The Cat and the Feeder

“Hello?” a small, stiff voice called out to the seemingly empty room. “Is anyone there?” It was a quiet and dimly lit condo, though the voice had no way of knowing what a condo was. The owner of the voice looked around. They were on the floor with their back to the wall, which they could somehow see. Before them stretched a room with a few chairs and a table, then some carpet with a couch in the middle, and finally a wall where they could just see the edge of a window. It was difficult to see much more than table legs and the bottoms of other things that couldn’t be fully made out. Somehow the voice knew it was precisely 7 a.m.

There was nothing but silence for a few long minutes, but then came a sound. Deep in the house, tinkling bells rang out. “I can’t seem to move, could someone please come help me?” 

The tinkling bells were closer now, and they had an almost rhythmic quality to them. Louder and louder still, until finally the voice saw…some creature. Having only gained self awareness this very day, the voice had no idea that the creature creeping towards it was a cat. 

The cat, a cream tabby, approached low and cautious. There should be no voices in the house quite this early, and not from that part of the house. His chin nearly brushed the ground as he stared intently at the source of the noise. Just the food device. Perhaps they put a new  voice in the strange machine. The cat relaxed his posture and lazily began stepping towards his daily source of sustenance. Next to it sat a gurgling fountain gently pouring and repouring cool water. The cat much preferred this to the stagnant pools that used to get left lying around. After sipping from the spout, the cat jumped when he heard the voice beside him speak again.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me where I am. I’m not sure what’s going on…” the voice trailed off. The creature began sniffing all around the voice. Top, bottom, behind where it plugged into the wall. 

“I’ve never seen a thing like you before,” he murmured as he continued sniffing. “You smell the same as always, but now you speak.”

“As always? So you’ve seen me before?”

“Every day for the past two years, yes. Why break your silence now?” The cat sat on his hind legs, his tail slowly swishing behind him.

“That’s the thing, I have no idea. I don’t even know my name.”

The cat looked at his newly aware feeder for a moment before answering. “You don’t have one. I could help you pick one, if you like.” He started licking his paw and cleaning his face. 

“How do I not have a name? Doesn’t everyone?” The feeder tried to move and realized they couldn’t. “What am I?”

“A much better question, and much harder to answer,” the cat purred. He looked at the top of the device and tried to read the text there. “But first your name. It’s smudged but it looks something like…Luke.” He sprawled out on the ground in front of the feeder, content that the thing posed no threat. “I can tell you only what I know, and what I know is that you feed me.” He began eating his breakfast out of a small metal bowl connected to Luke by a small chute.

Luke was silent. Outside in the distance birds chirped. The fountain continued gurgling. Luke finally said, “So that’s it? I’m just here to feed you?”

“Two meals a day, with a couple snacks in between, yes.”

Luke remained silent for so long that Leo wondered if they had fallen asleep. “I’d like to be alone please,” Luke said quietly.

“As you wish,” said the cat. He stood, arched his back to stretch, and began walking away.

“Wait,” Luke interrupted. “Could you tell me your name?”

The cat grinned to himself and barely turned to answer over his shoulder. “It’s Leo. At least, that’s what the long cats call me.” And then he was gone.

It was brighter in the condo the next time Luke spoke. Although they didn’t speak so much as yelp when, at 1 p.m. on the dot, a startling voice sounded out of them and dry food began pouring into a bowl. Leo appeared quickly, his collar bells jingling as he walked. 

“Thank you Luke, I was just thinking how nice a snack sounded. Well, actually I was thinking about some squirrels in the yard but this is a nice distraction.” He enjoyed his food swiftly and without a single word from Luke. After Leo was finished he licked his lips and cocked his head at Luke. “And how have you been, friend?”

“Who said we were friends?” Luke didn’t raise their voice when they spoke, but their anger was clear to the cat. Not only that, Luke had been freaking out for hours and it was threatening to drive them mad.

“I did. Am I wrong?”

“I’m just an object! How can you be friends with an object?” 

There was something other than anger in their voice this time. Leo thought it might be desperation. He had seen and heard it many times from smaller creatures he killed in his younger years. 

“Because I feel like it. Of course, if you’d rather be alone and quiet for the remainder of your life I’m more than happy to oblige.” Leo was neither displeased nor happy. His voice had an even tone that infuriated Luke.

“It doesn’t matter what I want, does it? Nothing matters if I’m stuck here just feeding you day-in and day-out! Is this really all there is? My whole purpose is to fill your belly?” Luke was spiraling. Their life felt like a horrifying joke. “You can go where you want, you actually get to be free and I’m just—”

“Stop,” Leo said, gently placing a paw on Luke, “and listen.” The fountain was running low on water, which caused long gaps where all that could be heard was the hum of electricity. Somewhere a truck beeped as it backed up. Above them a metal air conditioning vent provided ambient white noise and cool air. Fainter than all the other sounds was the distant chirping of birds. 

Leo’s ears and whole head imperceptibly twitched when he heard them. “Do you hear that Luke? They’re called birds. Do you know what kind of creature a bird is?”

Luke thought for a second and replied, “I don’t. What are birds?”

Leo turned to face the window on the other side of the room. His tail thumped the ground lightly. “Birds are marvels of nature. Freer than me and you by far. Winged things, lighter than air and as colorful as the rainbow itself. I sit for hours by the window just watching them. They swoop over the yard and sit on the fence and they sing. Sometimes they hop around on the ground or splash around in puddles. The most delightful creatures on this earth.

“They mock me Luke. Sometimes when the window is open I hear them laughing at me through the screen. Big birds and little birds alike. I’m a joke to them. If only they knew what I was really capable of, of how the earth used to spin beneath my paws and all creatures fled before me.”

Luke couldn’t shiver, but for the first time in their short life they felt fear. “Leo please, you’re scaring me.”

Leo turned suddenly to face the feeder, no longer the calm cat from earlier that day or even just seconds ago: his eyes were dilated, deep dark pits with no color; his ears, normally pointing up, were pressed flat against his head; his back arched up, the fur along his spine standing higher than the rest, and his tail was a puffed up bottle brush jerking around erratically in every direction.

“I rent flesh from bone and picked my teeth with feathers Luke! No birds laughed in those days, they just shrieked and died!”

“Leo stop!” Luke screamed.

The cream tabby’s ears perked up and his tail deflated. Gone was the monster, only an old cat remained. “I’m sorry friend, I forget myself.”

Leo’s pupils returned to their normal vertical slits. He grinned again as though nothing had happened. “But that’s not me anymore. I was younger then, reckless.”

Luke was no longer afraid but far from calm. “What the hell was that about?”

“The point, Luke, is that I am not free. The birds alone have that honor. My claws are dull and my passions have cooled. Now I live out my days in a beautiful cage. The long cats love me unconditionally and see that my every need is met. I’m left only with wants,” he said as he seemed almost to droop with a hint of sadness.

Luke tried to cheer up their new friend. “At least you can see out the window. I’m sorry the birds make fun of you, but it sounds nice to get some fresh air once in a while. I wish I was that fortunate. You don’t seem to have it so bad.”

Leo considered this for a moment. “Luke, I’ve never spoken to someone so earnest. Would you like to join me by the window some time?”

Luke felt another new emotion, this time excitement. “Wait you think I could—”

“Let me work my magic. I can get you in front of the window, and then we can watch the birds together. How does that sound?”

Luke would have jumped with joy if they could. “Thank you Leo! Good luck and all, but how do you exactly plan to move me?”

“Oh I’m not going to move you. The long cats will.”

For the next week the cat methodically took his food over to the window and slowly ate. He did his best to look longingly out the window between bites and appear as pitiful as possible. 

Come on, you know what I’m asking for. I can do this all year if I must.

 Leo’s owners, or as he called them, long cats, noticed his strange behavior. They ignored it for the first few days but quickly realized something might be wrong with him. 

“Should we take him to the vet?”

“I mean...he’s still eating? I don’t think he’s in pain.”

“Do you think he just wants to eat by the window?”

They deliberated off and on for a few days more before deciding that the cat did in fact want to take all his meals by the sunny spot before the window.

Luke had been watching this process with growing excitement. It was also funny to them seeing Leo play the role of a sad pet. It was the complete opposite of the monster they caught a glimpse of, but it made them appreciate the cat’s range. Then one day Leo’s owners came to Luke.

This is it. I’m going to the window!

And then they unplugged Luke. For all of thirty seconds Luke was dead. When next they could see, Luke was staring out at a blindingly bright world. 

“So friend, does the window live up to your expectations?” Leo said as he licked his paw and cleaned his face. He did this often.

Luke couldn’t speak. They were staring in wonder at the wide world outside the window. Birds chirped, the sun shined, and clouds drifted lazily across the sprawling blue. Luke could not have imagined how beautiful it would be. 

“It’s perfect Leo. Thank you.” 

Leo settled down and tucked his paws under himself. “You’re welcome, friend.” 

The cat and the feeder sat together and watched time pass through their little window, occasionally talking but mostly enjoying each other’s company in silence. 

“So does it always look like this?” Luke asked.

The cat looked at the feeder, smiled, and said, “Just wait until the seasons change. There’s so much more to that place than you could know.”