I leap out of the water and dash back to the clearing, where my friend Beauty and that terrible, evil- cat, Boot-Polish, are still rolling around on the ground, screaming and fighting. At least 15 other cat are standing in a circle, banging their paws together and hissing like thirsty snakes,

 “ GIVE HER TO US!”

 “FINISH HER GREAT LEADER!”

 These silly and greedy cats. They don’t even notice that I am right behind them and ready to attack. Ha Ha! I put my plan of “Operation Save Beauty” into action. I really do not know what I am doing though; I am only a pampered, pretty, house-cat. In fact, I have hunted mice only a handful of times.

 “ HEY KITTIES! Over here! Over Here! Look at ME! Come, Come, Chase ME!” I jump up and down, squeaking, trying to make myself heard over the din.

“ OH GET OUT, you loser!” A cat that looks more fox than cat takes a powerful swipe at me and sends me flying. I land, hard, on my back. It hurts! Wait...my back leg also feels funny, did I hurt my leg?

“ GIVE IT UP FAT CAT! YOU ARE DEAD MEAT!” Boot Polish growls. “ YOU ARE....HEY OWWWW!!!! NO MY EYE!”

“ THAT’S FOR THE BITE!” Beauty roars back. I am so proud of my friend! Then I see her speeding towards me. I never saw her run this fast before.

“ MIMI!!! RUN!!!” Beauty yells. I do not waste a single second and swiftly slip into the woods. I feel pain shooting up my leg, but I must not stop. I have to find a way to get Beauty and me out of here.

I hear Beauty panting far behind me, as I manage to run around the trunk of a giant tree, its branches and leaves swallowed by the dark night. I hide behind the thick trunk and take a quick peek, careful not to show my face. Beauty is crashing and blundering through the woods, breaking off twigs and branches, crying and making a lot of noise. Of course, the whole colony of cannibal cats are now after us, thanks to Beauty. She needs to learn to run quietly and swiftly like me!

“Quick Mimi, do something! We will be dead by morning!” I chant to myself. Thinking is more of Beauty’s job, not mine. I feel stuck. I hear nothing going on inside my head, except for the buzz of those pesky flies, in a low, thorny, bush behind me. My paws are still damp from my near drowning and I lick my paws furiously to try and dry them.

I turn in a circle and see the the thorny bush in a new light. Warm, glowing yellow and orange lights are lighting up this bush, making it come alive. The bush looks so beautiful, so inviting! Fireflies!

I stare at them, hypnotized, my feet taking me to those orange points of lights. I do not care about anything else...except for getting a good swipe and a good chase at these fireflies. I am only thinking about how I can get at these embers.

Then, I go back in time and remember how my mommy use to shine a red, laser-light on the walls of my beloved house, and I use to swing my head back and forth, in a frenzy, desperate to not let the light out of my sight....

I think back to how Mommy and Daddy use to shine a laser and I would chase that red ball of light, desperate to catch the light but never could...knowing that it was all a silly game.

“YOU ARE MINE!” Boot Polish bellows from somewhere in the forest. His voice sounds so far away...as if in a dream...

“MIMIIIIIIIIIII!!!! MIMIIIIIIII!!!!!!” Beauty’s cries snap me awake. Oh yeah! I have to help us both escape! Hmmm, what do I do?

“DO SOMETHNGGGG MIMI!” Beauty is closer now. “AAAAHHGHHH!”

Oh no! She is hurt. I have to do something now.

I take a good swipe at the bush and start shaking the bush, scattering the fireflies. Balls of orange and yellow light spread out into the forest, buzzing angrily. The cannibal cats see the fireflies. They stop, go silent and watch the cloud of fireflies flying over them. Then Boot Polish yowls,

“After them!” He points at the fireflies with one muscular paw and takes off running. The rest of the cats change course and follow their leader, chasing those hypnotic fireflies. I watch all this from my hiding spot behind the giant tree. Then I spot Beauty’s shape looming. In what seemed like a a long minute, Beauty finally passes by me, 

“PSSSSTTTT! Beauty, I am over here!” I whisper. Beauty hears me, but not before she crashes into a woodpile, head-first, her bum up in the air. I run over to drag her out of another mess.

Beauty’s blue eyes are rolling wildly and her tongue is hanging out. She is not really looking at me, her rescuer. She is still staring off into the forest, searching for those blasted cats. “You didn’t save me fast enough. I nearly died!” She pants. Then I notice the big bite mark on her neck, where a huge blood stain has turned the white fur there, red. UH-oh.

“If you weren’t so fat, you’d be able to run away from them, like I did!” I hate to be blamed for her problems. Besides, all those stupid cats aren’t here anymore. They ran away! I BEAT THEM BACK!” I stomp my paw in anger. I want Beauty to see me as the helpful, smart, cat that I really am!

Beauty stops rolling her eyes, sniffs the air thoughtfully, then remarks, “ You’re right. It’s all quiet here. I think they have all gone off to chase those...”

“ Fireflies, I tell you. “ Ignatius the Annoying surfaces from the inside of a sparrow’s nest, hidden on a thick bough hanging right atop us.

“YOU again!” I screech.

“THAT was a stroke of brilliance on your part, I tell you, Lady Mimi! Sending those fireflies the other way, so the cats would chase them, instead. Even that show-off, Boot-Polish, could not come up with something this smart. I bow down to your intelligence, I tell you.” Ignatius then does an exaggerated bow, two long straws sticking out jauntily from his head.

“ YOU STAY AWAY FROM US!” Beauty growls, glaring at Ignatius the Annoying with hatred. “ YOU tricked us into going with you. We nearly got eaten by those cats. We nearly died!”

“ I tell you one thing, it was not ME that tried to eat you. It was that wild Boot-Polish and his ilk. Our so-called leader fancies himself to be like our cousins, the tigers! So many times, I tried to tell him that we are just humble cats and we should behave as cats. So really, I tell you, we should only be eating...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO,” The scary and familiar zombie sound echoes through the forest, sending a chill up my spine. We all stop and stand rooted to our spots in total fear; our ears standing straight, ready to run again in a heartbeat.

Beauty slumps to the ground, exhausted, “I can’t run anymore...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOO” It echoes again, closer.

“MEOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!NOOOOO!!!!!AAAAGHHHHH!!!!! LEMME GOOO!!!!!”

“ That’s Boot-Polish screaming,” I whimper.

“MEEEOOOOWWWWWW, WAAAAAAANNNNNHHHH!” The cries and screams of the other cannibal cats ring out like a chorus. The forest turns chaotic, with bird noises, frog croaks, boar grunts and firefiles buzzing.

“ Oh dear, I tell you, I think those zombie things have eaten those cats , after all! Serves them right,  I tell you. ” Ignatius closes his eyes and covers them with his overly large paws, which look too big for his body. “Good riddance to those wild beasts! I tell you, I am safe up here. Maybe, you ladies should join me...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOO!!!!”

“NOM, NOM, NOM, NOM.” came the sound of eating, licking and sucking on delicious meat.

“meooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww” We hear Boot-Polish mewl in his gravelly voice. Good riddance indeed!

“Not trusting you again. We are off and I’ll kill you if you follow us!” Beauty turns, her head hanging low, and limps away.

“Where are you going?” I run after her, afraid to be left behind in these scary woods.

“Anywhere. Far away from here, that’s all I know.” Beauty mumbles. Her neck wound is still bleeding. As we walk, I lick her wound and rub my head against her massive and strong neck. It is good to have her.

We continue to hear the screams of the zombies fading away. All is starting to go quiet in the woods again, except for the fireflies and crickets chirping and the sad mewls of a few dying cats. “ We should go home. What other place do we know so well? I’m sure we can find food there, a few birds, mice, maybe even some kibbles. I can totally eat dog kibbles now.” I try to sound cheery, so that I can lift the sunken spirits of my wounded friend.

“Yes we better run away, again, before those dead cannibal cats turn into zombie cats”. Beauty says, her head drooping, her eyes never leaving the forest ground. Suddenly, she stops, lifts her head up and looks at me. “ You know Mimi, you are very smart. You did save my life back there, by using those fireflies as a laser light.” She gives my head an affectionate lick and we both rub our pleasantly cold noses together. I feel a warm glow of happiness inside. Hey, my leg does not even hurt anymore!

Feeling happier than I have felt since this whole adventure began, I return the compliment. “BUT you are the brains here. I am smarter now because of you..”

“ Come on, let’s head on home. Maybe we can find more food to eat.” Beauty takes the lead and starts jogging.

“ Beauty, I don’t remember the way back.”

“ Don’t worry, Mimi, I do. You can trust me.”

Next Chapter: Going Back: Chapter 9