Happy Friday! Today I'm posting for a wonderful fundraising idea dreamed up by author Kyra Lennon. Kyra volunteers at her local Cats Protection branch for rescued kitties in need of a loving home and decided to put together a cat-themed anthology to help the cause. Here is my contribution, which was inspired by Egyptian mythology and Tom & Jerry. Hope you enjoy!
Cat and Mouse
A
growl of frustration came from deep in Jabari’s stomach as he eyed the mouse
that had secreted itself in a hole in the mudbrick wall. The little beady eyes
and quivering whiskers hovered just inside the recess, seeming to be mocking
him. He paced and growled again, trying to be menacing, although he didn’t feel
like it.
“It
will give up eventually,” purred a deep voice with an alluringly feminine tone.
“Stay strong, Jabari.”
Jabari’s
ears pricked up and a chill ran through him, which always happened when the
great goddess Bast manifested. His ears flattened and he lowered himself to the
floor in a gesture of supplication. “Please help me catch this elusive mouse, O
great Bast.”
“Oh
do get up you silly tom, that’s what I’m doing.” The irritated voice seemed to
come from within his own head, but when he looked to his left, Bast looked like
a normal cat, albeit extremely beautiful - sleek, papyrus-coloured, with large
brown almond-shaped eyes. He knew not to look too long, or he would be transfixed
by her radiance.
A
morsel of cheese materialised on the other side of him. The mouse’s whiskers
thrummed with greater ferocity and Jabari could practically see it salivating.
It was the most succulent cheese to be found in the Lower Delta, and Jabari had
to restrain himself from gobbling it.
“Now,
we wait. He will not be able to resist for long.”
But
Jabari didn’t feel like waiting. He was getting old, and wanted nothing more
than to curl up and sleep in a patch of warm sun. What did it matter if he let
one mouse go? Cats were so revered in Egypt that he was hardly likely to be
thrown out on the street, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of the
goddess.
As
if sensing his thoughts of blasphemy - which he knew she was - her voice rang out in his head again. “Patience, Jabari. You
will win over this puny creature.”
Now
Jabari was getting annoyed. He glanced again for a second at Bast - who was
watching him with an expression of faint disdain - and at that moment the mouse
dashed out of the hole, snatched up the cheese under one front leg, and
scrabbled up the wall on the opposite side of the room. Jabari snarled,
crouched and lunged, but it was too late. The mouse was clinging onto the wall
near the ceiling and rapidly devouring the cheese, and two thoughts hit him at
once.
Since
when could mice climb up walls?
And
this mouse had not only climbed the wall, but had committed a heretical act. He
had dashed up the mural of Bast in her glory days, as a woman with the head of
a lioness, and was actually sitting at the open mouth of the painting as if
defying her to snap down her jaws.
A
terrible yowl from Bast made him claw at his own head in a hopeless attempt to
stop the noise. “Witchcraft!” she shrieked. “Blasphemy!”
Jabari
looked open-mouthed from Bast back to the mouse, which had finished the cheese
and seemed to be sneering at them. A terrible heat was coming from the middle
of the room, which had been hot enough to start with. Jabari turned and shrank
back, shielding his eyes and trying to curl into the wall. Out of the corner of
his eye, he saw Bast also looked subdued, her front legs stretched out in front
of her and her chin touching the floor.
The
sun god Ra had manifested; the creator of all living things, he was also Bast’s
father. A giant, muscular man with the head of a hawk and a blinding image of
the sun disk atop his head.
“Your
powers are weakening, Bast,” he intoned. “Why was this mouse able to outsmart
an experienced hunter so easily?”
“I...
I do not know, father,” said Bast, her formerly authoritative voice sounding
meek compared to Ra’s booming tones. “It has been happening more and more of
late.”
“Yes,
I know,” said Ra. “The balance of power is shifting, which is why a new member
of my celestial family has arisen. Allow me to introduce you to Nantor.”
The
great god held up a clenched fist; when he opened it, a brown mouse with
piercing eyes and a tiny head dress like the one worn by Ra materialised and
stood proudly.
“You
are relieved of your duties as a deity,” went on Ra, as Bast’s eyes widened in
horror. “The mice have grown in number and intelligence, and Nantor shall be
their idol. A new temple is to be built in his honour at Bubastis, site of your
own shrine which houses thousands of mummified cats. Although they will be left
in place, the temple will cease to function as a place of worship.”
The
sun disk on Ra’s head seemed to expand until it filled the entire room, and
Jabari was forced to squeeze his eyes shut. When he opened them, Ra and the new
mouse god had disappeared. Bast was still there, but... diminished. She
stretched, and paced in a circle a few times. Jabari realised what had
happened. Ra had removed her status as a goddess, but allowed her to remain as
a mortal being. She was trying out her physical body for the first time.
She
stopped, and sat down, and they both watched blankly as the mouse ran down from
the wall. It brazenly crossed the floor in front of them, climbed the opposite
wall, and disappeared out of the window. Jabari couldn’t process what was
happening, so what must it feel like for Bast?
His
owner came into the room and paused, brow creased in confusion, as he stared at
the feline newcomer. Did he know what had happened? Would both of them be
thrown out to starve?
“Where
did you come from?” he said, glancing briefly at Jabari before walking past him
to pick up Bast. She let herself be tickled under the chin and Jabari heard her
purr. “Let’s see if we can find you some food.” He put her down again and walked
to the door. “The kitchen’s this way.” They both trotted after him, and Jafari
could sense some kind of relief coming from Bast. Being a goddess was a lot of
pressure, after all. She’d never had an owner to give her any affection, and Ra
was probably too busy to spend any quality time with her. So cats weren’t going
to be worshipped any more, and he wouldn’t end up being pickled and wrapped in
bandages, but that was okay with him as long as he still got fed.
There
might be a problem with mice eating through stores of grain in their new found
position of power, but it wasn’t his problem. Maybe mice would be kept as pets
and fed on cheese so they wouldn’t have to eat the grain. The pressure was off
him, as well. He had never quite enjoyed having to kill them.
Bio:
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Trained as a journalist, he now enjoys creating new worlds and getting to know his characters better. When not writing he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He also works as a freelance editor and proofreader. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine and is the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew, a fundraiser for his stepson's college fund. You can find him at his writing blog, Scattergun Scribblings.
I give Kyra permission to use my story in the anthology.
Please go to Kyra's blog to check out the other participants!
Yes, it's a great day for the IWSG as its very own "Guide to Publishing and Beyond" is out now, completely gratis! I was very proud to contribute to this tome which is chock full of advice on anything and everything to do with writing, publishing and marketing. Having read some of the posts from the bloghop I can vouch that this is a fantastic resource for anyone at any stage of the game, from the members of the IWSG who have been through the battles. I look forward to reading the rest of the entries I missed. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.
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