As he set about returning X to the land of the living, it didn’t escape George that there was a big difference between bringing back a human compared to that of a cat. When he’d saved the life of his brother Bertie, it had been hard enough. So hard that the exhaustion had robbed him of his appetite for an entire week—something he had once thought unthinkable. Observing her body, he wondered if he’d bitten off more than he could chew, and for a brief second was petrified that he would fail, but as the eyes of the other animals awaited his command, he doubted himself no more. It wasn’t just that he had the help of his kin, it had something to do with that word again. That word he didn’t know but of which the meaning was in his bones. Destiny. Perhaps saving his brother all those years ago hadn’t just been a one-off, but a way to prepare him for this very moment. That somehow his entire life had been leading up to the events taking place in this bathroom, and that the actions of a simple cat prone to fleas and an irritable bowel were destined to make the world a better place. As he looked into her eyes as she lie there open-mouthed and motionless, he understood that without her, the world would be robbed of a curious soul and that the magic of a curious soul was what saved other souls from turning to stone. He’d known that ever since he’d first set eyes upon her. How beautiful she was. Even now as she existed on the brink of death, he found himself cowering at the sight of such beauty. The very thought of touching her made his stomach fill with butterflies, but touch her he must. Reaching out his right paw, he pressed it against her forehead. The animals held their breath in anticipation. As he did so, the fur on his body stood on end, and as he whipped his tail from side to side, his mind bloomed with the image of stars. So many, many stars.

A Journal for Damned Lovers UK

A Journal for Damned Lovers US

Anthology UK / Anthology US