• This story has migrated to Radish Fiction where it will continue past Chapter 3 •
Maggie was with her boyfriend Felix on the day he died.
Six months later, she receives a call from Felix's parents pushing her to visit their hidden, hi-tech ma...
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SEVEN YEARS AGO . . .
"Is everyone ready?" Dad excitedly asked us.
I sat on the couch with my mother and my three-year-old baby brother, Evan. My mother tried to keep him distracted with her phone so he wouldn't wriggle out of her grip. I turned ten-years-old the day before and thought it was another surprise gift for me.
"Ready!" Mom and I shouted.
He stood in front of our large television screen in a game-show-host fashion. He liked to be silly most of the time and it made me laugh. He waved his hands around like a magician and stepped away from blocking our view.
A video started to play showing me as a little baby. In the film, my tiny fingers held tightly to Yam—my fluffy Persian cat that went to "Cat Heaven" a year ago. It had been really hard on me to handle Yam's death. My parents spent a whole week trying to keep me from crying at night.
"Why are we watching this?" I mumbled and felt myself get upset all over again.
My father was a handsome, tall Korean man with a full set of dark hair and thick black-rimmed glasses. He crouched down in front of me and wore a comforting smile. "Remember how upset you were about losing Yam?" he asked.
I nodded and rubbed at my nostrils.
Yam was special to me; she'd been with me since birth for the first nine years of my life. She died because of me. Yam was an indoor cat, and I didn't understand why she had to stay inside. So one day, I let her go outside to play in the yard with me. Yam saw squirrels for the first time and wanted to chase one, she went out onto the road. She didn't know anything about cars or what they could do to her. That was the last time I played with Yam.
"Go into the kitchen," Dad said with a wide grin.
I glanced up at my mother to see if she knew what was going on. Her confused expression showed that she felt just as clueless as me.
My hands pushed down against the couch and I lowered myself down until my toes touch the carpet. My heart raced and I didn't even know why. I just knew something mind-blowing and related to Yam was probably in the kitchen.
Did he get me another cat? That had to be it!
I ran into the kitchen. On top of the table, there was a kitty-carrying case. It was bright blue and lined with soft, fuzzy padding. A small face looked out from the meshed-fabric on the front of the carrier.
I knew it!
Quickly, I unzipped open the carrier and lifted out the cat to hug it against my chest. She was so fluffy, and sweet-tempered, just like Yam was.
