The Catcher's Dreams (FEATURED)

CHAPTER ONE - the strangest of cats

Drake wondered why the cat wasn't walking about in circles. They usually walked about in circles. His did. His sister's did. This one didn't. It hung from his neighbor's arms like a deflated balloon. It wasn't glowing, either, though Drake was certain he'd never seen it, much less touched it, before.

With a careful hand he parted the leaves of one of the bushes to clear his view. He didn't know the neighbors well, but he knew their names began with a Mister and a Missus, respectively. And he could taste their glows if he stuck out his tongue like the kids at school – strong, rich glows that pulsed with every step the neighbors took. Mister's was a deep, salty pink, Missus's a gentle orange caressing his senses like a generic brand cold treat from the convenience store in summer. Curiosity pried his mouth open. "What's with your cat?" he asked.

They both turned around, not simultaneously like the glowless, but with the pitter-patter of unsynchronized movement that strangers were accustomed to. Both of them had sandy hair, unlike Drake and most of the strangers outside of school. The top half of Missus's was engulfed in a wide turquoise hat.

Mister almost lost grip of the weird cat as they both jumped slightly, as if it was shocking to see a nine-year-old boy peering at them from in between the bushes.

"Our cat?" Missus confirmed, blushing. "Why, he's, well, in a better place, dearie."

Drake wondered why she wasn't smiling. Adults like her loved to smile. The ones with glows did it around him and the ones without glows weren't capable of making any other facial expression. Anyway, if the cat was in a better place, why not smile?

Mister bent down to unlatch the black metal fence stuck between the side of the house and the bushes. It led to their backyard. Drake blinked, noticing something in his gloved hands. A tool he hadn't seen before. It looked like half of a metal beak, glinting in the sunlight. Mister hadn't spoken, but now he looked up at the child. He wasn't smiling either.

Drake was intrigued. Even if he took deep breaths or squinted, he couldn't smell or see a glow around the cat. And Drake was absolutely certain now he'd never seen that cat in his life.

The two emotionless neighbors squeezed through the gate with their strange cat, out of sight, without even saying goodbye.

"Goodbye," Drake said to no one, cracking his face in a smile big enough for all three of them.

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