I'll Put a Spell on You Part 2

Back at the condo, Muse Cat is up and staring at the rain. He’s found a new way to communicate with me.

He’s been walking on my laptop keys and has spelled out a message—aqualung. It’s up to me to figure out what it means.

The way I see it, if he’s got to be a Muse, and not some lovely goddess, or anything attractive like that—he should at least perfect the art of communicating effectively. Or, self publish on Amazon Kindle.

Yeah, I know—that was testy—my bad.

He starts his mewing. It will escalate to moans, growls and incessant grumbles and turn into walking on me while I sleep—and it will end, when I solve the puzzle.

I’ve tried walling him out, escaping behind a locked bedroom door, but he literally throws himself against it. There’s no other option but to find out what he means.

I open Google and skate around a while—skimming and scanning—hoping something will pop. It doesn’t, but at least, it placates my Muse. He’s back on the sofa cushion fast asleep.

Bored, I start browsing my photo stream and make a shocking discovery.

There are a series of photos that have been uploaded to my stream, including selfies of a beautiful girl—who she is, I have no idea, but it’s obvious she has my phone and has not turned off the cloud sync feature.

At first, I’m angry, determined to recover my phone, but as I stare at her, my anger turns to fascination. She’s incredibly beautiful and haunting. I find myself being drawn into the life of this mysterious stranger.

I start scanning her photos one by one and enlarging them, searching for details.

There’s a birthday party photo posted on April 8th, and from a picture of the cake, I find out her name is Cleo. She’s leaning forward to blow out the candles—eyes closed, smiling and face softly lit.

She has long, honey-colored hair and huge dark eyes you can just fall into and never climb back out—or want to, for that matter.

She lives in a townhouse, an end unit, beside a walkway to a park, surrounded by trees. If she sleeps with her windows open at night, it must sound like a waterfall.

She has a long haired calico cat named Winnie and she Photoshops it in various poses adding bonnets and dresses in Jane Austen style. Charming.

I print a photo of the girl and place it on a side table by my bed—she’s the last thing I see at night and the first face I see each morning. My obsession.

Muse Cat wakes me early every day for a week, mewing and complaining. I know he’s got something to tell me, but I just don’t know what it is.

To make matters worse, I should be working on the manuscript, but all I can think of is the girl.

Maybe Musey should branch out from Muse to Matchmaker, because right now my life is just miserable.

I carry on in this holding pattern for the next few weeks, struggling with my manuscript and worshipping Cleo from afar. Every day should be accompanied by the strains of Stormy Weather—it seems the April showers will never end.

Near the end of the month, I finally hit my breaking point.

It’s raining again and Muse Cat’s driving me slowly insane, so I get out and walk the bubbling streets and dream of the girl I’ll never meet.

When I get home, the condo’s dark with the ambiance of a rainy afternoon. Everything seems to exude peace—but, no sooner do I think that, when Muse Cat starts moaning again.

I’m beginning to envy dead people.

I turn on a few lamps, light a fire, and pour a full glass of Shiraz. I figure if I’m calm, Musey will calm down too, but no luck.

I try going to I-tunes on my laptop and select some Billie Holiday bluesy Thirties’ tunes, figuring if I close my eyes maybe I can go somewhere where mewing can’t reach me.

But Billie’s voice is abruptly squelched as Musey begins walking on the keyboard—but this time, a strange song comes on. I’m mesmerized by the haunting melody and lyrics.

I’ve been watching your world from afar,
I’ve been trying to be where you are,
and I’ve been secretly falling apart…

The song goes on, pulling from me every emotion I’ve stifled, it seems, for years. I find tears running down my cheeks—and Musey—well, he’s on the back of the sofa, purring, with a paw on my shoulder comforting me.

When the song finishes, I get up and check the I-tunes listing: Aqualung – Strange and Beautiful (I’ll Put a Spell On You).

A chill steals up my spine—my scalp tingles. I get it, finally!

I scrap my previous concept and start working on my new inspiration— Girl From Afar. Musey promptly falls asleep.

Six months later, the book is in the publisher’s hands, Harry Black’s delighted and life is back to normal—well, almost.

You see, Harry persuaded me to use the Find My Phone app and locate the strange and beautiful Cleo. I found out all kinds of details—where she lives, the art gallery where she works, and Chez Denise, the bistro where she eats lunch every day.

It seems I’ve developed a taste for French cuisine and have been spending my lunch hours getting acquainted with this beautiful girl from my dreams.

I think this one will work out.

Musey’s been walking the keyboard, opening my photo stream and staring at pictures of a certain long haired calico cat.

He’s spending a lot of time staring out at the rain. I think Winnie’s put a spell on him.

© 2017, John J Geddes. All rights reserved

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Winnie Photo: @countrygirl