Kakiro stretched and sighed. I looked at the sky; it was now half-bright out already. The human clock read about seven, and the deathpasses were clogged with the first rush-hour traffic. “I’ll let you sleep, but be back the latest by noon,” said Kakiro.

It was noon, and I was making my way back to Kakiro’s bush. “Chief! Catmander, I'm here!” Kakiro ignored my arrival, but rather warned, “Human, to the left, coming from Dikmen!” He cowered by the stem of the bush. “I’m not afraid of humans,” I said. “Only their cars freak me out. Most humans only like us and find us cute, yet most don’t treat us a good as they would treat a fellow human. Well, let's say, with a lack of respect, or insolence, if you know what I mean.” The human was a young teenage girl, dressed in light blue, very short shorts and a T-shirt. I couldn’t make out many more details yet, but I saw that she was carrying no backpack that all teenage girls carry, usually. “What’s worth fighting humans, they are just stronger, I mean it would be even more justified for rodents to stand up against us, wouldn’t it?” I questioned. “Yet they don’t. Because they are weaker than we and can’t stand up against us, can’t scratch us. It is the same with humans! They are stronger than we are, I mean, we can scratch them, if you know what I mean, but we cannot change their instinctual behavior! Just as you cannot change the fact that we eat and kill rats! It is the way of things, Kakiro.”
“It is not,” hissed Kakiro. “I have never declawed rats, held them captive, thrown them in sewers or in trash cans, I mean, not that they would mind getting thrown into a sewer, but... If you know what I mean. I have always killed them, no torture. It is justified, as we must survive, but humans have no need to trap us for their own entertainment. That is hardly justified!”
“Good point, but there are humans, you know, that love us so much that they would sooner cut off a hand than let us die. There are humans who keep us not to be cruel, but because they are concerned about us being in the dangerous world out there! Face it, Kakiro, it is so much easier and safer to live with humans!”
“If that is so, why did you come back outside? I’m listening!”
“No comment.”
I looked at the girl, who was coming closer. She was about thirteen or fourteen, and had dark hair. Her almond eyes were staring straight at Kakiro and I. “Who enters?” I meowed loud enough that she could hear. The girl looked back, then ran towards us. Then, to our surprise, she said, “I’m Ay?e. Are you Thortac or Kakiro?” Shellshocked, I looked at Kakiro, who whispered, “What the bloody rottweiler did she just... ask?”
“Who are you again?”
“Me? My name is Ay?e,” the girl said. She was not bad looking, even for human standards. Her raven hair blew in the wind, and she stroked it twice to keep it from blowing in her face. She carried a sporty physique with powerful looking legs. Her smile seemed more true, as if she were smiling at a human, not a cat. “I know how much you fear and dislike humans, but I mean you know harm,” said Ay?e quietly. I couldn’t help but stare at her in disbelief. “I never thought I could understand a cat's meow, but I heard your party last night, and I understood the conversations going on about what has happened and what is happening. I thought about it, and have decided to help you, as I am probably the only human who can directly understand you. Can you understand me?”
“Yes Ay?e, I can. Shouldn’t you be going to school?” I asked. Ay?e’s throat constricted, exposing her vocal cords, and her eyes opened up as she looked at me in surprise. “How do you know so much about our life?” she demanded. “Look, I don’t have school, it is friday. Yes, friday is the Muslim sunday, basically.”
“What about all of those Okul Tasiti* driving around? Oh, and by the way, I know so much about your life because I lived with humans before. Two Boston-terriering months, would you believe it?”
Ay?e suppressed a giggle at my extremely feline remark. Then, she said, “Just because it says ‘Okul Tasiti’ on it doesn’t mean it’s a school bus. They use it for different things too.” She paused, then crouched down and leaned against a neon beamer, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her face was slightly blushed, and I could tell she was trying to act normal, and not too excited about her ability. The park was surprisingly empty, usually it would be crowded with humans, but today there were only a few joggers. The bush was far away enough from the walkway that Ay?e could talk normally without humans hearing it. “So explain to me exactly your dilemma,” she said. She had the most normal, not fake voice, again, as if she were talking to human. “Well, our dilemma is that humans just mistreat us; they take out our claws, keep us in their homes where we cannot get outside, and if we reproduce against their liking, some evil people will just throw the kittens in the trash can or sewer!” said Kakiro. “You know however, that there is a law against that, and that it is punished with community service,” said Ay?e.
“Keeping cats indoors is illegal?”
“No, but throwing them in trash cans and sewers is.” Then I asked, “Do the majority of people who have cats actually care for them and love them?”
“Yes, most of them do actually keep their cats inside because they love them and don’t want them to get hurt on the dangerous streets, or eat a poisoned rat.”
“Well, I was trapped for two months, and I hated it, even though my owners loved me.”
“I think it is because you were an outdoor cat before, and couldn’t get used to being indoors. Some cats grow up indoors, and do not know life any different,” explained Ay?e. She stared at Kakiro and I, then smiled and said, “You are so cute!” she flattened her legs on the ground, and patted on her lap. “Come here!”
“That is exactly how I do not want to be treated, like some cute, cuddly, furry puss. I want to be treated like a cat!”
“I thought cats like to cuddle!”
Ay?e seemed slightly offended, so I decided to mollify her, for I was not about to let her out of sight anytime soon. We could use her!
“Cuddling is one thing, but talking to them in that unnatural sweetness is another. I will cuddle, but don’t ever say something like that again, unless you are trying to attract a cat mate, which I don't think you want to do.” With that, I hopped onto Ay?e’s lap and started purring. Ay?e then laid herself down, and I crawled onto her and laid myself down. Ay?e stroked my head. Her fingers had a soft touch to them, yet still reminded me of the hard rough tongue of my mother. The up-and-down movement of her breathing was relaxing, and I soon fell into the state of alert tranquility, which we cats call sleep. Kakiro mistrusted Ay?e slightly still and kept his distance.

I woke up again with my head tilted sideways. It was the hottest part of the day, and most cats retreated to the shade of bushes. I heard the steady lub-dup of Ay?e’s heart through her chest. “OK, enough!” she said. A short pause followed, then she looked at me and asked, “Let's try communicating over a distance to see if we have a mental link or something, or see if we can understand each other.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Who will move to the other side of the park?”
“I will,” said Ay?e. “I'm probably faster.”
“No, I am,” I insisted. I could run about twice as fast as the average human if I tried, yet I understood what she meant. I could only hold that speed for so long. So Ay?e walked off, then slowly jogged, then ran, then walked to the other side of the park. When she called about five minutes later, I heard her. I howled back. After a minute of silence, she called back, announcing that she could not hear me. I called again, “then come back. We know now that there is no difference between our communication than human communication. Five minutes later she came running back. She was out of breath when she came back. “Here I am,” she announced under her breath. “I think I may have heard your second call. Did you say, 'then come back. The frequency of our calls causes complications unlike human communication”
I laughed loudly, then said, “It's not what I said at all, so your guess is true.”

* * *