Autumn's Wish

 It is not like I’d always wanted to break the rules of the universe. It’s just my job to grant wishes. But I tell you, I don’t just grant every wish. I also choose, alright. And it’s not easy. No, it’s never easy. I get various kinds of wishes from money to the moon and thought I wouldn’t be surprised anymore. But yesterday’s wish came as odd yet very interesting.  

Aki sits two tables away from me. Her hair is in a messy bun, jet-black as she wished. Her hooded eyes hide under thick eyelashes, towered by evenly thick eyebrows. She plays with the gray cashmere scarf on her neck and pulls it up to her chin, then to her parched lips, pale as a cherry stain on white cloth. She admires her long, slender fingers and runs them mid-air as if playing an invisible piano. Her porcelain skin shimmers even under the faintest light of the mid-October sun.  

A young waitress startled her. ‘Hello there! Are you ready to order?’ asks a teenage girl with black-rimmed eyeglasses and braces on her teeth.  

She suddenly remembers that a menu was given to her some time ago. She picks it up from the table and quickly turns the pages.  

‘Would you like me to recommend our best sellers?’ the teen waitress asks as she realizes that Aki has not made her mind yet.   

Aki nods.  

‘We have just released our autumn menu yesterday and all our guests love it! These two are the bestselling drinks: Caramel Maple Latte and Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whipped Cream and Fresh Cinnamon.’ The teen waitress points out the photo of the drink on the freshly laminated menu as she enumerates them.  

Aki points her finger on the fascinating image of Pumpkin Spice Latte topped with a mountain of whipped cream.  

‘Great choice!’ says the waitress in a cheery voice. ‘Would you like to have a cake with it?’  

Aki nods again.  

The waitress turns the pages of the menu to the dessert section. ‘We’ve got Spiced Maple Pumpkin Pie with Waffle Crust and Caramel Apple Pie,’ she points to the images again as she speaks.  

Aki points her finger to the luscious image of Caramel Apple Pie as she starts to salivate.  

‘Lovely!’ the cheery waitress says in a singsong voice, like a preschool teacher commending a student for a job well done. ‘I’ll repeat your order then. One Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whipped Cream and Fresh Cinnamon and one warm Caramel Apple Pie. See you on a bit!’ She takes the menu with her and walks away. 

Aki nods again, her eyes follow the waitress to the counter. Her scarf hides her smile but her eyes don’t. She keeps her hands clasped like an excited kid waiting for her Christmas presents.   

Aki still can’t utter a word. But that’s understandable, alright. This is her first day as a human. She’s been a cat all her life so she only knows how to hiss and growl and meow, and probably all other cat sounds, alright. But human language? Nah, ah!  

So, here’s how a cat turned into a young woman, who decided to call herself Aki and now sits two tables away from me. But first, let me sip this Autumn Caramel Latte in front of me, alright.  

I sat at this same table yesterday and tried to enjoy the crisp October air as I sipped a trendy autumn drink. I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte and skipped the whooping calories of the whipped cream. I paired it with a warm Caramel Apple Pie. Then there’s this gray cat with white fur from the belly to the legs. It sat beside me, stared, and uttered a very gentle meow. I took a pinch of the apple pie and handed it to the cat’s mouth. It ate with gusto and looked at me again, its eyes were the cutest cat eyes I’ve seen.   

‘You’d like another bite?’ I asked.  

‘Yes please,’ it answered. Its voice was as soft as a whispering meadow. 

‘Oh dear, look who’s talking,’ I said and meant that literally.  

‘Can you hear me?’ she asked.  

‘Well, yes of course,’ I answered.  

I heard a strong hiss but it didn’t come from the cat beside me. 

‘Look at that ambitious, arrogant cat. She thinks she is no different. Hey weirdo! Come back here and hunt for rats. Here is where yah belong. You’re not human!’   

Well, that didn’t sound nice. Beside the cafe’s rubbish bin, a meter away from where I sat, stood a tall, lean cat with black and white striped fur, staring aggressively at us. Its voice sounded like an angsty female teenager, ready for a screamo party. Beside it sat a fat cat with thick orange fur who also, had something to say.   

‘Calm down Mathilde. She’ll come to her senses soon. Weirdo’s got nowhere to go. She can’t keep eating human scraps. When she gets hungry, she’ll start hunting for rats. She’ll come looking for us.’  

That cat was a bit mature. It spoke like an old, male professor explaining all the x and y’s that you’ll never understand. 

‘What does this girl take us for?’ the angsty cat hissed once again. ‘George, let’s go! I can’t take this weirdo!’  

Angsty Mathilde walked away and calm George followed her, his orange and white-furred tail wagging slowly, his head held high.  

I looked at the gray cat beside me, her tears were about to spill.  

I patted its head and asked, ‘what’s your name little one?’  

‘Aki,’ she said in a quavering voice. 

‘What a unique name. Who gave you that name?’ I asked.  

‘My parents gave me that name. It means Autumn in Japanese.’ I felt a bit of cheeriness in her voice as she told me about her name.  

‘That’s a beautiful name!’ I exclaimed. ‘Where are your parents?’ 

‘Well, not my cat parents. I meant my parents from my previous life, as a human.’ I felt melancholy in her voice this time. 

 ‘You were a human, in your previous life.’ I stated in disbelief. ‘And how did you know about that?’ 

‘I have distant memories. But they seem so long ago. They are, almost fading.’  

‘I’ve always felt I am a human. That I don’t belong to the cat’s world. I always knew I was Japanese in my previous life because of the memories I have but nobody believes me.’ I felt the disappointment in her voice and as she said this, she lowered her head, almost touching the ground.   

‘I wish I could be a human.’ she whispered, silently. But wishes, no matter how softly uttered will be crisp and clear in my head like a bright blue sky on a cloudless morning.    

‘Do you mean that?’ I asked reconfirming.  

‘Yes, I do.’ She said, her head still in a slump. ‘I want to feel the warm clothes on my body. I want to be able to eat sweet and warm desserts. I want to taste that autumn coffee that everyone lines up for. I want to be able to sit in a cafe, to be seen, to be noticed. To be respected by other human beings. I don’t want to hunt disgusting rodents. I don’t want to live beside the dustbin. I don’t want to get kicked by kids. I don’t want my life as a cat.’  

I felt extreme desire and desperation in her voice.  

‘Well, I can grant your wish darling,’ I told her. She held her head up and looked at me with once again, teary eyes.  

‘But on two conditions.’  

*  

The cheery waitress delivers Aki’s coffee and cake on her table and her eyes gleam with delight.   

‘Here you go. Is there anything else I can do for you?’ The waitress asks.  

Aki nods and in a very soft voice says ‘Arigato gozaimasu!’  

‘Oh wow! You are Japanese. I love anime. They are cool, especially One Piece.’ She hugs the round rubber tray to her chest and looks at Aki with dreamy eyes. ‘I wish I could go to Japan. Anyway, enjoy your coffee and cake!’   

Well, well, well. I just heard another wish but I’ll come to that later. 

I can see Aki’s astonishment as she spoke in Japanese. She really must be one. But then she immediately forgets that as she smells the aroma of the freshly baked Caramel Apple Pie. She takes the fork and she seems to know how to use it. Quite well mannered, for a cat. She takes her first bite and her face shows how the flavors of the apple and caramel and cinnamon and the crispy tart explode inside her mouth. She then takes the whipping cream off her Pumpkin Spice Latte with a teaspoon and devours its creaminess. She then holds the cup with her both hands, feeling the warmth it emanates.  

Well then, let me as well enjoy my Autumn Caramel Latte and Pumpkin Pie as she devours hers.  

Aki sits on that table for about two hours. She observes people as they come and go. She listens to lively chatter and laughs at the jokes of the girls from the next table. Her heart flutters for a couple who just stares at each other’s eyes. Eyes that say everything words can’t say. She suddenly wishes she could have a boyfriend too. Unfortunately, I can’t grant her wish anymore as per the conditions stated.  

*  

‘What are those conditions?’       

‘Well, the first one is, you have to give me your soul.’ Aki was quite taken aback by the first condition but then asks for the second one.  

‘The second one, I can make you a human, but only for twenty-four hours.’  

She gazed at me with blank eyes as she thought about the conditions.  

‘If I may ask,’ she said. I can say she was really polite and well-mannered for a cat. ‘Who are you?’  

‘Well my dear, I am the Pumpkin Patch Fairy who grants wishes every Autumn. She looked at me in a quite disbelieving way. I felt compelled to explain myself.  

‘Well, I don’t have to look like a pumpkin to be a Pumpkin Patch Fairy alright?’ I told her defensively as I looked at my clothes. I wore my casual black turtle neck long sleeves shirt and faded blue jeans. I had my brown checkered scarf and brown low boots on. My earl grey hair with inner green color is a trend nowadays but this is my natural hair.  

‘And...and...I don’t have to wear my wings all the time, alright.’ I added as she still looked unconvinced.   

She was quiet for some time. Her gaze traveled from me to the sky to the park then back to me.  

‘Alright!’ she finally said. ‘I agree with the terms. But I also have some terms,’ she said softly but with a bit of firmness.   

‘Lemme hear it darling.’ I crossed my arms as I waited for her terms.  

‘I want to look like a Japanese girl. I want jet-black hair and lips like tinted with a cherry. I want that hooded eyes and thick lashes. I want to be in my early twenties.’  

I smiled at her conditions. ‘Is that it darling?’  

She nodded.   

‘Are you ready to be human?’  

‘Yes please.’  

‘You then have twenty-four hours, in three, two, one.’  

*  

She pays with the few dollar bills I’ve put in her pocket and leaves a tip to the cheery waitress. She walks away from the cafe and into the park where moms sit and gossip as their kids play catch ball.   

Of course, I follow her.  

Mathilde and George stare at her and hisses. She looks at them and smiles. She pats their heads. She remembers them but won’t understand their language anymore.  

She sits on a bench and delightfully watches nature’s late afternoon show. The eternal yellow-brown sky matches the colors of the leaves that hang on the trees and fall on the ground.  

A blond freckled-face man suddenly sits closely beside her and places his right arm into her shoulders. She smells his smoke and whiskey-filled breath as he say’s ‘hi pretty’. She recoils from him and buries her face deep into her scarf.  

‘Ooooho, I like shy girls,’ he utters in a most disgusting rough voice.  

‘Talk to me my little Asian girl,’ he says as his other hand caresses her cheek.   

His hand startles the already scared Aki and she lets out a hiss.  

‘What the f*ck are you a cat?’ The freckled-face man stands up and screams ’f*cking weirdo!’ Then he walks away.  

I walk towards Aki and sit beside her. I pat her shivering shoulders and tells her it’s gonna be okay even though I know she won’t.  

We sit in silence for an hour. And then two. And then more. Until the fiery leaves disappear into darkness and stars sprinkle the night sky.  

‘So this is how it is to be human,’ Aki says.  

‘Is it worth your soul?’ I ask.  

She looks at me. Even her faintest smile can brighten up a dark moonless night.   

‘Well, at least the Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whipped Cream is.’  

She bends and leans on me. Her head on my shoulder.   

‘Will I have another life?’ she asks.  

‘I cannot tell,’ I answer.  

I rub her shoulders. ‘Do you still want to be a human after what you’ve experienced?’  

‘Yes, I do. There are more to life than just a slewed catcaller.’  

‘A catcaller, literally,’ I say and we both laugh.  

‘Well then, your time is almost up. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.’  

She closes her eyes and talks in almost a whisper, ‘thank you Pumpkin Patch Fairy. ‘Till we meet again.’  

With that, her tiny cat soul flies away, a wisp with a fiery center, still burning with life. It swirls and swirls until it finds its way into my palms. And we all disappear into the night.