Prologue - God is a Cat

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I stared, almost blankly, at the flyer pinned on the wall of the bus-stop, already detached from one corner and hanging on for dear life against the slightest breeze. I could relate to that feeling. Exhaustion clung to every inch of me, and I honestly didn’t know just what was keeping me from collapsing right then and there. Habit, I guess.

A week ago, this wouldn’t have bothered me so much. I would have been able to push through the exhaustion, the dissatisfaction with my daily life, and make it home.

A week ago, Harold was still there.

“Adele!” my friend Izzy had said in the most scandalized tone when I had told her about him, “You can’t name a cat Harold!”

Sure, maybe ‘Harold’ was a strange name for a cat. But not even Izzy could deny, the moment she’d seen his face, that it simply suited him.

I’d found Harold about four years prior, his tabby brown and black fur missing patches and his frame far too thin to be healthy. He was missing an ear, covered in scars, and had been lying just inside the alley halfway between my apartment and my office. He wasn’t even hidden, but for who knows how long, he’d been there, in plain view, and people had just passed by without a care.

I thought he was dead when I first laid eyes on him, but his chest was still rising and falling, albeit slowly, when I moved closer to check. No, it wasn’t the smartest move to scoop him up in my jacket and take him home...but it had been the best decision I’d ever made.

Harold never quite warmed up to me. He ate enough for a large dog, stole my socks for his own sock-nest in the closet, and had the most scathing glare when he disapproved of any of my actions (which was just about all of them).

But he was always sitting at the door when I got home from work to greet me with a meow that crackled like the voice of an old smoker, and when I watched tv he loafed peacefully on the other side of the couch, and when I was ill he buried his favorite toy mice beneath my blanket as I slept.

Harold was what kept me going when my boss spent hours screaming at me, or gave me extra overtime just before I had to go home. I could endure it, because Harold was there. But then, one day, he wasn’t. Passed away in his sleep in his sock-nest, the vet had said. No pain, just an old cat closing his eyes and letting go. No evidence that he’d been anything but happy in his final years.

Do you love animals?

Yes, I do. I always have.

Do you want to make the world a better place?

Yes, I think that would make me happy. It could fill the hole that Harold left, even if only slightly. Heck, maybe it could even help me find a new career path, something more fulfilling…

I reached towards the flier, and then a small bit of text at the bottom that I hadn’t spotted before caught my eye.

Must be able to contribute at least 15 hours a month.

Ah, there was the rub. 15 hours a month didn’t seem like a lot, but between my job and the frequent (and last minute) overtime I had to pull, it simply wouldn’t be feasible without causing me to burn out. My boss threatened me, constantly, with firing me if I so much as hesitated at one of his requests. I couldn’t afford to lose my job.

Rather than taking the flier, I found the place where the loose corner was meant to be attached and pressed it back down, ensuring that it was more secure and visible. Someone else could come by and see it, and they would be able to find themselves in a more fulfilling position, surrounded by the unconditional affection of animals that just needed a second chance.

One day, that someone could even be me. But not today.

I turned left out of the bus stop and barely registered the crosswalk signal at the corner of the street turning red. I was in the middle of it when the blaring of the truck horn startled me out of my exhausted daze. When I looked up, it was into two bright headlights growing brighter and brighter, too quickly for me to move out of the way.

I had just enough time to raise my arm above my eyes, in a moment that seemed to slow to near stopping. And then I awaited the pain of impact.

But it never came.

I was braced for far longer than a second, still feeling blinded by light but...there was no sudden jolt, no pain, and before long confusion and curiosity were all I felt. Slowly, I lowered my arm.

The blinding light was no longer coming from the headlights of the truck, but from all around me. The ground, the sky, every direction was just a pure, bright white.

I stumbled back onto my heel as the tension in my body released, realizing no impact was coming, and tried to get my bearings.

“Eh-hem.”

My eyes snapped forward as I was started by the deep, gravelly voice. And I saw nobody it could have belonged to.

“Down here.”

My gaze traveled down, down...to the plump tabby cat missing an ear sitting before me, his tail twitching in an almost amused fashion. I felt the tears welling in my eyes before it truly registered what I was looking at.

“H-Harold?”

“One and the same. Hello, Adele.”

I sank to my knees and drew my hand to my mouth, as to stifle the sobs that threatened to come from my throat.

“How are you-? What are you doing here?”

Harold stepped forward and lifted a paw onto my knee in a comforting fashion. It occurred to me in that moment to perhaps question how he could speak, but my mind was struggling to catch up to everything that was happening, so it simply fell to the wayside.

“I’m sorry to tell you, Adele, but you’ve died. Or you will, in a few moments.”

I processed that, for a moment. It made sense, at least.

“The truck…”

Harold nodded. It was an oddly human gesture, and a giggle bubbled up from my throat before I could stop it. Harold either didn’t notice, or feigned not noticing.

“Then, this is...the afterlife?”

This time, he shook his head.

“I’ve pulled you into a space between. Just before your death.” He leaned forward and nudged his head beneath my hand, something he’d never done in life. “You made the last portion of my final life comfortable, and for that, I wanted to make you an offer.”

“An offer?” Maybe this was what people spoke about, that idea of seeing your life flash before your eyes before you died. This definitely wasn’t a memory of mine, but maybe my brain didn’t have much time to put something more coherent together.

“Yes,” Harold confirmed, rubbing his head against my hand until I began to pet him. His fur was as rough as I’d remembered, the few times I’d been allowed to touch him. His purr was just as raspy and staccato. “I can send you back to Earth, now, and you will die. I’ll make sure you’re unconscious before that moment, but I can’t stop your death. That’s not in my power. Or...I can send you somewhere else.”

“I...I don’t understand.”

Harold turned, pulling his entire spine and tail beneath my hand as he walked a few inches away to sit down again across from me.

“At the end of a cat’s ninth and final life, he becomes, for a time, the God of this world. The one in which you named me ‘Harold’ was mine, and I am now this world’s God. As such, I have a certain amount of capability to change things as I please. Not complete power...I cannot turn back time, so I cannot keep you from dying back on Earth. But I can give you another life, in another world. One where, I think, the presence of someone like you is needed.”

I digested those words for a few moments, or perhaps longer, or shorter...time felt like it wasn’t the same here.

“Is this new world really different from Earth?”

Harold Nodded. “There’s many similarities, but there are also many differences.”’

Perhaps sensing my apprehension, Harold continued.

“I won’t be sending you there completely empty-handed. You’ll have my blessings. Access to a few things you’ll find useful, and assistance understanding the voiceless.”

I tilted my head, confused.

“That sounds rather...vague.”

“Harold simply licked his paw.

“I am a cat. Being clear is against my nature. Now, time is growing short...what do you choose?”

It wasn’t much of a decision, really. I’d miss my family and my friends, but if I was going to die…

“Ok. I’ll go to this new world.”

Harold nodded, and the blank void around us began to sparkle, growing brighter.

“Harold, wait...were you happy?”

Harold seemed to smile, in that cat way that involved just nearly closing his eyes.

“I was the happiest. Good luck, Adele. Just be yourself, and you’ll do wonderfully.”

As the light grew so bright my eyes and head began to ache, I felt myself losing consciousness.

“Ah, one last thing. When you wake up, think of me, and say ‘store’...that should help you on your way.

Then I was gone.