Secrets That Want to Come Out

I licked my paw methodically. It seemed no matter how hard I tried it never got clean. I glanced around. Good, Midnight was nowhere to be seen. Midnight was my mother, and always tried to steal all the attention for herself when she got the chance. Her birth name wasn’t Midnight, as my birth name wasn’t Tabby, but that’s what one of our caretakers had named her, and she, like me, honored her new name. Midnight didn’t look much like me. She was a black cat and I was a brown tabby, but we still got along nicely and loved each other. 

“Tabbyyyy! Taaaaabby!” a faint voice called my name. My ears perked up immediately as I heard a voice I knew well. Yesssss! Serena, my caretaker, had come to give me breakfast! A rush of excitement flowed through my body like it always did when I heard her voice. I didn’t just like Serena’s daily visits because she gave my food, but also because I loved the way she trailed her fingers along my fur, and twirled my tail. My paws pounded the moist ground as I shot toward the gate. I squeezed under the gap inbetween two of the boards, and out onto the driveway. When Serena saw me she grinned.

“Hi Tabby,” she called as she poured the food into my awaiting dish. 

“Hi,” I replied as I padded toward her. I suddenly realized what I had done. I quickly meowed, trying to disguise my greeting. Serena’s eyes went wide, and the corners of her mouth snuck up her face into an even bigger smile. I stopped walking and looked up at her in what I hoped was an innocent way. 

“Did you just say ‘hi’?” she laughed. “Can you secretly talk?”  I wanted to tell her that I could. That all animals could. That the only reason animals didn’t talk all the time was because of the animal code. I wanted to tell her the  animal code was in place because if people found out that animals could talk they would try to make money off of them, and then animals wouldn’t be able to roam free anymore. No, I didn’t want to tell her these things, I was going to tell her these things. I gathered up all my courage, even the courage I didn’t know I had, but all that came out was -

“Mraow.” Serena squinted her eyes at me teasingly, and raised her eyebrows, but the smile remained on her face. We walked along the path leading up to her front steps. I leaned against her affectionately, and she stroked my fur lovingly. She ran up the steps and onto the front porch, putting the food away into a cabinet. Then, out of the cabinet came my favorite chicken treats. The morning light hit the metallic silver part of the bag, putting it in a magnificent glow. My mouth watered at the sight of them. I was picky with treats. I only liked the crunchy ones, but Serena knew that. She shook that bag once, and I eagerly bounded up the stairs. Serena gave me 6-8 cat treats, which I gobbled down greedily. Each treat crunched in my mouth sending out bursts of flavor. This was our morning routine. Serena ruffled my fur as I purred. I loved the way she scratched the top of my head, and rubbed my cheeks. She sang a song to me. All of her songs were about me, and how I was the best kitty in the World. Serena wasn’t the best singer but despite this I loved her songs. It felt nice knowing that someone loved you so much to write a song about you. Sometimes Serena paused, and I meowed. She always laughed at this. Every once in a while a car would come down the street. I wasn’t exactly afraid of cars, but they made me nervous. Serena would put a comforting hand on my back, and tell me it was going to be okay as long as I didn’t go onto the road. 

After a few minutes she said goodbye, blowing me kisses, and saying she loved me.  I meowed in response, but after the door closed I said ‘goodbye’ under my breath. I sat there for a minute looking at her door. Maybe she’d come back out and pet me some more. But she didn’t. I padded back to the gate, slithered under the board, and jogged back across the dirt spot to my spot in the shade of the house. I had just settled down, when Midnight jumped down from her sun-filled perch on the punching bag, and lay down in the cool grass next to me. She rested there for a moment without saying anything. I didn’t speak either. I watched an ant crawl around on the path, before going into the dirt. Out of the dirt another ant emerged. Finally Midnight spoke.

“You need to be more careful Tabby,” she purred softly, licking the fur on the top of my head. “I saw what happened. I know it was an accident, and that you’d never let her find out, but still. . . do you understand?” I hesitated. I wanted to tell her that I had wanted Serena to find out. How I knew that she could be trusted, and wouldn’t tell anyone - ever. How I couldn’t believe that my mom didn’t trust Serena despite the fact that Serena fed us everyday, and gave us treats. I was going to say these things, I really was, but all that came out of my mouth was - 

“Yes, I understand.” I thought to myself about all the things I wanted to say, but never came out. How my lips would form words, but there wouldn’t be any sound. I wished that my mouth wouldn’t betray me. I wished the animal code didn’t exist. That I could talk to Serena, and she would understand me like I understood her. That I wouldn’t have to keep any secrets from her.