Black Kitten

The year was 1991, and I was seventeen years old. The year was very eventful for my family, we sent a lot of family members off to heaven, and my brother and I graduated from high school and technical school. The world was moving fast and I was scrambling to keep up and understand the ending of life and the beginnings of stages in life. My first family loss was a family friend, a distant uncle, a close friend, a rock, and I reeled from the loss for a very long time. I didn’t go to Uncle Bob’s funeral; I opted out, stating I had too many responsibilities as foreperson in my tech school class. It was a poor excuse, but seemed plausible to me. The next family loss was my Aunt Ruth, I saw her one day, and Uncle Dick was taking her to the doctor, that evening we got a phone call that she passed away. This death was different, Uncle Bob had cancer, we knew he was going to die, but Aunt Ruth had a sudden, massive heart attack, we never suspected having to say goodbye to her so soon. One afternoon she was here, the same evening she was gone. Someone gave Uncle Dick a brand new black kitten to help keep him company. Shortly after that Uncle Dick wanted to head north to upstate Pennsylvania to visit with Aunt Ruth’s family, but he needed someone to watch after his new kitten. I had recently purchased a car and I needed money, Uncle Dick was willing to pay me money to come to his house in the evening to feed his cat and empty the litter box. This was a perfect set up … or was it!? I hadn’t been in Uncle Dick’s house much since I was much younger and I had only been there, maybe two times in the dark. Couple this with the fact that I was positive that Aunt Ruth returned to her house after her death in the hospital, because she passed away so quickly. So, the first night came and I drove to Uncle Dick’s house, using the key he had given me I walked into the creepy, dark, one bedroom home and carefully tripped over furniture as I felt on the wall for a light switch. I wasn’t having much luck finding a light switch in the living room, the next room on that wall was the bedroom, where I was sure Aunt Ruth lies in wait to scare the crap out of me. I avoided that room at all costs and tripped my way to the far wall. I still couldn’t find a light switch, so I headed into the kitchen, hanging onto walls and knocking things down all along the way. I imagined I was really bugging Aunt Ruth, but I just kept going, I had a responsibility to this kitten, I had to feed her before I left, no matter how scared I was. Wait, I think, I heard something… suddenly a hiss comes from about a foot above my head and something crashes onto my head hissing the entire way. I don’t know what I thought was going on, but I was scared, I swiped at my head as I screamed for help, though I don’t know who would have helped me other than my deceased Aunt Ruth! As I swatted at the thing on my head I felt claws digging into my scalp. For every shame I ever held was about to be punctuated by my simple move, I took the hissing clawing thing and threw it across the room, anywhere as long as it was away from me! That’s when I heard it … “Meow!” I returned to my place on the wall and flipped the light switch on in time to see the friendly kitten running away. The thing had been on top of the fridge and attacked me from above on the darkest night ever. I fed the cat, changed her litter, and got the hell out of there. Of course, life can’t be so easy, my car’s alternator had died and I was now forced to return to the house of fear to make a phone call for help. Oh, and that was the last time I ever stepped foot into Uncle Dick’s house.