Eyes Open
Douglass
As soon as I looked up, I found Nat and Jacob soundly asleep on
the couch. I felt warm inside, like I actually did something good
for once.
I quietly got up and walked into my old room to put the guitar
back on it's stand. I stood there, looking around. It was
almost untouched. My bed was still unmade, there were
splatter-painted skinnyjeans in the corner, my old sketchbook was
closeed with a mechanical pencil still between my most recent
pages. I look up at the ceiling where, like my walls, there was a
surrealistic painting. A sort of Starry
Night piece but it had stars bursting and flowing
galaxies and swirls and, it was undescribable. I could see
various lyrics to my favorite songs written within the painting.
It reminded me of how whenever I couldn't sleep, I would lie
down and just look up at the painting and sing the lyrics and
maybe even the songs if I could remember all the words. I would
slowly feel myself feeling a little safer in the hell that was my
household.
I sighed, "Almost five years since I left. Since I played my
guitar or sang. Since I've actually painted something like
this. Since-"
Meow
I flinched again at the sound. I slowed turned to look out the
window and I saw a shadow of a cat on the edge of the roof
nextdoor. I squinted to get a better look to see that it
wasn't a shadow but the actual cat. Blacker than the night
itself. It leaped to the windowsill and came in through the
bars and broken glass. It hopped onto my old bed and sat there,
looking at me. Mrow..prrr..Mrow
I tilted my head and just stared, astonished.
After a few minutes the small cat walked around my bed and
nestled itself under the fold of my blankets.
I slowly walked over and sat next to the jet black kitten to get
a closer look.
It looked up at me and i soon saw that Its left eye was scarred
and matted and scabby. Like it was burned with boiling oil on the
side of it's face, and it kept scratching at it. It's
right ear looked like it was bitten off by a bigger animal. The
cat's face was thin, just like its skeleton body and it
looked like a mess. But it's eye was a glistening
turquoise-blue with small bursts of amber closer to it's
pupil. Simply beautiful, this small creature was.
I smiled and raised my hand to pet it. At first the cat flinched
and looked down as if waiting to be beaten. Waiting to be
punished for no wrongdoing. My heart sank and i felt myself tear
up a little bit, "I'm sorry.." I whispered with a
shakey voice.
The cat looked back up at my hand that hovered inches from its
mangled face and sniffed it for a bit. Then it lowered it's
head and closed its eyes to sleep.
I slowly got up and went back to the living room and pour a small
bowl of soup and cut a few pieces of cheese and walked back into
my room where the cat was lying down. I sat next to it and it
woke up and looked up at the food.
"Here," I said softly, holding out a piece of cheese
infront of the cat. It sniffed it and took it and inhaled
it.
"Meow" It sat up for more.
I smiled and knelt on the ground and placed the dishes and
soon the cat came down and began to quickly eat and let out small
prrr's and whimpers. I sat myself on my bed against the wall
and looked up. Soon the small cat, with a budging belly, crawled
toward me purring. He, i guessed, sat himself on my stomach and
lied down so that his small head was under my chin and his
scarred arm was stretched over my collarbone. He nestled himself
in the crook of my neck and slowly fell asleep.
Another wave of warmth flowed through me and I felt a tear roll
down my cheek, disappear into the numbness of my scar and
reappear at my chin before falling ont my black tshirt. I dared
not to touch him in his sleep but I was his nest, his source of
comfort, his lyrics on the ceiling.
I will never let you fall,
I'll stand up with you forever,
I'll be there for you through it all,
Even if saving you sends me to heaven...
***
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