WHISKER WISDOM CATERVIEW WITH ALOYSIUS, A ONE-IN-THREE-THOUSAND FELINE!
Whisker Wisdom Caterview with Aloysius, or “Wishes,” special not only because he has an extra chromosome. He’s much more than that!
Tortoiseshell males occur only one in 3000.
And like most tortoiseshell males, he’s sterile.
Wishes, until now, patiently lounging on a chair beside me in my office, let out a chittering cackle, and sat upright with a stiff spine.
Wishes: Wait just a minute! Isn’t that a little too much information? My ability to reproduce is not the subject of this interview. May I remind you that my being here is a favor to you? So, shall we commence?
Me: That was an unfortunate slip. I apologize. But you jumped in before I could finish. What makes you stand out is your ability to traverse time and your ability to talk. We all appreciate that you’ve come forward again. How was your journey?
W shrugged: No more, no less complicated than the dozen times I’ve done it before.
Me: And Jacob Blessing. How’s he doing?
W: He’s well, considering his age. He often talks about when I brought his eleventh great-granddaughter, Theodosia, back to meet him and praises her for helping that poor boy escape the gallows. She was expecting her first child when I left. That kid should be four.
Me: A nod to you, reader. Wishes is referring to the young boy from the 1700s who appeared in Theodosia’s, or “Theo’s” driveway, with an odd request. Clear his name as a murderer. Wishes, Theo and Ethan had twins, and yes, they are four. Everyone wonders why you abruptly left in the 21st century and returned to 18th-century North Carolina. You had a pretty good life here. Theo assumed your work was done after the boy was free, and you accompanied them back. Can you tell us more?
W: Whoa! Firstborn twins? Trust me, that’s never, ever happened in the line. Since gifted one’s firstborn inherits the ability to bring the dead forward, heaven help us if both can. But it will be years before it manifests. I hope Theodosia figures it out before then. Is the new cat I picked out any help? When I found that kitten, I could tell that little creature needed training but could be a great familiar for her.
Me: Theo will be fine. But you chose a very quirky cat. By the way, she’s the subject of the next Caterview. But you’ve dodged my question. You really disrupted the centuries-old plan. You’ve always been assigned to a magical Blessing. And you stay with that person until the gift passes to their firstborn. You were Theo’s father’s familiar until the gift passed to her. That’s how it worked through all the generations before. Always forward. Never back.
W fiddled with something caught between his splayed toes on a back foot. With the foot still sticking in the air, he looked up at me: Oh, I’m sorry. Was there a question in there?
Me: I think you know it was.
W: Indeed, I’ve faithfully upheld my duty. For centuries, I’ll add. But when I brought Theodosia and her man back to 1718 to save that boy and saw Jacob again, I knew he needed me more than Theodosia did. Aside from Theodosia, he was the smartest Blessing I’ve known. And I’ve known them all, back to old England. Only someone like Jacob could get that stubborn woman to travel back in time to save a life. The convincing letter he wrote to her was sheer brilliance.
So I doubt the universe minds that I bent time a little so we could relive his last years together. I can be with him and serve his firstborn at the same time.
Me: I don’t put anything past you. But when Jacob Blessing passes, which I guess will be the second time, what then? You’ve completed your obligations through the generations up to Theo. This is all so confusing.
W canted his head as he considered an answer: Valid on all counts. I’ve been with so many Blessing generations that I’ve lost track. But dear Jacob always had a special place in my heart. I can keep going as if nothing had changed. Only I will know that I’ve been with each firstborn before. They won’t suspect a thing. I might catch up with Theodosia again at some point. Time means nothing to me.
Me: So you’re confirming there are parallel time periods? Are we side-by-side with past generations?
W cast an unbelieving eye roll: You’re the author who wrote our story, and you still say you don’t know the answers?
Me: I make stuff up, Wishes. The whole idea of time traveling was made up. And I invented you, remember.
W squinted his eyelids to a slit and stared hard at me. After a moment, he spoke again: You invented me? Seriously? I’ve been around a lot longer than you. When will you realize you are a sideline observer of our stories and simply writing what happened?
Me: But, Wishes…
The little ‘tortie’ interrupted with another throaty chitter that could be interpreted as disgusted if one were inclined to judge it as such.
Then he was gone.
Into thin air.
Again.
**
I can’t say this interview went precisely as planned.
Wishes left me with more questions than answers, especially the bit about me being a scribe of events and not the inventor of them. I need time to process that.
But, in classic Wishes style, he comes and goes when he wants, back and forth over three hundred and twenty years.
He didn’t give me time to tell him that Theo, her husband Ethan, and their twins are relocating to Baga Shores for a fresh start. Ethan, who has never completely healed from a traumatic military deployment, accepted a promising job opportunity. A gifted potter and magical, Theo is opening a new studio, once again hoping to escape the selfish dead who continually hound her for help.
She hopes a new life in Baga Shores, where magicals are embraced, will be different, and the hauntings will end.
**
In the meantime, Wishes got me thinking.
Is magical time-traveling an author’s invention or an actual phenomenon?
Could a cat live for centuries?
Are writers simply observers recording events? If that’s true, I can’t wait to see who shows up next wanting their story told!
What do you think?
Whisker Wisdom Caterview next time is with Scarlett!
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