Midnight

It was an average day at work: a morning rush, a slow dwindle towards lunchtime, and then another peak of impatient customers in the afternoon. When Paula went to her locker to get her things and head home for the day, she found a peculiar little card inside.

“I wonder what this is.” Paula opened the black envelope right there, finding a little card that simply said in bold letters on the front:

YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED

She flipped the card over to reveal more:

THURSDAY 7PM AT THE BACK OF ROARING LION PUB

THIS IS A SECRET MEETING - DO NOT SHARE!

There was no name from whom this card was given, nor any contact information to RSVP. In fact, Paula didn’t really know what this secret meeting was even for. Why her?

Paula gathered her belongings, then paused to admire the picture of a cute cat on her little magnet that pinned up a photo of her beloved feline, Princess Poof-a-lot. She couldn’t wait to get home to her beautiful little girl, a domestic shorthairshe had adopted from a shelter an incredible seven years ago. Seven years! My goodness how time flied. Her little girl was now officially a senior, and she couldn’t believe it.

“Hmm, I wonder if anyone else here has been getting odd locker mail,” Paula said as she walked out. She had a few days to consider whether she would check out this strange thing or not. “What if it’s some kind of hoax, or an opportunity to get mugged?” But she couldn’t take anyone there, if she decided to go, because it was a secret. Maybe she could figure out something.

The next day, one of Paula’s coworkers was acting a little strange. She wondered if this coworker slipped her the invite.

“So, Paula, anything fun—or odd—happen lately?” Lex said in his usual monotone voice.

“You know, it’s funny you should ask, because I did in fact have something odd happen.”

Lex paused, then looked at her through his round glasses, and whispered, “What’s that?”

“I got some weird invitation in my locker,” she started, but realizing she probably shouldn’t say much more, she added, “But I don’t really know what it’s for—I mean it didn’t even say—so who knows, it was probably some prank.” She laughed and began to walk away.

Later that evening, when Paula was walking up to her door, a friendly black cat came up to her out of nowhere. It rubbed against her leg, purring loudly, and looked up at her with big green eyes.

“Aww, you cute thing! I wish I could take you in, but I already have a cat, and she probably wouldn’t like it.” Paula pet the cat’s head, then realized it was wearing a collar that had the same little design on it that was on the invitation. There was a little name tag on the cat collar, and on one side it had the design—a sort of monogram perhaps—and on the other side it had the cat’s name, “Midnight,” and a phone number. Out of curiosity, Paula decided to call the number, though she was a little hesitant because she was afraid of what she might find out.

The phone rang a few times, then the line picked up, and an elderly woman answered.

“Hullo, this is Greta Glasswing, may I ask who’s calling?”

“Oh, hello, I seem to have your cat at my home—Midnight, he just showed up out of nowhere.” Paula thought this was strange for an invitation to somehow get to her from an old lady. But now she was really curious, and thought maybe she would show up to this secret meeting.

“Midnight, oh that silly cat—I hope he isn’t disturbing you—he wanders off and will be back at, well, midnight!” Greta chuckled.

“Well, that’s actually quite funny, and I am glad to know that he always returns home. I’m sorry to have bothered you, goodnight now!”

“No problem at all, and thank you for being a good citizen!”

With that, Paula hung up the phone and laughed to herself. A good citizen, huh? That’s interesting. This lady sounds interesting. No sooner than she was off the phone, Midnight the cat had jumped off her porch into the bushes and made his way through the yard to some other place on his nightly prowl.

As the days led up to the secret meeting, Paula felt increasingly anxious. She even stared at her invitation while eating at home, and daydreamed at work about what the meeting could be all about. If an old lady ran the thing, it surely wasn’t a hoax or a scheme to mug her. Then, the big day came, and Paula was ready for seven o’clock to roll around.

The funny thing was, at work, she kept getting the feeling that other people knew about this secret meeting. But she never told Lex anything more—not the day or time of the meeting, or anything like that.

“Hey Paula, you got any plans tonight?” Barbara, a coworker, asked casually, but seemingly with a little hint of a tease in her tone. Did she just wink at her?

“Oh, um maybe, I’m not sure right now—why?” Paula asked with confusion in her voice.

“Oh, nothing, just wondering.” Barbara smiled in a mischievous manner.

Later, someone else said something about a cat party and was laughing hysterically. Paula thought they were intentionally talking loud enough for her to overhear them, but she kept telling herself that this must be a mistake and surely they aren’t doing this to mess with her. A cat party, though? Go figure, a crazy old cat lady would invite Paula to her crazy cat club. Surely she just misheard her coworkers.

When it was time to leave work, Paula was ready to go. She had a couple of hours to spare before the secret meeting and had made sure to have her clothes all picked out. Dancing around the house and singing, Paula was feeling great; this was actually the first time in probably ten years that she had even been invited to anything!

At home, Paula pulled out a cute sweater with cats on it, just to sort of give a nod to the old lady—she just knew that she was behind all this. She pulled out some cat-friendly slacks that were very cozy to wear and a blouse. She made herself a small dinner, singing all the while, and Princess Poof-a-lot looked at her like she had lost her mind. After dinner, Paula put her hair up in a bun, then stuck a miniature cat wand through it. Purr-fection! She got dressed and made sure she brought some cat treats, toys for Midnight and possibly other cats, and a little dispenser of catnip.

With a hop in her step, Paula headed out with her invitation in hand. The meeting location was relatively close to where she lived. Only a few blocks away, Paula could get her steps in for the day and some fresh air as she walked over to the pub. It only took her about ten minutes.

As she went around to the back of the pub, she saw tons of cats congregating around stinky garbage bins and on the fences, but she recognized Midnight among them. He seemed to be leading her, and when she got to the back door, she saw Midnight jump through a cat door at the bottom.

KNOCK KNOCK. 

Paula could hear some voices from behind the door whispering, but couldn’t tell what they were saying. A moment later, the door creaked opened.

“Good evening, how can I help you?” a tall slender man wearing a satin vest stood in the doorway.

Paula cleared her throat then showed the invitation, “I got this invitation.”

The man’s demeanor suddenly changed, and he seemed impressed, then said, “Welcome! Please, come in and find yourself at home.” He stepped back to let Paula in, his hand guiding her in through a long corridor filled with cat furniture.

When Paula walked in she thought she was in a secret cat cave or something. All around her there were cats running along catwalks that were built into the walls; there were what looked like little rooms on the walls for cats to rest, and cat posts built into the various furniture along the walls. It was a cat haven!

Paula began to sweat and fidget with her fingers, feeling a bit of social anxiety. That all changed once she was sitting among them with a sweet cream-colored cat on her lap to help soothe her.

“Hello, I’m Paula,” she told everyone sitting around a large coffee table that doubled as a fish tank for cats to be amused by. “I’m really interested in hearing what this secret meeting is about!” She looked around, taking in the unique atmosphere; large windows were covered in drapes that were adorned by cat fur and the marks from kittens who once climbed them.

Everyone there was friendly and welcomed her, but then the secret meeting began, and Paula was about to find out just exactly what kind of social gathering this really was. Greta, the owner of the home - and of Midnight and many other cats - came out finally, and began to speak.

“Welcome! You, Paula Roth, have been invited to a secret meeting for the Secret Society of Cat Lovers. We are not just your ordinary hum of the drum crazy cat enthusiasts, however. You were invited, and also chosen, because word had reached my ears that you are a dedicated purr-son. You proved yourself to me the night you called. I praise you for your cat-like reflexes to do the right thing when nobody is watching. That is admirable, and exactly what we are looking for in our Society.” Greta peered down from the top of the staircase lined with Sisel rope on each stair post. She was a very straight-forward woman, and one had to take her seriously, even while she wore a fluffy robe with cat ears on the hood.

Paula was glued in to Greta, and leaned forward to listen to her speech with such a commanding presence. The aroma of catnip and fish filled the air. The dim lights in the room seemed to make everything about this meeting more mysterious.

Greta continued, “Tonight, my fellow Cat Lovers, will be a little different as we have Paula with us. First, let us all introduce ourselves and go around sharing one thing that we bring to the Society.”

With that, Greta came down from the stairs and joined the circle in the room, and sat on a chaise lounge that already had three cats lounging on it. The cats simply began to gather on her. It looked so luxurious, Paula wished she could have three cats on her at once, kneading and purring. Greta began the introduction, and then each person in order from her right, went next.

“My name is Greta Glasswing, and I have lived here for over fifty years. I have been a lover of cats always, and have learned the art of purr-suasion. I have a knack for convincing otherwise wild cats to accept our help.”

The next person, a middle-aged woman who wore a sweater covered in cat fur, spoke, “Hi, I’m Rita, and I have been living in this community for twenty years or so. I volunteer with the animal shelter, and I have the gift of whisker wisdom - that is to be able to communicate with cats and decipher their whisker twitches - to know how to help them best.”

“Sup, the name’s Joseph, and I’m going to school at the University; I always loved cats yo, and I’ve been volunteering with the veterinarian for about five years. I am very agile like a cat,” Joseph moved his arms around like he was demonstrating, “and use this gift to help us with getting cats in hard to reach places during rescues.”

An older man wearing a knit vest spoke up next, “My name is Harold, and I confess I didn’t always like cats - but one cat changed my life and for that I am grateful. I do love cats now, and I have learned over the years how to soothe and even heal injured or distressed cats with the gift of touch.”

Finally, one younger fellow spoke up, “And I’m Peter,” he took a deep breath - Paula recognized the bit of stage fright in him, “I’m a friend to all cats. I have the gift of technological expertise. I actually developed night vision glasses for all of us to wear to help aide in our missions that occur at night, or in really dark places,” he held up a pair of his night vision glasses to show off, then continued, “I also help with monitoring our cats, logging them in a database, and keeping track of all their health and vaccinations.” Peter was blushing when he had finished, probably feeling like he outdid everyone else. The kid was probably only ten years old!

Then, everyone looked to Paula in expectation, hoping that she got enough of an understanding of what the Secret Society of Cat Lovers stands for. They all looked at her, hoping that she had been thinking about what her gift was, because surely she had one. After a few moments of thoughtful consideration, it seemed that Paula was ready to share. Even the cats it seemed had hushed to listen in. 

“Wow, that was a lot of interesting and very inspiring things to hear. I don’t know how one could even follow up after that!” Paula chuckled, but realized everyone was still waiting for her introduction. “Well, as you all know, I’m Paula, and I have always loved cats. I had been pondering all this time what my gift might be, but I honestly don’t really know.” She was rubbing her hands and fingers in nervousness.

The room was hushed in silence, except for the soothing sound of purrs from cats. Everyone leaned in closer to hear what Paula had to say. Paula realized she had to say something, so she thought for a moment more and decided to share a story.

“I do know that I really felt a strong connection with a kitten that I found a few years ago. He was malnourished, scared and barely moving. I couldn’t just leave him there, so I took him in.” Paula paused, wiping a salty tear that unexpectedly rolled down her red cheeks. “I named him Finneo, and every day I sat with him, spoke to him, and tried to make him comfortable. Slowly, he started to respond and it felt like he sensed my intentions. We had formed an incredible bond. I didn’t realize it then, but Finneo taught me something important - how to offer comfort to those in need, even without words.”

The room remained silent as each member reflected on Paula’s story. Some nodded in understanding. 

Greta, her eyes bright and gleaming from the lights, spoke up, “It seems you have the gift of empathy and healing, my dear. Sometimes our gifts aren’t immediately obvious, but they reveal themselves through our actions and the connections we make. Thank you so much for sharing that story with us.” She smiled back at Paula.

With that, the Secret Society then began to share conversation over cookies and tea that Greta had made. Before the night was over, everyone had asked Paula if she would join their Secret Society officially, and come back again.

“We could really benefit from someone like you being a part of this,” Harold told her. 

“I mean it isn’t like we are all jumping across rooftops in the middle of the night, but we are definitely committed to helping cats in this community - if you’re up for that - and we all help each other,” Rita chimed in.

“You know, I really think I would like to be a part of this Secret Society. Count me in!” Paula said.

To celebrate the addition of Paula to the Secret Society, they showed her a room where she could play and snuggle with a bunch of cats. Paula spent thirty minutes going around and loving on each kitty. She felt so happy, so warm and fuzzy inside. 

When everyone went their separate ways that evening, Paula’s heart raced as she thought about her new friends and their noble mission. She always wanted to be a part of something bigger, and this was it for her. There wouldn’t be accolades and certificates of accomplishment, but something much more significant: knowing that she made a difference - knowing that they made a difference together - in this little community.