Midnight

Magyk sat outside. The sun was shining bright. She didn’t particularly like the heat but her family wouldn’t let her back inside. As she sat there she noticed a cat on the edge of the road. It was a black cat with yellow eyes. Its fur seemed to glow as the sun hit it. The cat seemed to be watching her as well. Just then she saw a car swerve in the direction of the cat. The cat curled up as the car hit it. 

“HEY!” She yelled. 

Why would they do that? There was nothing in the road. Why would they hit a cat on purpose?

She ran over to the cat who was lying still where it had landed in her yard. She gently picked it up and took it to the back yard where she found an empty box to lay the cat in. She then ran inside to get her aunt.

Her aunt accompanied her outside and asked her what had happened. She explained how the car had swerved to purposefully hit the cat. She made a face, “they probably hit it because it’s a black cat. People are superstitious sometimes.”

“People are dumb, you mean.”

 Her aunt sighed. She knew she disapproved of her words but she was only five. She looked up at her, “What are we going to do?”

 Her aunt sighed and put her hand on her head, “Not much we can do. We can’t afford a vet.”

 Magyk was in tears. Her aunt sighed, “How about we get some bandages for her wounds and some water?”

 Magyk nodded. They went inside to gather some supplies. Her aunt then began working on bandaging the cat while she made her a more comfortable bed. Her aunt sat the cat down on the blankets and brought the bowl of water and food over.

Magyk was happy. The sun was setting though so it was time for her to go to bed. They went inside and got ready to lay down. Before her aunt left the room Magyk asked, “So when the cat gets better can I keep her?”

 Her aunt sighed, “I don’t want you too get your hopes up. The cat is very likely to die.”

Magyk frowned, “I know…but if she doesn’t?”

“Then, yes, I suppose you can keep her as long as you are the one caring for her. I don’t need anything else to look after.”

 Magyk nodded and exclaimed, “Thank you!”

“You are welcome. Now good night.”

“Good night.”

Magyk took care of the cat everyday. She used what she had around the house for medicine and to clean the wounds on the cat. She got her water and food every day. She spent all day with the cat and kissed her good night before going to bed. She prayed every night the cat would recover.

Then one day she came out to find the cat just sitting there. Its tail was flicking back and forth. Magyk was so excited because the cat hadn’t sat up before. This meant the cat was getting better. She ran inside to get her aunt who came out to see why the child was making such a huge fuss.

She saw the cat sitting upright and smiled, “Well, look at that. Looks like all the love you have been giving the cat has finally started to work. The cat will be better and moving around in on time!”

“I told you my cat was strong.”

Her aunt stared at her confused at first but then remembered she had told the girl she could keep the cat. She smiled, “You were right. So now that she is getting better…if you are going to keep her you will need a name for her.”

Magyk looked at the cat long and hard and went over to her. She sat down in front of the cat and began speaking. It appeared to her aunt as if she was having some sort of conversation with the creature. When she was done she turned around and proudly declared, “Her name is Midnight!”

“Midnight? Because she is black as midnight?”

“No, because she says that’s her name.”

“Oh, she did, did she?”

“She sure did!”

 Her aunt shook her head and just went back inside. She never really understood the child. She just knew she had always been different. 

And sure enough the cat did get better. And when it did the girl and her cat were inseparable. The cat followed her everywhere. When school started up it even followed her to school and would sit outside till she returned. 

Eventually as all cats do she even began to bring the girl presents but quickly realized that the girl was not pleased with dead things and brought her live mice and snakes instead. This pleased Magyk much more. 

Years passed and Magyk was 15 now. She looked outside as a winter storm howled. She was looking everywhere for Midnight but couldn’t find her. She was frantic. Her family was all at work. It was just her and her sister, Janeisah, at home. After searching for what felt like hours Janeisah informed her the cat had gotten out earlier and probably hadn’t come back in. 

Magyk ran outside and began looking for the cat. Sure enough she found her curled in a ball in the yard. She was shivering so Magyk picked her up and stuck her in her jacket. She walked back towards the house but couldn’t get inside. Her sister had locked the door. 

“Darn it, Janeisah! LET ME IN!” she yelled as she pounded on the door but it soon became obvious she had no intentions of opening up. 

Magyk went to sit on the porch and Midnight sat on the snow beside her with Magyk’s jacket around her. Magyk knew the cat was getting old and might not survive the storm but she couldn’t see well enough to get her anywhere warmer. The storm would let up eventually, she hoped.

After another hour or so the storm did stop and shortly after her aunt’s van pulled into the driveway. 

“Hey, Midnight, it’s going to be ok. We can get inside now!”

She opened her jacket but the cat was gone. The only thing there were four paw prints. She stood up and began looking around. How had the cat vanished. 

Her aunt got out of the car and asked her what she was doing outside in the storm. Magyk explained how she had gone out to get Midnight and how Janeisah had locked the door. Her aunt looked where she had been sitting, “Where is Midnight, then?”

“I don’t know. She was right there. It is like she vanished!”

“Are you sure she was with you?” her aunt asked.

“Yes! Don’t you see the paw prints?”

“Yes…that is weird. Maybe she ran off? And you just didn’t notice?”

“I would have noticed! Besides wouldn’t there be a trail of paw prints leading away? She was with me right until you got here and the snow had stopped then.”

“I suppose you are right but she had to run off. After all, cats don’t just vanish into thin air.”

She sighed. Her aunt was right. Or was she?