn and dusk. "Yes, mother." I veered over to our tree and perched down on a branch. I was asleep in just a few moments.
As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, I was awake. I immediately took off and
began scanning the ground below me. I saw a black blur in a tree some distance away. I circled down to see a black cat walking strangely across a branch. Both her left legs, then both her right legs. I landed a short distance behind her.
"Fukoro..." She muttered.
"Neko." I said.
"Fukoro."
"Neko."
"No! I'm Fukoro!" She snapped, turning around. "Oh..."
I chuckled. "Pretending to be something you're not? I know where you're coming from. I
was Neko myself just last night. Name's Sikota."
"I'm Sodom." She said quietly.
"So about that Fukoro attempt."
"What about it?" Sodom asked, looking away.
"You should splay your toes more." I told her. "And bob your head a little too." I walked
across the branch to serve as an example.
"Let me try again." Sodom repeated her motion with those corrections.
"Better!" I said.
She stopped and sat on the branch. "So what else have you tried to be?"
"Sometimes Neko. Sometimes I'm being chased by one. A lot of the time it involves me
walking. I've been Ryu on occasion."
"Dragons don't exist, Sikota." Sodom said bluntly.
"That's the fun part!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't exist so I get to make it how I want. Don't
tell me you've never been something fake."
Sodom looked away again and curled her tail around herself, clearly embarrassed. "I... I
may have once or twice."
"Come on!" I said, flapping over to her side. "Let's do it together!" I ran from our branch
to the trunk and climbed head first downwards a lot faster than I probably should have. I spread my wings to avoid falling on my flat face and landed softly on the ground. "Have you seen the weird birds that climb down like that?"
"Sikota, there's a problem." Sodom cried sheepishly.
"And what's that?"
"I always have trouble coming down..."
I flew back up to the dark cat's side. "Then why come up here?"
"Because... I like it up here. It's safe."
"Safe?"
"My family's really mean to me sometimes..." She said softly.
"Come on, Sodom," I assured her, "I'm an owl and what I just did isn't supposed to
happen. If I can do it, so can you."
I repeated the action of running down the trunk and avoided using my wings and just
jumped off. "That was close..." I muttered to myself. "Come on, Sodom! You can do it!"
"I don't want to come down!" She snapped.
I sighed. "Fine. I'm going home. Come back here at sundown if you wanna hang out
again!" I flew off back to the old tree where I was raised.
"You're late." My mother said when I landed.
"Sorry." I told her. "I'll just go to sleep." I did just that, not moving an inch until twilight
began. When it did, I was gone.
"Be sure to find something to eat!" My mother called.
"Will do!" I told her. It took me a while to recognize our tree until I saw the black blur in
it. I heard something scurry in the branches above her. A squirrel. I grabbed the tasty rodent and floated down to Sodom's side.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Food." I replied. I could hear her stomach growl. No huge feat for an owl but I noticed it
nonetheless. I stuck the squirrel's head in my beak and pulled hard. It's neck eventually snapped off. After a few moments, I finished swallowing the rodent's head. I offered the decapitated body to my feline companion. "You seem hungry."
Sodom wrapped her tail around herself again. "K-kinda." She accepted my offer and
began nibbling on the corpse.
"So you haven't been up here all day, have you, Sodom?"
She stopped eating. "M-maybe."
"And have you been Neko the entire time?"
"I've gotten better at Fukoro." She replied, a little more cheerfully. "I'm not gonna show
you yet, but it's going to be really good."
"I'll take your word for it." I said with a hint of sarcasm. After a while, the squirrel was
finished and the sun was nearly set. "It's getting dark, I should probably be getting home."
"But Sikota!" Sodom whined.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared."
"Scared?"
"It's dark, Sikota!" She cried. "Darkness is scary. I don't even know how I'd get down."
"How far away do you live?" I asked her.
"Not too far away. Just a little bit over there." She looked toward the nearly set sun.
"Brace yourself!" I told her, flapping my way into the air and picking up the little black
cat. I began to fly her over to her home.
"Sikota!" She screamed. "What are you doing?!"
"Taking you home." I replied nonchalantly. "You've been playing Fukoro, Sodom, you
should be enjoying this."
"I'm not!" She cried back. "It's scary."
"Whatever." After a few moments, I approached the ground and lightly dropped her onto
the grass.
"Oof!" Sodom landed on her side.
"Aren't cats always supposed to land on their feet?" I asked circling above her.
"Aren't owls supposed to be completely silent?" She shot back. "Yet you're as talkative as
they get."
I chuckled and landed beside her. "Fair enough." I said. "See you tomorrow?"
The black cat nodded. "I will. I'll be up in our tree at sundown."
"Right. See you then!" I took to the skies. It would be well past dark by the time I got
back home. Oh well. I'll be home on time after sunrise tomorrow and enjoy the evening with Sodom. She seemed to be a good friend.
I spent every night with Sodom for the next few weeks. We would meet up, play around,
share food, and just sit together. I'd be Neko sometimes and she'd be Fukoro. Other times we were just ourselves. But no matter what, it was always Neko and Fukoro. When the sun was nearly set, I would carry her home and we would say our goodbyes for the next night. One night, she licked my face and giggled as she turned and left. At least for Fukoro, when you run your beak through another's feathers it's either when you're courting your potential mate, or comforting your children. I didn't know what to make of it.
After about two months, there was one day where she didn't show up. I landed on our
usual branch and waited. "Sodom?" I called. The sun was nearly set by the time I saw her moving slowly towards me, twilight at her back. She was limping. "Sodom!" I flew over to her. "What happened?" I sounded a lot more worried than I maybe should have. Or not.
"My family's really mean to me sometimes..." She said softly. She was covered in dirt
and scratched all over. Red blood stained her black fur on the side of her face and the back of one of her legs. She nestled herself under my wing. "I'm scared, Sikota."
I leaned over and ran my beak through her fur not only to clean out the dirt, but just to be
able to touch her. It reminded me of what my mother did for me when I was scared. But more so what my father did for her. "I'm here, Sodom." I assured the terrified cat. "Always am. Always will be."
She moved in closer to my embrace. She was shivering, almost assuredly out of fear.
Wrote this for a writing contest. Thought I'd share it and see what y'all think.
Neko. That was me. Neko. Cat. I stayed low to the ground, prowling the tall grasses,
stalking the mouse that would've been my prey. My foot broke a twig and the little rodent suddenly scurried away.
"Sikota!" My mother called.
I sighed and flapped my way back into the sky. I was Fukoro again. Owl. An owl who
spent his free time being what he wasn't. "Yes?"
"Time to go to sleep." She told me. "You can't stay outside too late."
I sighed again. It sometimes really stank being crepuscular. Can't be out when it's too
dark. Can't be out when it's too bright. Dawn and dusk. I can only be out at dawn and dusk. "Yes, mother." I veered over to our tree and perched down on a branch. I was asleep in just a few moments.
As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, I was awake. I immediately took off and
began scanning the ground below me. I saw a black blur in a tree some distance away. I circled down to see a black cat walking strangely across a branch. Both her left legs, then both her right legs. I landed a short distance behind her.
"Fukoro..." She muttered.
"Neko." I said.
"Fukoro."
"Neko."
"No! I'm Fukoro!" She snapped, turning around. "Oh..."
I chuckled. "Pretending to be something you're not? I know where you're coming from. I
was Neko myself just last night. Name's Sikota."
"I'm Sodom." She said quietly.
"So about that Fukoro attempt."
"What about it?" Sodom asked, looking away.
"You should splay your toes more." I told her. "And bob your head a little too." I walked
across the branch to serve as an example.
"Let me try again." Sodom repeated her motion with those corrections.
"Better!" I said.
She stopped and sat on the branch. "So what else have you tried to be?"
"Sometimes Neko. Sometimes I'm being chased by one. A lot of the time it involves me
walking. I've been Ryu on occasion."
"Dragons don't exist, Sikota." Sodom said bluntly.
"That's the fun part!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't exist so I get to make it how I want. Don't
tell me you've never been something fake."
Sodom looked away again and curled her tail around herself, clearly embarrassed. "I... I
may have once or twice."
"Come on!" I said, flapping over to her side. "Let's do it together!" I ran from our branch
to the trunk and climbed head first downwards a lot faster than I probably should have. I spread my wings to avoid falling on my flat face and landed softly on the ground. "Have you seen the weird birds that climb down like that?"
"Sikota, there's a problem." Sodom cried sheepishly.
"And what's that?"
"I always have trouble coming down..."
I flew back up to the dark cat's side. "Then why come up here?"
"Because... I like it up here. It's safe."
"Safe?"
"My family's really mean to me sometimes..." She said softly.
"Come on, Sodom," I assured her, "I'm an owl and what I just did isn't supposed to
happen. If I can do it, so can you."
I repeated the action of running down the trunk and avoided using my wings and just
jumped off. "That was close..." I muttered to myself. "Come on, Sodom! You can do it!"
"I don't want to come down!" She snapped.
I sighed. "Fine. I'm going home. Come back here at sundown if you wanna hang out
again!" I flew off back to the old tree where I was raised.
"You're late." My mother said when I landed.
"Sorry." I told her. "I'll just go to sleep." I did just that, not moving an inch until twilight
began. When it did, I was gone.
"Be sure to find something to eat!" My mother called.
"Will do!" I told her. It took me a while to recognize our tree until I saw the black blur in
it. I heard something scurry in the branches above her. A squirrel. I grabbed the tasty rodent and floated down to Sodom's side.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Food." I replied. I could hear her stomach growl. No huge feat for an owl but I noticed it
nonetheless. I stuck the squirrel's head in my beak and pulled hard. It's neck eventually snapped off. After a few moments, I finished swallowing the rodent's head. I offered the decapitated body to my feline companion. "You seem hungry."
Sodom wrapped her tail around herself again. "K-kinda." She accepted my offer and
began nibbling on the corpse.
"So you haven't been up here all day, have you, Sodom?"
She stopped eating. "M-maybe."
"And have you been Neko the entire time?"
"I've gotten better at Fukoro." She replied, a little more cheerfully. "I'm not gonna show
you yet, but it's going to be really good."
"I'll take your word for it." I said with a hint of sarcasm. After a while, the squirrel was
finished and the sun was nearly set. "It's getting dark, I should probably be getting home."
"But Sikota!" Sodom whined.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared."
"Scared?"
"It's dark, Sikota!" She cried. "Darkness is scary. I don't even know how I'd get down."
"How far away do you live?" I asked her.
"Not too far away. Just a little bit over there." She looked toward the nearly set sun.
"Brace yourself!" I told her, flapping my way into the air and picking up the little black
cat. I began to fly her over to her home.
"Sikota!" She screamed. "What are you doing?!"
"Taking you home." I replied nonchalantly. "You've been playing Fukoro, Sodom, you
should be enjoying this."
"I'm not!" She cried back. "It's scary."
"Whatever." After a few moments, I approached the ground and lightly dropped her onto
the grass.
"Oof!" Sodom landed on her side.
"Aren't cats always supposed to land on their feet?" I asked circling above her.
"Aren't owls supposed to be completely silent?" She shot back. "Yet you're as talkative as
they get."
I chuckled and landed beside her. "Fair enough." I said. "See you tomorrow?"
The black cat nodded. "I will. I'll be up in our tree at sundown."
"Right. See you then!" I took to the skies. It would be well past dark by the time I got
back home. Oh well. I'll be home on time after sunrise tomorrow and enjoy the evening with Sodom. She seemed to be a good friend.
I spent every night with Sodom for the next few weeks. We would meet up, play around,
share food, and just sit together. I'd be Neko sometimes and she'd be Fukoro. Other times we were just ourselves. But no matter what, it was always Neko and Fukoro. When the sun was nearly set, I would carry her home and we would say our goodbyes for the next night. One night, she licked my face and giggled as she turned and left. At least for Fukoro, when you run your beak through another's feathers it's either when you're courting your potential mate, or comforting your children. I didn't know what to make of it.
After about two months, there was one day where she didn't show up. I landed on our
usual branch and waited. "Sodom?" I called. The sun was nearly set by the time I saw her moving slowly towards me, twilight at her back. She was limping. "Sodom!" I flew over to her. "What happened?" I sounded a lot more worried than I maybe should have. Or not.
"My family's really mean to me sometimes..." She said softly. She was covered in dirt
and scratched all over. Red blood stained her black fur on the side of her face and the back of one of her legs. She nestled herself under my wing. "I'm scared, Sikota."
I leaned over and ran my beak through her fur not only to clean out the dirt, but just to be
able to touch her. It reminded me of what my mother did for me when I was scared. But more so what my father did for her. "I'm here, Sodom." I assured the terrified cat. "Always am. Always will be."
She moved in closer to my embrace. She was shivering, almost assuredly out of fear.
"Thank you, Sikota."