It was a cool Saturday night, and I just had a feeling. Big was out playing cards with the boys, and I had made a last minute decision to skip out on the bars.

I looked out my window and down at the stoop below. I threw on a sweater and wandered down the stairs.

The city lights were bright, and behind all the noise, it was quiet. I lit up a cigarette. I sat in silence taking slow drags until I heard heavy footsteps approaching me.

"You weren't at the bars tonight."

John McDavidson stood over me. Roughly 6'1" with short brown hair and a goatee. He had a crooked smile and a physique that screamed Abercrombie model. He was everything all those sweet girls in the office said he was, and more. He was any girls wet dream, and had I been interested, I might have creamed myself when he approached me.

"Yeah, I had other things to do."
"So you left me with Andi?"
"You had Shay..."

His smile widened. "Yes, but I didn't have you."

He sat down next to me and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You know, John, one might think you to be a cat the way you move sometimes."
"Valid point Alyss, sometimes I think that I may have been a cat in a past life, I'm not one for being social, and I tend wander the nights.... maybe something like a stray." He looked at me with strong eyes, challenging my theory, I couldn't tell if he was enjoying this little conversation or not.
"Well maybe you are a stray cat, wandering from porch to porch, soaking up the love and affections from whomever will give it to you, and then coming and going as you need or see fit."
He smiled at me. "Exactly."

There was a long pause in the air as we both considered the revelation.

"Have you ever hear the story?"
"What story?"
"The story of the cat that lived a million lives." I shook my head and he told it to me.



After the story, he stood up and looked at me one last time, "Maybe I'll stop by again, it was fun talking to you tonight Alyss."
"Maybe," I said, "but I wrap my hopes up in the whims of a stray cat."

Unconditionally,
Alyss

The Cat That Lived A Million Lives

There was a cat who could live for a million years.
He died a million times, and lived a million times.
He was a great tiger-striped cat.
A million people adored the cat,
And a million people cried when that cat died.
The cat never cried, not even once.

Once, the cat was a king's cat.
The cat hated the king.
The king was great at war, and was always at war.
And, he put the cat in a magnificent cage,
And took him out to war.
One day, the cat was hit by a flying arrow, and died.
The king embraced the cat and wailed during the battle.
The king stopped the war and returned to his castle.
And, he buried the cat in the castle's garden.

Once, the cat was a sailor's cat.
The cat hated the seas.
The sailor took the cat to all the seas of the world,
And all the ports of the world.
One day, the cat fell off the boat.
The cat could not swim.
The sailor hurriedly scooped up the cat with his net,
But the cat was soaked and dead.
The sailor embraced the cat which was now like a wet rag,
And wailed in a loud voice.
And, he buried the cat under the tree
In a park in a far-away port.

Once, the cat was the cat of a magician in a circus.
The cat hated the circus.
The magician put the cat inside a box every day,
And cut him in half with a saw.
Then, he removed the cat, still in one piece,
Out of the box to receive his applause.
One day, the magician made a mistake,
And really cut the cat in half.
The magician wailed in a loud voice,
Holding the two parts of the cat in each hand.
Nobody applauded him.
The magician then buried the cat behind the circus tent.

Once, the cat was a burglar's cat.
The cat hated burglars.
The burglar walked quietly through the dark town with the cat,
Just like a cat.
The burglar robbed only houses with dogs.
While the dog was barking at the cat,
The burglar opened the safes.
One day, the cat was bitten to death by the dog.
The burglar embraced the cat with the diamonds he stole,
And walked through the night town wailing in a loud voice.
Then, he went home and buried the cat in a small yard.

Once, the cat was the cat of a lonely grandmother.
The cat hated grandmothers.
The grandmother looked outside every day from a small window,
Holding the cat in her arms.
The cat was asleep all day on top of the grandmother's lap.
Time passed, and the cat died of old age.
The frail grandmother embraced the frail dead cat,
And cried all day.
The grandmother buried the cat under a tree in the yard.

Once, the cat was a little girl's cat.
The cat hated children.
The girl piggy-backed the cat, and slept clutching the cat.
When she cried, she wiped her tears on the cat's back.
One day atop the girl's back,
The holster to keep the cat secure wound around his neck,
And the cat died.
Holding the cat with the dangly neck, the girl cried all day.
And, she buried the cat under a tree in the yard.

The cat had no fear of dying.

Once, the cat wasn't anyone's cat.
He was a stray cat.
The cat was able to be his own cat for the first time.
The cat loved himself.
Since he was a great tiger-striped cat,
He became a great stray cat.

All the female cats wanted to be the cat's wife.
There were cats that gave him huge fish.
Others gave him premium mice.
Some cats brought rare catnip as a gift.
Other cats licked his tiger fur for him.
The cat said to all of them—
"I've died a million times! This is so ridiculous now!"
The cat loved himself more than anyone else.

But there was just one beautiful white cat
That didn't even look at the cat.
The cat went over next to the white cat, and told her,
"I died a million times!"
The white cat just said, "Oh."
The cat became slightly upset, since he loved himself.
The next day, and the day after that,
The cat went over to the white cat and told her,
"You haven't even finished one life."
The white cat just said, "Oh."

One day, the cat did three somersaults in front of the white cat,
and said, "I once was a cat for a circus."
The white cat just said, "Oh."
The cat started to say, "I have had a million—"
Then asked the white cat, "Can I be at your side?"
The white cat said, "Yes."
The cat stayed by the white cat for a long time.

The white cat had many cute kittens.
The cat no longer dared to say "I have had a million—"
The cat loved the white cat and all the many kittens
Even more than himself.

As time passed, the kittens grew up and all went away.
The cat, satisfied, said, "They became great stray cats now."
The white cat said, "Yes," and softly purred her throat.
The white cat had become a grandmother cat.
The cat purred his throat even more softly.
The cat thought that he wanted to live forever with the white cat.

One day, the white cat quietly stopped moving next to the cat.
The cat cried for the first time in his life.
Night came, morning came,
Night came again, and morning came again.
The cat cried a million times.
Morning came, night came—
and one afternoon, the cat stopped crying.
The cat, next to the white cat, quietly stopped moving.

The cat never came back to life again.

The sun was leaking through the blinds.  A warm arm wrapped around my waist and moist lips kissed the back of my neck.  I felt a warm flesh rod against my back.

I rolled into my lover's arms and he kissed my lips.  His face fell into my chest and simotameously I felt his heat press against my lower lips.

He enters.

I close my eyes when he is finished and I rest my head against his chest.  I hear church bells ring in the distance.

"Marry me Alyss."
"Now?" There was hope in his eyes.  There was love there.  "Not now, but someday. Say yes, please Alyss Alexandria.  Say yes to me."

I wondered then if Big could see love in my eyes.  Did he see the same hope in my heart as I did his?  On April 24th it will have been 2 years since I'd committed my body to him.  To be frank, Big is my first serious relationship, and I hadn't really even thought of the idea that he may be my old.

"Yes"
"I love you Alyss."
"I love you too."

I think.

Unconditionally,
Alyss