Snippet of Wayfinders

 I woke to the sound of her dog softly woofing. The sky outside my window was dark, but my digital alarm clock illuminated the room. The clock’s face showed 6:45.

6:45!? I sighed, peeling back my warm covers and pulling myself out of bed. And on a Sunday morning too!

Lulu’s stubby tail wagged excitedly as she hopped off my bed and waited by the door.

I sighed again, now that I was out of bed there was no turning back. I shuffled across my shaggy rug and fumbled with the doorknob.

The house was quiet, save the jingling of Lulu’s collar as she bounded down the stairs. I yawned and followed after her. 

I found Lulu sitting by the back door. After unlocking it and letting Lulu out, I peered up into the night sky, the sun had just started peaking over the treetops on the other side of the house, casting some light into the yard. The air was chilly so I closed the door again. My thoughts returned to the day ahead, and I was about to decide if I was going to wear my pink church dress or my blue, when Lulu returned to the door.

I let lulu in and headed back up the stairs. I had decided to wear my Pink dress, and was about to open my closet to retrieve it, when I heard a noise from inside.

Lulu had long since abandoned me for my parents' bed, so I had no choice but to face what was in my closet alone. With a shaky hand I reached for the doorknob, paused, and threw the door back.

“AHHHHHH!” I recoiled from my closet and fell to the floor, waiting for my fate.

Nothing.

“Huh,” I got up and inspected my very normal looking closet. Everything was in its place, and it definitely didn't look like any monsters had been in there recently. But then something caught my eye. Something shifted inside one of my bureau drawers. 

Looking around for something to defend myself with, I snatched one of my high heels from the floor and bracing myself, opened the drawer. 

I stared into the inky darkness of the drawer, and two yellow eyes stared back.

I froze, my breath caught in my throat. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. It was like the whole world was holding their breath, waiting for what would happen next.

“Surprise?” 

I got half a shriek in before the thing jumped out onto my face, shushed earnestly and covered my mouth. This only produced more muffled shrinks until I actually looked at my ambusher. It was…. A cat.

“...Now please stop screaming!? Someone is going to hear you!” the cat pleaded, finally removing his paws off my mouth.

“WHAT-IN-THE-NAME-OF-FROZEN-CUSTARD-ARE-YOU!?” I gasped, sucking in fresh air.

The creature cocked his head to the side. “I’m a Wayfinder of course. B-but how can you see me?” 

Wayfinder or not, he was a strange sight to behold; he looked like a cat, but his fur was a deep blue with flecks of silver making it shine. But his paws, ears, and tail were black. But the strangest thing about him wasn’t how he looked, it was that he could talk.

“What, my dear blue friend, is a Wayfinder!?” I asked, reaching again for my high heel which had flown out of my hands when I fell on the floor.

“You weren't planning on hitting me with that, were you?” the strange cat inquired.

“I- I don’t know what I was planning. And you didn’t answer my question!”

“Ok look-” the cat started.

The lights flickered on in the hallway as my brother Jimmy burst in my room.

“Jenny, time to get up and ready for- oh you’re up,” he said, looking just slightly concerned that I was in my closet welding a shoe and looking like I had just seen a ghost.

“Why are you not surprised there is a cat in my closet!?” I pointed my high heel at the cat.

“Uhhh… You have said a lot of strange things in the morning, but I’ve never heard that before” Jimmy smirked before stepping back into the hallway. “Anyway I thought I would get up early today and maybe finally beat you at getting ready for church. Bye!”

“He can’t see me,” the cat said simply, like that somehow explained why there was a strange cat in my closet who could talk but no one else noticed.

“But then why can I!?” I asked, exasperated, looking back at where my brother left.

There was no answer. The “Wayfinder” was gone.

Whether it was that third slice of pizza I had last night or that I was going crazy, I wasn’t about to let an imaginary cat ruin my chance of being first ready for church. So with one last look at the empty drawer, I picked out my church dress and left for the shower.