Night Watchman on Duty

NIGHT WATCHMAN ON DUTY

A long day it's been; a long day of napping. A little frustration in moving with the sun spots, but nothing too bothersome. Some people think we're prissy and sleep when we want but we work at night. We're the ones who stay up and watch the house while the masters rest. We watch and protect and are given treats and such. Sometimes I get tuna and that is truly a great day. There's the Lady Master now...

"Beldamore, I got you more kitty litter, food, and t-r-e-a-t-s.” The woman says scratching the cat's head. Beldamore, the family cat, isn’t too small but isn’t too hefty and she’s certainly not a kitten and is solid black.

She thinks I can't spell ‘treats’, how cute.

The Lady Master takes the bag of groceries to the next room.

Well it's nice to know they at least keep me informed. The man master, Mr. Master, isn't around much. He works at the office doing whatever. So, he and I are a lot alike. Their daughter is nice to me. There's something about a child's eyes, I think she really respects me. She's always calling me "pretty kitty" and "pretty girl."

Beldamore yawns and stretches out, almost falling off the window sill. She licks her right front paw and wipes it over her head once and then stares back out of the window.

I've seen quite a few things through this window. Glass is a funny thing to me. You get to see what's going on in the world but at the same time it's a barrier that keeps you from the beautiful visible things from the other side. Well, the windows are always nicer on the other side.

A housefly catches her eye as it flies around her head. She swats at it. You must have been the one buzzin' in my ears last night. It flies off when the daughter enters the front door (letting the fly escape.)  It's the end of the week, Fri-something, and little master doesn't have to go to her studies for the weekend.

"Mom, I'm home.” She says coming in. "Hey, girl.” She scratches behind Beldamore's ears.

Nice to know I'm considered as part of what they call home.

The little girl walks off to her room. Beldamore notices the next-door neighbors. She can see them through their windows as the couple storms through their house to the outside. Now they're fighting and screaming at each other on the front porch. And a glance over, she catches another smaller cat staring at her, sitting in a window in the fighting couple's house. I feel sorry for that poor sap. The woman next door starts yelling louder. Jeez, buddy, give 'er a treat already.

At that moment her attention is nabbed by hearing her masters in the other room.

"You just about packed, sweetie?” The mother asks her baby girl.

"Almost. How long are we going to be gone? Is Beldamore gonna be alright here alone?"

"She'll be fine. We'll only be gone a couple of days."

"Okay."

"Besides, I'll get Mr. Johnson to come over and check on her and feed her.”

"Okay, mommy."

"Sound good then?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Finish packing."

Apparently, my family is going away for the weekend. Looks like I'm working overtime. Lookin' out for mice, burglars, salesmen, Mormon folk, etc. Hope they leave me plenty of food and water. It would be such hell to starve to death. But oh well, I can always raid the kitchen.

A long scream from the little girl echoes from the other room.

Oop, time to go.

"AHH! Mommy! A mouse!"

The mom's stomping at the mouse and missing. She suggests, "Well let's get Beldamore in here.” By the time she finished her sentence Beldamore was right behind her.

Okay ladies, I'm here now.

Beldamore hisses and swats at the mouse, batting it around like a child with a ball. It manages to run out of her reach and heads for the door. And in an instant the mouse completely stops. It’s kicking its little legs but heading nowhere fast. It turns its frantic little head around to see its tail under Beldamore's paw. At that moment her jaws open up and come down. The inside of her mouth, the back of her throat, lit by the light of the room, is the last thing the mouse is to see. She scarfs it down in the heat of the moment.

The mother and daughter masters are still on the little one's bed. The mother has an unsure look on her face.

"Eww, Beldamore. Gross.” The little master says. And sitting proud, she cleans herself.

What'd I do?

"C'mon baby, let's get you packed. Daddy should be here any minute now.” The mother says to hurry her child.

Mice are getting bigger, let me tell ya.

Beldamore walks back down the hall and goes straight for her water and food dishes to wash the taste out of her mouth. Surely the taste of uncooked mice doesn't sit well. She chomps and chomps at her dry food.

Would it kill them to get some real food?

She licks at the water to wash all the crumbs down.

Do they eat this crap, too?

"I'm ready!” The daughter yells.

"Okay, sit tight!” The mom replies from the bathroom, where she's fixing up her hair.

Beldamore jumps up on the little master's bed where she's playing with her dolls.

"I wish you could play with dolls, Beldamore.” She says looking at her beautiful green-eyed cat.

Yeah, and I wish you could eat the mice.

The front door is heard as Beldamore takes off down the hall to see who it is.

"Hello?” The dad calls out.

Oh, it's only the Mister Master.

"Hey, girl."

"Hey daddy, I'm all packed.” His daughter says proudly.

"Me, too.” The mother chimes in.

"Great, let's load up the car.” The dad replies.

Beldamore goes back to sitting in the window. She yawns and stares off into the world. Minutes of bird watching captures her time until loud THUDS of luggage startles her. The three of them have enough bags for a weeklong trip.

You'd think you guys are leaving for the whole summer.

"Okay, girl, you know the drill. Watch the house; don't rip up the furniture, and no parties.” The father laughs.

Yeah, yeah.

The family of three leaves the house, hauling their excessive baggage with them. The cat hops to the floor and stretches out, then jumps up to the front window where she can see them.

"I hope you know how to get out there. We have directions, right?” The woman says.

Look at them, always on the go. They have to be here and there but never for long. And then there's me, their little night watchman. Always here…

They drive off in their dark blue minivan. Beldamore's paw is pressed against the window.

Well, looks like I better check the perimeter. But ya know, if we had a big dumb mutt to put on the front porch it would make my job a hell of a lot easier.

After hopping up in every window to have a look outside, she feels it's time for a catnap. And so, she, the night watchman, naps into the evening. Getting her rest for anything that might come up.

The sun has come and gone and the night is here. All seems peaceful throughout the suburban area in Stereo Falls tonight. Then again, it usually is peaceful; which makes it seem so much of an easier plan for the burglars down the block. They've been watching the house since before the family left earlier that day.

"Bobby, wake up.” Arn says, nudging him aggressively. Bobby wakes up frustrated of course.

"What is it, for God's sake?"

"It's late. Everybody in town's asleep. Let's get to work."

"Okay, we gotta wake Moose up too."

"Yeah... Wait, where is Moose?” A curious Arn wonders.

"I dunno.” Admits Bobby.

"Jeez, Moose, I can't believe you'd chicken out at a time like this."

"Well maybe he just went for a walk or something before we get started.” Says Bobby.

"Take a walk? In the middle of town at midnight?"

"Well..."

"Ugh!” Arn yells slamming on his steering wheel. "Alright, it's time to go to work."

The two men get out of the car quietly and scope out the area around them, as they make their way to the trunk. It’s quiet; dead quiet. The key is turned, the trunk is popped and as it's raised a snore loud enough to wake the dead is heard. Moose, the heftier of the three, was sleeping in the trunk the entire time.

"Dammit, Moose."

"Uh, uh wha? I didn't do nothin'?"

"C'mon, get out."

"We eatin'?” A hungry Moose asks Arn, the obvious leader.

"Not now, meathead. Now let's get in this house and get out."

The three men are in their thirties and are dressed like slouches.

Meanwhile Beldamore's outside digging in trash snooping around. She heads in between houses sniffing about when she locks eyes with another green set staring back at her... And it's her in the window.

She awakens shaky and sniffing.

I hate when I have that dream.

Beldamore begins to clean herself when a sneezing fit starts, though she still keeps going in between sneezes. A yawn and a stretch later and she's down for the food dish. She's chomping down on the dry food trying to pretend it's tuna and then some water to get the dry sandy feel out of her mouth. And that's when she hears footsteps on the porch. Her furry head peeks up and notices the shadow at the front door.

Well, looks like it's time to go to work.

"Alright, Bobby, you go around and check the back. When you get in, unlock this one.” Arn says, taking control.

"Alright.” Bobby takes off around the house.

"Uh, what do I do?"

"Moose, you're lookout. You're always lookout. So look-out."

"Okay. Whatever.” Moose stands out in the center of the front yard just looking around. His head's like a security camera - facing from side to side while he remains stationary.

"Moose, you idiot! Get out of sight!” Arn yells in a whisper. Arn's looking at the front of the house. Of course, he checks the front door just in case these people were dumber than gravel and left it unlocked while going out of town. And, of course, it's locked. He shines his flashlight on the front windows. All he sees is black. It doesn't even look like fabric. No detail, just dark. He knows it's weird, "Man, this place is kind of weird," but still checks to see if they're unlocked. Locked; no cigar. "Damn."

"Boss, I'm hungry. After this can we hit a burger joint?"

"Moose, if you mention your stomach one more time, I'm gonna feed you to the neighborhood strays. Got it?"

"Got it.” Moose takes a sharp look around the block and notices anywhere from three to five stray cats and a mangy stray dog roaming around. He swallows hard, getting scared at the thought of being pet food.

Meanwhile, in the back: Bobby's already jumped the fence and has started working on the backdoor’s lock.

"And a turn here and presto...” He says picking the lock and opening the door. "Okay, here we go.” He puts his lock picking tools in his satchel and grabs his flashlight. Bobby lightly pushes the door open and looks in with his flashlight. Upon seeing the refrigerator and other appliances he realizes that it's the kitchen. "Honey, I'm home.” He whispers giggling to himself.

CRASH!

"What was that?” He asks in the noise’s direction. Something was knocked down or just plain fell but he knows it wasn't him. He's still in the doorway shining his light around the room slowly. Something moving to the side catches his eye. Quickly, the light swings back over to it. Gasping, he's startled. It's large, black, and apparently furry. But it's moving around like a snake.

"Damn.” His flashlight's out. "Not now, dammit.” A frustrated Bobby slaps his flashlight a few times. Ah, finally, it's back on. …And what the light reveals is a face half the size of his whole body with a large illuminated bright green eye and its sharp pearly whites lit by his light are the last thing Bobby sees as it pulls him into the darkness. A quick scream isn't loud enough to be heard.

Arn looks around the side and yells for Bobby in a whisper, “Bobby!” No answer. He yells back to Moose in the same tone, “Moose, knock three times on the door!”

Moose does so before answering, “Ain’t no answer!”

“Will you keep your voice down!?” An aggravated Arn yells back in a quiet tone. He walks around back to check on his partner in crime’s progress to find the back door open, “What the…? Bobby, you in there?”

He pushes the door open further and shines his flashlight around to see…an empty kitchen. Arn walks in, looking around, “Bobby?” He walks past the kitchen and into the living room. He likes what he sees; just what he thought, the house of a well-off family. He looks around for a moment before being SMACKED to the ground, “Ugh! Damn!” He tries to get up to see what had struck him but he continues to take blows from an unseen attacker. Continuously getting walloped back and forth like he’s a ball in a child’s hand, Arn tries to fight back to no avail. His face and arms (his exposed skin) is getting clawed up in the process. The “tough guy” is beginning to whimper like a kid with a scraped knee. The man, who usually preys on innocent unexpecting people, now finds himself prey to something else in this dark house; a toy to be bat around.

“Ugh! Whoa! N-n-no!” He screams being thrown around. He feels something clutch the back of his jacket and he’s thrown up in the air hitting the ceiling before falling back to the floor. It stops; finally, he gets a moment’s rest. Arn lies on the floor, a tattered mess, moaning and groaning. He tries to catch his bearings as his aggressor has backed off when he hears a low rumble. It’s almost a growl but also resembles that of an idling car. The sound is deep and loud and fills the dark space that is the room. Arn can feel the vibrations, “Wha-what is that…?” He turns over to see…the largest set of jaws he’s ever seen in his life descending down upon him. Arn sees large sharp teeth and the light catches a pink tongue of equal size and then darkness…

The air in this room is filled with the sounds of his bones crunching and his flesh tearing. Moose, still on the front porch, doesn’t hear the mangling of Arn on the inside of the house they’d planned to rob.

Outside, the air is still and the neighborhood is quiet; peaceful, unlike the mayhem that has ensued inside the house. Moose stands lookout, scanning the street with his head turning side to side. The front door behind him creaks open slowly and he turns to look.

“Alright, we’re in!” Moose yells in an excited whisper. He pushes the door open the rest of the way and steps in, shining his flashlight around the room seeing nothing but empty space. Moose walks into the house and sees, out of the corner of his eye, something black quickly slithers past him and SLAMS the door shut behind him. He reacts promptly, “What the hell was that!? Arn? Bobby? Where are you guys?” He looks around and doesn’t see what shut the door. He hears the same rumbling growl Arn heard before his untimely death. He’s getting scared and begins hearing a coarse scraping sound followed by soft brushing.

Moose’s eyes are the size of saucers, “Who’s there? What is that?” He shines his light forward into the darkness to see what appears to be a black cat almost too big to fit into the room. The large beast is licking its paw and running it over its head before stopping while its anaconda-size tail curls up around itself. It redirects its enormous green eyes to the lone man before it as he trembles in fear and urinates on himself. Moose is frozen in fear and can’t move. His eyes continue to grow as he’s in a state of shock. The animal licks its chops calmly before POUNCING and that’s all she wrote. Moose makes as nice a meal as his compatriots. The family’s home is now as peaceful as the neighborhood street outside.

Days pass and the family returns home to find their house just as they left it: clean and in perfect condition. Beldamore is stretched out in a sun spot on the floor when the little girl enters, “Beldamore!” The little girl yells as she runs to the cat. “I missed you, girl!”

It feels good to be missed.

The Little Master holds and cuddles Beldamore, the family cat who licks and nuzzles her. The parents enter, “Whew, that smell!” The Lady Master says waving her hand in front of her face. “Beldamore, I love you, sweetie, but your butt STINKS.” The woman laughs shaking her head.

Hey, your poop doesn’t exactly smell like roses, lady.

“We gotta get that litter box cleaned out. That smell is making me nauseous.” She tells her husband who promptly replies, “I’ll get right on it, honey.”

The man walks by the cat scratching her head, “Hey, girl. The house isn’t burned down; nothing appears to be broken or missing. Who says we need to get a watchdog? Good girl.”

“Yeah, she’s the best.” The little girl continues to play with the cat.

Everything turned out okay; the house is untouched, everyone’s safe, my belly’s still full and, as always, the Masters are none the wiser.