I, The Cat

Moving House

Lay.

"Pick me, pick me, pick me up! Pick me, pick me, pick me, pick me-"

The sound is blaring and I end up whacking the thing making that noise to the floor, and it tumbles with an unsettling 'crack' sound.

My ears are met with a plunging silence.

Now that, makes me wake up a bit more.

I rise from my bed and blink my eyes. I swivel my head around to glance at my alarm clock, which has not gone off yet and-

Wait. My alarm has not gone off yet. That can only mean that-

I groan and flop back onto the mattress.

It is 3 in the morning on a Monday, and being the productive person that I am, I have successfully knocked my phone to the floor. Judging from the ringtone, someone was calling me and the phone shut off, so there are only two possible scenarios.

One, the phone fell and landed on the power button or two, it broke.

Although scenario one would be immensely preferred, it is very unlikely to happen. I roll towards where I remember the sound coming from and feel the bed growing further away.

THUD!

"Ouch... That sucks." I am so productive in the morning.

I retrieved the phone, which has, as expected, given up on life and shut down forever. Now I will have to get a new one. I look around the bedroom but only see my rumpled t-shirt from the night before at a corner. No Maize. After washing up, I go into the living room and approach Maize's bed of cushions. I did not see her under my bed or in my cupboard, so that means she probably wanted some time alone after the incident. I sigh when I see the wall clock. 3.26am.

"Maize... I'm awake, come on out and let's eat." I call out when I don't see her in her bed. It is also strangely neat. I power-walk to the kitchen and grab the supplies for breakfast from the cupboard. Huh. She is not here either. No matter, I shall just prepare our meals first then call her down to eat.

That was the intended action. But we are all human, and some of us can sense that something is not quite right (even if you just stumbled out of bed in the wee hours of the morning). Normally, I would see Maize bounding down the stairs or demanding to be carried to her meal. However, that is most definitely not the case today. The house is seemingly eerie and suffocatingly silent.

Maize is never silent.

If she is upset, she expresses it with every fibre of her being. Be it scratching, yowling or scuttling, she is always producing some sort of noise and over the years, I have grown accustomed (and somewhat fond of) to it.

This can only mean one thing.

Maize is not at home.

My eyes widen at the late realisation and I trip over the air in a frantic rush to check every nook and cranny of the apartment unit to find my beloved bundle of furry joy.

Bathroom, bedroom, balcony, kitchen, living room. table. chair, drawer, cupboard, wardrobe, another drawer, flower pot, sofa, another chair-

I have searched every possible hiding spot at least twice when I notice something very obvious.

The door has been left open.

I feel the blood drain from my face and brain.

"Oh no..."

Luhan.

Never in my life have I been so pleasantly surprised and shocked before. Even the incident where someone decided to bake some sweet-smelling cupcakes for my birthday when I was back in school was won over. Well, the person surely had no idea that I was allergic to nuts and made banana chocolate almond cupcakes for me, but hey, it is, after all, the thought that counts, right?