Challenge #02080-E256: Station Cats
what would be a "normal" day for a cat in a space-station? -- Anon Guest
[AN: I originally thought - normal pet cat or Skitty? And then I thought... why not both?]
Pet.
The day begins with the rude noise as Elith's Feedme[1] stirs in their sleep nook. Elith used her claws to show mild displeasure at having her own rest disturbed by the movement of the Feedme. Not that she could stop the bald, two-legged creature. Feedmes were much bigger than Elith, and she had little power to stop anything that big.
The Feedme gave Elith some mild grooming by way of an apology and busied themself with the booth where they cleaned themselves. Elith left them to it, going through slow stretches and her own bathing routine before checking on her food receptacle.
Tragedy. It was empty. "Hey! Heeeeyyyy! Feedme! Do your job!" Of course Feedmes couldn't understand Cat very well, but noise was essential for them to understand that something needed to be fixed. And, to be strictly fair, Cats didn't understand Feedme very well either. "Food! Food now!"
The Feedme picked up the food receptacle, cleaned it, and filled it, echoing Elith's words with their own nonsense. Most of it was variations on, "Heeeeyyyy!" and "Food!"
Stupid creature. They were lucky that Cats like Elith existed to make sure they did the important things.
The Feedme left, as it did for an impossible time. Elith used to worry, but her Feedme always returned. Often times with tasty food and playthings. That was the time Elith treasured, when she could perch on her Feedme and get groomed and scratched in just the right spots. But that was hours away, yet.
In the meantime, there was the virtual mouse. One day, she would kill that thing for good.
Skitty.
Yawn and stretch. Groom self and several cousins who happen to occupy the same sleep-nest. Sleep time is done. Rish has energy to burn, now.
Stalk between food places. Nothing particularly interesting, so Rish fills their stomach and then patrols the throughways for anything... interesting. On the way, they catch up on the scent-news from other Cats in the area. Hm. Thist has had kittens. Nice. They would soon be bumble-tumbling around in easy-access areas, learning how to hunt. Rish would keep a watchful eye out for them in due course.
There!
Chase!
Pounce!
Kick, wrestle, bite, jump, claw!
Yes! Good hunt!
Rish played with the small corpse for a while and then devoured the tastiest bits as a reward. Then, after a good grooming session, climbed up somewhere warm to survey their domain. And nap.
Life was good.
[1] Cats have an economical way of naming the creatures who look after them.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / pitrs]
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