Flash Fiction Anthology

Of Jason and Sheeba

'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,' I read, stretching luxuriously on the high back of the sofa, first one leg, spreading my paw wide, then the other, my eyes still glued to the text.

I loved spending my days like this, lying on the sofa in the warm semi-darkness of the room-- my owner always left the curtains drawn when he went out, knowing I preferred it this way-- reading books he forgot to close. There were always several of those around the house, one in each room, usually. Jason was an avid reader, and I learned to read from him-- he loved reading aloud to me while I lay curled up on his lap, my eyes following the printed words. Reading wasn't really suitable for someone like me, but I didn't care. If my beloved owner could read books, then I could too, I mused, feeling my face become warm at the mere thought of him... How strange!

I shook my head and, yawning widely, arched my back, ready to roll over to better reach the page I wanted to turn over, but suddenly I fell off the sofa before I could turn... Just what...??? It had never happened to me before!

With an appealed 'miaow!' I shook my head again and tried to stand up, the floor was freezing for some reason. As I rolled over to prepare to jump back into the soft nest of blankets on the sofa, I noticed why it felt so cold. 

My magnificent black fur was gone! My body was smooth, covered in pink skin, just like my owner's when he walked out of the shower. It didn't have any of those clothes things he normally wore, to protect it from the coldness of the tiles. I was fur-less, the only proper fur to speak of was covering my head, long black and glossy like my cat fur had been. What bothered me more at the moment though was that I was freezing. I disliked the cold.

It took me a while to gather my too long bright limbs into a position suitable to get me back on the sofa, then make two of them obey the order of my mind and wrap a blanket around the pink, shivering monstrosity of my new body.

Once I was nestled back among the blankets and cushions, I forced myself to think. Right. I had fallen asleep reading and now I was dreaming. I must be. But as much as I liked sleeping and dreaming, I didn't like this dream. It was awful. I loved being a cat, I never wanted to be a human, not really. I didn't really like humans, well maybe just a little. Fine, fine, I liked my owner-- I had always wished he was a cat. I would have liked that, to be with him like... together. But not in the human form. Oh no. I needed to wake up, fast.

Frowning at my disobliging limbs, I stood up and teetered towards the kitchen. My human legs were so long and unstable that if I wasn't a cat, I'd definitely feel vertigo. I missed my four short, safe, furry paws, the tiles were unpleasantly slippery under my two bare feet.

Shivering with cold, I took Jason's shirt off the back of an armchair as I passed by and pulled it on, happy for once for his annoying habit of leaving his clothes around. On reaching the kitchen, I paused in the doorway, thinking hard. There was that drink I saw him prepare whenever he felt tired but had no time to sleep. Coffee, he called it.

There! A full jar of dark brown granules sat right next to the water-filled kettle. I miaowed with delight when I managed to open it, use a spoon to measure it out and pour boiling water over it, making a pleasant, uplifting aroma flare up my nostrils. Maybe being a human wasn't that bad, my opposable thumbs seemed to be worth it.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that it was nearly the time when Jason normally got home and fed me. I could as well use my new paws a little more and get my food without him today, I mused, opening a small cupboard with 'Sheeba' written on it in glittery letters, reaching inside and picking my favourite can-- salmon, shrimps and peas. My mouth watered in expectation of the delicacy long before I managed to open it, sniff at it and... drop it with disgust. To my human senses it looked and smelled awful!

Leaving it on the floor where it had landed, exploding on the white tiles, I grabbed a pink-glazed doughnut from a box placed next to the bread basket.

The sweet ring which I saw Jason eat so often and disliked when he let me try it, tasted heavenly today. I licked my paw and mouth thoroughly once I finished it, then sipped at my coffee as I returned into the sitting room.

Just then the door opened and Jason walked in, and just like always I leaped towards him, ignoring the sound of the mug shattering on the tiles far behind me.

Jason noticed it though, both he and his companion-- a short, blond girl, very pretty by the human standards-- looked first at the shards then at me, even as I brushed my forehead on Jason's shoulder. They did not look, they stared for some reason and my soft, inquisitive 'miaow' was immediately followed by the sharp sound of the human girl's palm landing on Jason's cheek, then the loud bang as the door closed behind her.

"Miaow!" I looked into Jason's eyes, confused, laying my pink paw over the red stain on his cheek.

"Sheeba?" he asked, his voice full of wonder. As I only nodded, he continued, "Goodness gracious me, it worked! I did it! You're human; I've been dreaming about this moment for so long. I... I love you, Sheeba!"

"Miaow," I muttered, at a loss for better words to express my feelings.