Write about a human and a cat that come to some kind of mutual understanding.

Posted in Character on Feb 24, 2023

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✍️ 126 stories

“The Many Lives of Oberon” by Zack Powell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #187

CW: Themes/mentions of death***He waits in his car for nine minutes before approaching my parlor. He stops at the window, leans forward to stare at the shop sign, waits for the person behind him to continue down the sidewalk. Only then does he glance over his shoulder, throw open my door, and scamper inside, holding an ash-gray cat as close to his chest as a love letter.He shuts the door then turns to take in the shop's interior: the jars and vials on the shelf labelled "Potions," the votive candles tucked inside random nooks and crannies, t...

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“Cats!” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #187

“I know you think I’m crazy, but I’ve found myself.”He’d gone over and was in real trouble; I mean Jack Nicholson Shining trouble. And when he said crazy I heard a whisper in my ear—you are NOT a trained psychologist. Yes, beyond my capability to help, way beyond.Yet, I grew up with my kid brother; I took care of him all the way through high school. Our dad worked at the mill double time, and Mom passed when we were both kids. So it was up to me, Dad said, when he wasn’t around, which was always. It was the little things I remembered more th...

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“Old MacDonald Arrested” by Graham Kinross

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #187

Old MacDonald had a farm, and on that farm he was training animals to infiltrate the halls of power. Old MacDonald (72) was arrested dressed as a clown. He planned to snare the nation with delicious fast food laced with cocaine. It was Furball Fluffington who infiltrated the despot’s network. That cat sure wears the hell out of those boots, this reporter must say. The hat isn’t a bad look either. “I’ve been undercover on the farm for months now,” said Furball. “And on that farm he had a cow. The bovine was training for something involvin...

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“Selected Lives of Fenwick Fogpaws” by RJ Holmquist

Submitted to Contest #187

1My first life was a disappointment when compared to all my others. It was short, and I spent most of it a lot wetter than any cat would like. I never found out exactly how it ended because whatever got me came at me from behind. Of course, the Fenwick Fogpaws of later lives would never be snuck up on, but first lives are pretty tough on a lot of cats. My “number one” is only worth a mention because that’s when I made my first attempt at understanding.I was a little orange tabby street cat, never even got to be full sized. I thought rain was...

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“Schrödinger’s Kitty” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #187

“Good morning my friend! Up, up, up. Now!”“Mmffumplemuff!”“I do beg your pardon, but it’s morning and I’m hungry. And I’m hungry now and it’s morning!” “Phdtts. Stop it you mangy mongrel, get off my face!”“Mongrel? Indeed! I’m no cur, no slavering, slavish mutt. ‘We are not impressed, We are not amused,’ now get up you lazy piece of no good human.”“Kitty!”“Schrödinger!”“Get off!”“My God, you don’t need to be rude about it, and throwing me off the bed is just spiteful. Now hurry up, I’m waiting… the longer you take, the louder ...

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“Did You Hear the One About the Woman Who Hates Cats?” by KT George

Submitted to Contest #187

Jenn’s thirty-two-year-old husband, Jaret, passed away three months ago from throat cancer. It shocked everyone, for no one knew he was sick. Especially Jaret, who had gone to the dentist for his annual checkup when the doctor noticed unusual growths on his enlarged tonsils. A trip to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and an oncologist confirmed the professionals’ opinions. From there, it went all downhill. Jenn was understandably devasted that at twenty-nine, she was a wi...

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“Hit Me Again, Bob” by Tommy Goround

Submitted to Contest #187

T/W: Aunt Jemima used as a seductive pancake maker. A song from 1893 by Henry Miller is quoted. Both of these are found in the free use policy of international satire law. There's also some religious language. Don't read this if you go to a non-denominational church. ########### You know when the judge gives you three to five … Hours of community service He's not asking you to train for a new profession. I throw my shovel down and tell big David Bagelwood that he needs to take care of the carcass himself. My name is not Animal ...

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“Princess, the Writers Muse” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #187

Every great writer needs a muse Annie believed, hers just had a fuzzy tail and a cute face. Princess was her partner and writing companion. The romance novels she wrote were a fun hobby, but even she knew they were missing something, her plots were lifeless. She wrote about what she knew, her heroines all had loving, adoring cats, and her heroes were modeled after her perfect husband Walter, the brilliant scientist. Annie wanted to spark up her stories, but did not know how. She loved what she wrote, but no one else di...

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“Familiar” by Christina Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #187

There is a point past weeping, Dr. Christensen thought to himself, when the pain numbs.He peered at his face in the back of a spoon. The distorted image magnified the broken capillaries under his eyes. From medical school, he knew his lacrimal glands were responsible for his bloodshot eyes and dilated pupils. He maneuvered the spoon to view the extent of his puffy red face, caused mainly by the salt from his tears.The spoon’s reflection revealed the monster he felt he had become.No wonder his wife had left. No wonder his son had been taken.F...

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“Pests” by Kat Moreno

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #187

I have a black cat. I picked her up from the parking lot of my local Dairy Queen as a kitten, and I had to quickly get used to the sound and commotion she made in the night. I laugh at myself when I think back to when I first got my cat and I used to get up several times a night because I thought I someone had broken into the apartment. I would sneak down my hallway my hand would cover my heart as icy dread spread over my skin, seeing two round eyes reflected green in the dark. "You scared me," I used to tell my cat in a breathy laugh, rea...

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“Mother Nature - The Story of A Serial Killer” by Tara Leigh Parks

Submitted to Contest #187

This story contains sex and violence.---I don't think fuck, or any other derivative of that monumental word, should be changed to duck when I finger-bang my passion into a text. If I ask a man to come over, we're not going to duck anything. So.Also: Do you know that ducks take part in forced copulation? Biologists and other smart-ass-types say that ducks waddle in a line because it makes them less suspectable to predators. They say the waddle also helps them forage for food. But I think they do it because back at the duck pond, the male duck...

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“Charlie” by Kyle Bennett

Submitted to Contest #187

Content Warning: Death, alcoholism, depression, thoughts of self-harm Daniel preferred the "airline" bottles. They were easier to steal from the liquor store and easier to hide from the scum out there who would steal them from him. His fingers were almost too numb to twist the tiny cap, but the promise of a shot of - he glanced at the label - pineapple rum gave him superhuman determination. The meager dose of syrupy fire barely warmed his belly as it washed not enough of the rising bile of memory back down his throat. The six bottl...

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“The Cat, The Dragon, and The Maneki-Neko: A Mike Dodge Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #187

The mid-September breeze caressed my newly shorn neck, and I felt like the shit, senior heavyweight class.At the right-angle gutter between the Dollar Palace and Sandy’s Beauty Supplies, warm, brisk cross-currents had trapped a dust-devil of discarded Rescue Squad Subs wrappers, dead Fireball nip bottles, used vape pods, and even a deceased Trojan kiting about like a Man-of-War in a hydrothermal vent of sadness. The sirocco coursing in from the Beltway bore an incense of double-stacked burger, non-trans-fried chicken, cumin and curry and gar...

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“Kitty and the Alien” by Ann Miller

Submitted to Contest #187

Thud! Crash! Meoooow! What was that? I am used to the sound of my cat thumping about the apartment, but she weighs only eight pounds. Something far heavier made that first noise. I jumped up from my desk in the bedroom and made my way through the usual piles of books on the floor to the living room. Such is the life of a historian. I thought about the sounds as I moved. Something large crashing into …what? I didn’t have anything nice in the apartment. I couldn’t afford any...

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“The Bridge” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #187

Jason stumbled to the bridge, each step a struggle, his body heavy with grief, his mind fuddled by alcohol. He wasn’t sure what day it was, where he’d been earlier. Oh, yeah. The bar. They’d tossed him out, eighty-sixed him just as happy hour was ending and said, “No more, Buddy.” He wasn’t that drunk, though—and certainly not belligerent. Just crying into his martini, weeping like a five-year-old—the salt of his tears mixing with the drink, indistinguishable from the juice of the plump olives impaled within the glass, dead. He step...

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Write about a human and a cat that come to some kind of mutual understanding.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 126 stories

“The Many Lives of Oberon” by Zack Powell

“Cats!” by Jack Kimball

“Old MacDonald Arrested” by Graham Kinross

“Selected Lives of Fenwick Fogpaws” by RJ Holmquist

“Schrödinger’s Kitty” by Michelle Oliver

“Did You Hear the One About the Woman Who Hates Cats?” by KT George

“Hit Me Again, Bob” by Tommy Goround

“Princess, the Writers Muse” by Marty B

“Familiar” by Christina Reynolds

“Pests” by Kat Moreno

“Mother Nature - The Story of A Serial Killer” by Tara Leigh Parks

“Charlie” by Kyle Bennett

“The Cat, The Dragon, and The Maneki-Neko: A Mike Dodge Mystery” by Martin Ross

“Kitty and the Alien” by Ann Miller

“The Bridge” by Bill VanPatten

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character being led somewhere by a stray cat.

Write a story from the point of view of a big cat — whether that’s a lion, cheetah, etc., or just a chunky pet.

Write about a cat living in an ancient temple, like the Acropolis.

Set your story in a cat shelter.

Contest #187

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

325

Contest entries

117

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: