Skitter

Skitter is Benny’s cat. He’s a fun cat. Very loving, he seems to always be very happy when Benny gets home from school. They usually wind up playing for a while before Benny settles in to his homework. This was the case today.

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After dinner, Benny watched a little TV with his dad, then went to his room to do a little extra credit reading. Not long after, he heard his great pal, Skitter, scratching at the door. He lets Skitter into the room, goes back to his spot on his bed to read, and Skitter joins him up there.

The cat paces back and forth, seemingly impatient. Then, he subsides, sits down in the direction of Benny, watching him. Skitter, relaxed, just stares at Benny while he’s reading.

Benny’s dad checks in and tells him it’s time for lights out, but he can read with the lamp while he finishes his chapter. His dad turns off Benny’s overhead light as Benny switches on his table lamp.

Skitter sees his shadow cast on the wall next to the bed from the table lamp. It’s a big shadow. Benny laughs as Skitter rears up on his hind legs and confronts the dark mass on the wall. He growls under his breath and then flips himself onto the bed. Benny adores this and pets him.

Suddenly, Skitter stops and turns his head toward the middle of the room. Away from Benny and way from the shadow. He sees something. He gets up onto all fours and stalks something invisible. “What is it, Skitter? What do you see?” The cat digs into the bedding, and almost inaudibly growls nervously. His pupils are opened wide, and the hair is standing up along his spine.

Skitter hisses loudly, almost screeching. He settles down, he slowly examines the side of the bed, down to the floor, looking it up and down. He jumps down and inspects the area of the room he had been frenetic about. The cat circles a spot on the rug, he paws at it, then sniffs. He jerks his paw with disfavor. He is visibly affected by the experience. “What’s the deal, Skitter? What happened?”

Skitter jumps up onto the bed again, and situates himself on the edge of the bed. He looks out into the room, then he looks over his shoulder at Benny. Benny reaches over and pets the bridge of Skitter’s nose. Skitter purrs loudly. He seems to be over whatever the spectrum was hiding from Benny.

There’s a knock on the door, it’s Benny’s mom. “You should clean up for sleep now, angel.” Benny agrees as his mom comes in and sits with him on the bed. “I don’t know if you’re aware of it, Benny, but it’s been a year since your sister passed.”

Skitter yowls horrifyingly, while glaring at the spot on the rug. He leaps from the bed and out of the room.

The End
492 Words

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