MCYT Oneshots

A Stormy Night- ESMP S2 Jizzie

Enjoy, my children. Enjoy.

I smiled, watching Lizzie shuffle the UNO cards.

"You know you can't beat me, right?" I asked, smirking. "I'm just too good."

"Shut up." Lizzie said, her tail swishing in a threatening manner. "I can beat you anytime I want."

We were in the cosy living room of Animalia's town hall, enjoying a relaxing evening. The pressure of running an empire had  lifted for the evening. I could just be myself.

She dealt the cards and picked up her pile, smacking my hand away when I tried to steal one. I laughed and picked up my own pile. I'll try again later, I thought.

"Alright, I'll go first- I can see your cards!" She exclaimed. "Stop showing me your cards!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! You have a blue seven, a red two, and a bunch of yellows." She stated, very matter-of-factly. "Pretty lame, if I'm honest."

I scoffed. "Says you! Your entire pile is blue!"

"How did you know that?!"

"I'm a god Lizzie, I know everything."

Lizzie threw down her cards. "This is so unfair then!"

I laughed. "You're a child."

"No, I'm a cat. There's a difference, believe it or not."

"Alright then." I said. 

I started to play with her tail, while she got bored and started shuffling through the cards.

After a while she looked up at me. "JOEL!"

I jumped and dropped her tail. "What?!"

She let out a frustrated sigh.

"Give me all the multicoloured cards."

I smiled guiltily and pulled out all the wild cards from beneath a cushion on the elegant purple couch.

"Sorry."

"You better be." She said, taking them from me and shuffling them into the pile.

Her tail was swishing again. I watched it for a while, eventually becoming very bored.

"So if you don't want to play UNO, what do you want to play?" I asked. I'd do practically anything at this point.

"Well, no card games or board games are particularly fair-"

BOOM. A crash of lightning shook the room.

A look of pure terror crossed Lizzie's usually so calm features. She jumped up and bolted out of the room at a terrifying pace.

"Lizzie! Wait, it's okay!" I yelled. I raced after her.

What had happened?

~~~

Lighting. Thunder. A storm. Not a storm.

Anything but a storm...

I sat in the dark, wet alleyway, shivering and shaking. I was so hungry...mother hadn't been back with food for hours. And now the sky was dark and everything was scary.

The passers-by didn't even notice us, a litter of kittens in a dark alleyway. It was amazing how stupid people were.

A sickening crash and a white flash of light jolted me from my thoughts. I was thrown sideways, slamming into my brothers. We were a litter of eight, but sometimes it felt like a lot less. Especially in times like these, where body heat was absolutely necessary to survival. And of course, I was the only girl.

Typical.

I saw a shadow dart across the entrance to the alleyway. Mother?

It was! She ran towards us, and then...

CRASH. Another blinding strike of lightning.

I couldn't believe my tiny little kitten eyes.

Mother lay on the floor, fur burnt and whiskers frazzled.

I stared at her, waiting for her to stand. After a while, I realised that she wouldn't.

She couldn't.

Mother was gone.

Joel shook my shoulder, forcing me to open my eyes. I was underneath my bed, my eyes gleaming in the dark.

"Lizzie! What happened!"

I didn't know. I really didn't know. "I-"

"Shhhhh, it's okay." He said as I started to sob. He helped me out from under the bed. I was a sobbing, shaking mess, fur matted and probably disgusting looking. Just like that frightful night in the alleyway...

My sobs threatened to swallow me whole, every cry of pain strangling me. I felt as if I couldn't breathe. My vision was cloudy, blurred by my tears. I felt so...alone.

Mother...

"Lizzie, look at me." Joel said. I forced myself to do as he asked. "You're okay. It's just a lightning storm."

Just a lightning storm. Just a lightning storm.

That was all it was.

But in my head, it was so much more.

"Breathe, Lizzie. Just breathe."

I breathed, and god it felt good. My sobs turned to tears, my tears faded to nothing. Just the steady beat of my breaking heart and the distant rolls of thunder.

"You're safe."

"I'm safe."

He pulled me into a tight hug, squeezing all of the whispers of the past from my mind.

Those whispers can go and terrorise someone else.

Because when Joel is here, I feel like nothing can hurt me.

I am safe. I am warm.

I am loved.

I'm really one for cringey endings aren't I?

Ty guys!

-minimushr00m