Petlife logo

Shadow Chaser

Tall Tails Contest: Cats were once worshipped as gods in Ancient Egypt. Did you ever wonder why?

By Susan MacdonaldPublished about a year ago Updated about a year ago 3 min read
2
Shadow Chaser
Photo by Akin Cakiner on Unsplash

Shadowhunter

by Susan Murrie Macdonald

Caesar licked his paws as he contemplated ‘the servant problem.’ Like most cats, this topic was one to which his thoughts often turned. In his case, more than most. Being an indoor cat, he was unable to discuss the matter with other cats.

His servants were affectionate and obedient, if a trifle lazy. The maid objected to getting his breakfast before sunrise. He had to be quite firm when he called her in the morning.

The maid and her husband were adamant about not letting him outside, lest he be struck by a car. He appreciated that they cared, but they did need to learn who was master in this household. They were overly familiar to the point of Lèse-majesté.

Caesar sometimes questioned their sanity, or at least their intelligence. They seemed to be under the impression he was their kitten and they were his progenitors. They even referred to themselves in the third person as Mommy and Daddy when speaking to him.

They had trouble learning his name, sometimes calling him Caesar, sometimes Most Beautiful (it’s not flattery if it’s true), sir, son, goofball, furchild, or darling. The maid had the odd habit of crossing her arms in front of her chest and reciting “Wauconda Forever” when she greeted

him. Why she was so interested in a small town in northern Illinois, he had no idea.

As vigilant as his servants were at keeping him indoors, he had no opportunity to look for replacement servants. Well, he had enough to keep him busy in the house. The place was full of shadows.

On the rare occasions a mouse snuck inside, they praised him vociferously for catching the wicked vermin and traded him treats for the corpse, but when he caught and killed shadows they didn’t even notice. He licked his paw again. Humans.

The maid pecked away at the keyboard of her laptop. She kicked a small plastic ball with a bell in it toward him. Caesar ignored the storebought toy and pounced at shadows on the floor.

“Good boy,” Mom coo’d. “Shadowhunting again? Great mousehunting practice. Who’s a beautiful, clever, miniature domestic black panther? You are, silly boy. Beautiful, but silly.”

Caesar merowed in triumph as he caught a shadow. The maid looked up from her laptop; she spent too much time on Facebook, talking to other humans who were fortunate enough to live with black cats. Caesar wasn’t vain, well, not too vain, but there was a certain satisfaction in knowing total strangers in other states appreciated his beauty.

The maid looked at Caesar, but her weak human eyes saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then she turned her head and saw where his shadow fell on the floor. In the mouth of his shadow,

she saw the shadow of a pixie or a sprite.

Her eyes flew upon wide. Her jaw dropped. She resembled a Chuck Jones illustration. It looked like the silhouette of an Elf on the Shelf doll, frantically flailing and struggling in his jaws.

Caesar reacted to her reaction. He opened his jaw and dropped the wounded shadow to the floor, pinning it in place with a paw. Then he did something he’d never risked before. Enunciating quite clearly, with an execrable German accent, he said “You see nothing. Nothing.”

The maid closed her eyes. She did not open her eyes again until she had turned her head back to the laptop.

Caesar humphed. She ought not to need anything on her lap but him.

Caesar dispatched the shadow. One merciful blow from his sharp claws put the shadow out of its misery. He opened his jaw and carried the vermin off to dispose of it.

Once again he had protected his home from the shadows, not that his humans would ever realize that. The maid had already forgotten. There was a reason cats had once been worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt.

finis

cat
2

About the Creator

Susan Macdonald

Susan Murrie Macdonald is a minor author, with roughly two dozen stories published thus far, mostly fantasy, but also science fiction, westerns, and romance. She is a stroke survivor. She writes as a form of cognitive therapy.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments (1)

Sign in to comment
  • Chuck Etheridgeabout a year ago

    This was fun on many levels. Thank you!

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.