An Outing With Kitty
John had been having a wonderful week. Not more than a few days ago, school had ended for summer. A day later he got what could only be described as the most satisfying haircut he'd ever had. Not too long, not too short. Just yesterday he'd had his favorite food, shrimp, for dinner. And today, he'd won a coupon for a free meal at McDonald's! Certainly, weeks didn't come much better than this.
John knew that the best way to enjoy his lunch at McDonald's would be with his one true love, Kitty. He met Kitty only two months ago, when she'd first transferred to his school. She'd been assigned to sit next to him and to his surprise, he fell in love instantly. He was ecstatic when he'd found the feeling to be mutual, and the two were close to inseparable ever since.
John dialed the phone number, already giddy with excitement, at the chance to be with Kitty again.
"Hi, Kitty? … It's me John! … yeah ...uh-huh… Hey, you wanna go to McDonald's with me? I just got a coupon for a free meal there! … Yeah! … Okay, I'll meet you on the way there… Love you too ...uh-huh… Bye…"
It had proceeded like any normal phone call, but John's spirits had been lifted immediately upon hearing her sweet, quiet voice. Ahh… love, John thought, as he slipped on and tied his shoes.
When John stepped outside he knew something was wrong, though he didn't realize what it was. He stepped outside, with an odd, curious look on his face. He noticed that it was cool. Remarkably so, given that summer vacation had just recently started. He also noticed there was no breeze. Usually cool weather came with a light wind in his area.
He shook these worrisome thoughts out of his head, and sauntered down the steps in front of his house. John was no meteorologist, nor did he have any interest in being one. The weather was the weather and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet still, the feeling that something wasn't quite right lingered in the recesses of his mind.
But even this slight fear was put to rest the moment he saw Kitty. John had always found Kitty to be a very fitting name for her, as he thought she resembled a cat. She was small and shy, like a cat. She wore her hair, straight and chestnut brown, in a ponytail that bounced around as she walked. With her hair pulled back, her ears pointed off of her head, in a cat-like way John mused. Her overalls, of which she had a small collection of and wore every day, only seemed to add more to her cute, feline personality.
When they spotted each other they leapt forward and into each other's arms. They stayed in this embrace for a moment and then ambled further down the street, side by side, their faces both brightly lit up by the geniality of the walk.
John loved talking to Kitty; he was amazed at how easily conversation came to them, and he thought that might be why they liked each other so much. He told her all about his wonderful week, she laughed, and added her own tidbits of conversation to the chat and they carried on oblivious to their surrounding, content with each other.
They were so enthralled with each other, in fact, that they didn't notice the world that seemed to be changing around them. The sky darkened, and the clouds took on an odd violet color. Neither of the two noticed that they seemed to be completely alone. Neither noticed that the gentle sounds of their feet scraping against asphalt, and the sounds of their voices and laughter, were the only noises that could be heard anywhere.
The conversation finally seemed to slow down, and the two returned to the real world. Once there, they noticed that something was wrong. Both of their feet came to a slow, and then a complete stop. A light coating of perspiration materialized on John's forehead and Kitty weakly grabbed for his hand. Suddenly the two seemed frighteningly alone. Not even the gentle sound of the wind was there to remind them that they were, indeed, still on Planet Earth. John decided he would call out for someone, but found that when he tried to speak, his voice emerged as no more than a cracking whisper.
Suddenly Kitty brightened. She took her hand out of John's and pointed off to the distance.
"Look! You see it? It's a crow isn't it?" She turned to John with a hopeful smile on her face.
He seemed to relax a bit too, relieved that there was still some form of life left on what seemed to have become a dead world. Yes, if there were crows, there was undoubtedly everything else. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and returned Kitty's expectant gaze.
But Kitty's face had frozen. Not in the relieved way, but in terrible way that John had never seen before. He stared at her, this version of her he'd never seen before and felt as much terror as whatever had frightened her.
He kept staring until she managed to utter a weak, "…John…," and raise her hand ever so slightly towards the horizon. He finally tore his eyes off her and looked once again to the crow. But he could see now that this was no ordinary crow. In fact it wasn't a crow at all. It was a strange creature, nothing he'd ever seen before. It had a human-like body, covered in black feathers. In its hands was a long spear. Its huge dark wings beat, creating a horribly loud whooshing sound. John froze. They both stood there, in horrified awe, staring at this terrible creature, which seemed to be advancing towards them at an alarming rate.
John knew he had to run. But he could not take his eyes off the sinister being speeding towards him. He willed his knee to lift, and yet… no response. Panic struck him, harder than ever in his life before and his breathing became loud and heavy. But over his own breath's he could hear another's. But whose? He turned his head to the side. Kitty! Yes, it was Kitty! She was trembling uncontrollably and a tear fell down the side of her face. In his fright, she had completely left his mind. John could have stood there as the malevolent being moved towards him alone but he couldn't let it get Kitty too! Filled with a new sense of purpose he grabbed Kitty's hand and began to run in the opposite direction.
"Come on!" He cried, his voice not sounding nearly as confident as he'd hoped.
Kitty barely managed to utter a weak moan, but John could feel her running as fast as she could behind him. He didn't dare look back, but he could hear the horrible sound of the wings beating, and it was coming closer.
Suddenly, Kitty's hand moved upward. He gripped it tighter and turned around. She was being lifted away from him! He held on as tight as he could, clenching his teeth into a determined grimace. She let out a terrible scream and John watched helplessly as her fingers were tore away from his. The creature held her tight and beat its great wings harder gaining altitude. She continued screaming and screaming and tears flowed out of John's eyes as he watched, powerless to do anything at all. The creature raised his spear with one hand and held Kitty with the other. With one powerful motion Kitty's cries stopped.
"Noooo!" John screamed. "Nooo! Nooo!" He repeated it over and over; unable to believe this was happening. The creature dropped Kitty and she fell to the ground with a hard thud. Still screaming, John crawled towards her. He looked into her eyes; at the beautiful eyes he had fallen in love with, the eyes that had changed his life two months ago, and saw nothing there. There was nothing. Nothing. He sobbed uncontrollably and grabbed her head in his arms. "No… no.. no…" he repeated to himself.
He was only vaguely aware as the heavy beating noise of wings slowly faded away into the distance. He didn't notice that the sky had changed from its dark and purple color, to a far more sinister and uninviting red. He sat there, holding her in his hands, sobbing until he no longer could.
And he knew Kitty was dead. But at the same time he knew that she couldn't be dead. A creature so wonderful, so beautiful, could never be taken from this world. He lifted her in his arms and wrapped a shoulder around her limp body, to support her. He feebly walked once again down the street.
"Come on, we're almost there," he whispered to her, "Just a little bit further down the street." He dragged himself, and her onward, determined to reach McDonald's and have lunch with his one true love. "Come on…," he pleaded, "..come on…" His words came out between breaths. Tears were rolling down his cheeks again. Her blood had begun to seep through her clothing staining his own shirt and pants. The weight of her body began to become too much for him. "Come on… we're almost there…" he was crying uncontrollably now. He couldn't take it anymore and the two of them collapsed in the parking lot of McDonald's.
John lied there for a few moments, weeping quietly to himself when suddenly he heard it again. The beating of that hideous creature's wings. He raised himself up and turned to face it, with new energy fueled by his own fury. "You!" he cried out. His eyes darted around frantically until he spotted a large rock. He jumped forward and grabbed it, clutching it against his fingers until his knuckles turned white. His breaths came out in sharp hisses between his clenched teeth. The beating grew louder and louder and when the thing was finally close enough John let out a scream of rage and hurled the rock. It struck the creature with a satisfying thump and it fell downwards a few feet, its wings flapping about frantically in an effort to regain its balance. The creature finally managed to right itself and shot towards John, powered by its own newfound sense of rage. Upon impact the creature grabbed John by his arm and brought him upwards to towards the heavens. John looked down and realized there was nothing he could do to stop this bizarre creature. He was going to die. Just like Kitty.
A surge of adrenaline flowed through him fueled by his own realization of his hopeless situation. He beat furiously against the creature, but its chest felt as hard as rock against his, comparatively, small fists. Then he felt an odd sensation like nothing he'd ever felt before, followed by an extreme pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the tip of a spear, poking through his own body. It all seemed so unreal to him, and his vision began to blur. As he tried to breath he could see blood emerging from the hole in him. Then suddenly he was falling. This seemed unreal too, like a dream. Or a nightmare.
He hit the ground and blackness obscured his vision momentarily. When he opened his eyes again he saw the horrible red sky. He turned his head to the side and saw a familiar figure lying beside him. "K..Kitty…" he barely managed to cough it out. He summoned all his strength and threw his own hand towards hers. He grabbed and gave it one final squeeze. As he laid there, his life oozing out of him with every breath he took, he was thankful that he was able to spend his last final moments with the one he loved. The one he would always love. Kitty.