The Cat in my Head

The journey home hadn't been this exciting in years. The sky was beautiful, with a few clouds that immediately formed images in Ren's mind. A fleet of ships flying through the sky, battling an evil giant.

Every alley he passed was a portal to another world, every store he passed contained legendary items found in ancient dungeons. The people on the streets were fantastical as well, some with pointed ears, others with green skin, all following Ren's magical world.

Finally, he arrived home. It was a two-story house, humble but comfortable. As he entered, he noticed it was darker than he expected and opened the curtains, folded the cookie wrapper, now properly eaten, and placed it aside on the table, as if it held a deeper meaning than just being trash. As he did that, he found a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

He approached the paper, less excited than when he entered, as if he was already expecting bad news.

"Dear, I'll be coming home late again today. To much work in the office. I will try to compensate with you next month.

I left food in the fridge for you, don't forget to study, brush your teeth, and take a shower!

Hugs and kisses, Mom"

The news wasn't anything unexpected, but that didn't mean Ren was happy about it. It had been a while since he had a good meal with his mother. She was always working, a highly competent lawyer with a new client all the time, working alone to support her and her son.

That's when a cat jumped on the table, almost scaring him. It was completely white, with blue eyes that seemed to have a faint glow, an ordinary cat except for its forked tail.

"Good day at school today, champ?" the cat asked with an androgynous voice.

With the question, Ren stopped thinking about his mother and started thinking about Aria again, a broad smile on his face.

"Long time no see, Niko," the boy said, throwing himself on the couch, sighing.

"Yeah," replied the cat, annoyed. "You haven't imagined me in a long time. You know, there's not much an imaginary friend can do when he's not... you know, imagined."

Ren ignored the bitter comment and pulled Niko towards him. Although not a real cat, Ren's imagination made everything take shape.

"But tell me, why are you so excited?" the cat continued, escaping from the boy's arms and jumping onto the coffee table.

"Niko, I met... I can't even explain properly. She's the girl of my dreams, literally! She's real! The protagonist of all my stories! I don’t even know how is that possible…"

"Wow, someone seems obsessed."

Ren's face turned red again. The last thing he wanted was for Aria to find him strange or creepy, even though deep down he believed it was already too late.

"I don't know what I want, and I don't even know her. She spoke to me at the end of class, but I didn't respond properly..."

"Do you want some advice? I'm a very wise cat."

The boy looked at the animal without finding it amusing.

"You live in my head, there's no way you can teach me something I don't already know."

Once again, Niko jumped, rubbing against the boy's legs like a real cat would.

"So, what's the plan, champ?"

Ren had to pause and think; there were two significant waves in his mind. One was about his story; he hadn't felt so inspired in a long time and wanted to start drawing right away. On the other hand, there was literally the girl of his dreams sitting on the desk in front of him at school; he couldn't ignore that.

With these two equally significant fronts, he couldn't fully concentrate on either of them.

"I'll try to get to know her. Like a normal person, while I continue working on my story."

"And what if she's boring? What if she's horrible and detestable? Maybe all this is a cruel trap of fate!"

That idea hadn't even crossed Ren's mind. In fact, he knew nothing about her, but deep in his heart, he felt that it was impossible. There was no way the girl of his dreams could be awful.

"I refuse to believe that! She's magical, I'm sure of it. Now I just need to overcome my shyness and talk to her!"

Feeling his determination returning, he climbed the stairs to his room, which contained a bed, a desk with a computer, and a large window with a beautiful view of the neighborhood.

He didn’t waste a single second and spent the rest of the day drawing, improving his story, and thinking about how it would unfold. Even without the ending planned, he was enjoying the process. Eventually, his mind drifted to Aria, making his heart race, and he had to calm down and focus to finish his drawings. While Niko slept on the desk, making company to the agitated mind of the boy.

As expected, the sun set, and his mother still hadn't returned. He ate everything she had left for him and felt guilty for not studying as she had asked. However, he couldn't control his excitement and knew it was better to seize this moment until the next creative block came. And everything he did it was alongside Niko, sometimes making a sarcastic commentary about the boy.

Feeling sleepy and knowing he wouldn't see his mother in time, he decided to sleep. In bed, Niko settled in his legs and his heart raced again. He realized he would see Aria again the next day, and that was enough to disrupt his sleep completely.

It took longer than usual for him to fall asleep, with Aria's image constantly in his mind, thinking of how to interact with the girl and how to make her like him. And when he finally drifted off, the image returned.

Once again, he dreamt of her.