VERY Short Stories page one

I like to make tiny journals/notebooks to either write in or draw in. I made one I called “Cat Tails/Tales” and it had little stories involving cats in one way or the other. I kept the stories very short to fit on only 1 or 2 pages. 3 pages max. Here are two of them. Enjoy.

Free Coupon

Everything in her life seemed stale and unreal lately. A dull sameness cast a pall over her the moment she got up in the morning. For breakfast she had a bowl of cornflakes and thought about what she had to do that day.

She went through her usual routine at work, feeling like she was in a fishbowl with nothing between her and real life except a wall of glass. She could almost see the bubbles rising from the mouths of the others in the office.

After her noon meal of microwave diet stew, she left the lunchroom still feeling vaguely empty.

She thought that maybe a short walk in the 25 minutes she had left of her lunch hour would clear the Saran Wrap from her mind. As soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk, a bus jumped the curb and hit her.

When she woke up in the hospital with nothing but a mild concussion and a broken toe, she felt she’d been given a second chance. Almost like a coupon for a new life. She called her supervisor at work and said she was quitting, effective immediately. She felt so much better she splurged and took a cab home from the hospital.

At home, she threw out all the houseplants that were in the process of dying, admitting to herself at last that she hated anything to do with gardening.

“Maybe I’ll get a cat. Or even two!” she thought, as she looked in her cupboards for Spam. She happily ate her dinner of Spam, eggs, bacon and Spam, and looked through the want ads. Now she could live the life she was meant to live.

2002                                                             

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Catdream

I had a wonderful dream.

I was a famous cat breeder and trainer, and in great demand by people in the entertainment business. It was a status symbol to own one of my cats. Beautiful models would refuse to pose unless there was one of my cats in the picture. Movie stars would demand not only their own trailer on the set, but their own cat. And it had to be one of my cats.

When I awoke, at first I was sad that it was only a dream. But then I figured it was OK. I probably wouldn’t have handled fame all that well. I probably would’ve become a snob and been difficult to deal with. I might even have taken to drink. I might’ve gambled away my millions and been forced to sell my cats from the back of my car, where I would be living since the foreclosure on my mansion.

Yes, it’s just as well that it was only a dream.

But I hope I have that dream again. 

2002