"You're getting lazy," he said, laying on his back.
"So?"
"It's boring."
"It's summer. One is supposed to lay around when it's summer."
"That's what you said during winter."
"What's your point?" she asked.
"You need to stay in shape. You have responsibilities."
"You mean taking care of you and all the other cats?"
"That's exactly what I mean."
"Are you saying that I'm slowing down? Not taking good care of you?"
"No. I'm saying that you need to be more active so that you can continue to do those things."
"I got an email asking if I wanted to attend a class reunion?"
"What your seven thousandth?"
"Yes, that's exactly how long I've been out of high school. Before the invention of the wheel."
"I thought so."
"What is your problem?"
"What was your answer?" he asked.
"I said that I wasn't interested."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to see the people who invented FIRE."
"Touchy aren't you," he said. "You look pretty good, you're not decaying or anything."
"Everyone on this rock is decaying, but that's beside the point."
"What is the point?"
"The people I hung out with are spread all over the place. They aren't going to fly in for a reunion."
"So?"
"We've lost touch, some are dead and..."
"Dead?"
"It happens."
"I know. You just seem to have a lot of dead people around you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"How do I know," he said, eating his treats.
"People die all the time."
"Since this is the planet of death, I get that," he said.
"The planet of death?"
"Got a better name for it?"
She thought for a few minutes, cleaned up the dishes, fed him more food, then said, "Actually, I think that's the perfect name for this place. Well done."
"Thanks."
She nodded. "So what have you been up to?"
"What do people do at reunions?"
"Eat weird food, talk and wonder why they ever showed up."
"Really?"
"No. Not really. It's a time to catch up with people you used to have fun with, but haven't seen in seven thousand years. People chat and remember all the stupid things they did together. They talk about the kids they did, or didn't have. All that kind of stuff. A lot of people lover those things."
"And you?"
"Yeah. Not so much. I had some good friends, one I kept until she died, but I hung out with kids who didn't go to my school."
"Why? That would be like me hanging out with cats in a different neighborhood."
"I guess. But the kids in my school were...nice."
"And you weren't?"
"I'm still not."
"I see."
"I doubt it."
"So no reunion?"
"No reunion."
"What about the other kids you hung around with? Weren't they nice?"
"They were more...mmmm...dangerous."
"But still nice?"
"If you part of the group, then yes."
"So they were nice to you?"
"Yes."
"Do you miss those olden days?"
"Olden days," she said, smiling. "Not for a second."
"But you had fun."
"I definitely had fun."
"You're smiling."
"So, how do you like summer school?"
"Boring. The questions I have are never really answered. I mean how can we know what's really inside a black hole unless someone goes inside one?"
"If someone went inside one, that person would be stretched to death and even if she, or he, wasn't, time and space are reversed and then there's the fact that nothing can escape a black hole, so no sound, or message, would be forthcoming."
"Hawking said radiation can escape, at least he thought so."
"Even if it's true, it wouldn't tell you what's going on inside the black hole."
"I'm taking a bio class with a lab."
"I didn't know that."
" I just picked it up a few days ago. They had rats in cages."
"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, frowning.
"I let them out."
"You didn't eat them, did you?"
"No. I freed them."
"That was nice of you. Thank you."
"I did it for you."
"For me?" she whispered.
"I know how you hate that kind of thing and I felt sorry for them, so I let them go."
She pulled him toward her, and began kissing and hugging him, until he broke free.
"Jeeeeeeez control yourself," he said, licking his hip.
"I love you so much."
"Jinx helped me. We went back to the lab when the school was closed and let all the animals out. We told them to follow us. A couple of the mice had a hard time keeping up so we held them in our mouths and took them outside. Jinx said we might have been caught on camera, so I'm not going back to my classes."
"You guys are amazing."
"You already knew that, right?"
"I did. Where are all the animals you saved?"
"No idea. Once they were outside, they all took off."
"Thank you," she said, kissing him again.
"No one should be kept in a cage."
"I couldn't agree more."
"It's cruel."
"It is."
"I know what you mean about Banderas just being the voice of Puss, in the movie. It's disappointing, but I get it."
"It happens a lot."
He nodded.
"I'm going home to get ready for tonight. I have new catnip mice for everyone and new beanbag chairs. There will be lots to eat and new movies."
"So, it will be like every other night."
"Yes."
"Perfect."
"See you then," she said, kissing him some more.
"See you then," he said, curling into a ball.
"I love you," she said.
"I know," he purred.
She picked up her tote bag and walked away grinning.
Photo: Pixabay
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