It wasn't like anything I've felt before. I was a stray cat with no real home nor family. My mother had left, and my father never was around. It was like every other life for a stray cat - independent, lonesome, and self-reliant. I wouldn't want to give up that life for anything. If I did, that meant I was some crazy house cat and wouldn't live up to the stray cat "code" that most cats lived with. We were beyond some pampered cat life, we are like warriors of the streets.

Then it came out of nowhere. Some guys in a white vehicle stepped out as I ate a rat. They wore all white with huge nets. They swatted towards me and went to gather me up, I had to leave immediately. I've heard rumors with those, they prick you and hurt you. The cat across the alley told me all about it. Are the rumors true? Possibly not. He's never gotten caught by them anyways. Though, I didn’t want to take the chance.

I ran, I can report to that alley cat about the new discovery. I rushed as far as I could go.

A car had hit me. My leg, I can't move it. I felt pain that I've never experienced. I couldn't comprehend the huge amount of pain. I felt myself fade into darkness. I opened my blurry eyes to see a lady. She was tall, I couldn't see her face. She was a blurry mess.

I closed my eyes to wake up, warm and comfortable. I looked around to see planks of wood and papers in plastic. Glass lined the walls like some decoration I’ve seen along the street. I shook my head to see, this is a house. The inside of a house, this is where humans lived at. I went to stand up, only falling straight down as my leg was stiff.

There’s a purple stiff thing on my leg. It was sparkly and itchy. It made me incapable to walk. It was hindering everything I’ve learned from the day I was born. “What is this?” I whispered to myself. “Help!” At that instant, I felt large thuds come towards me. I looked at her, she was that lady.

“Toby?” the lady called out to me. Toby? Who was that? It certainly was not me, I didn’t have a name. She bent down and adjusted me back into the plushy comfortable thing sprawl near the fire holder. “I see you woke up. Welcome to your temporary spot.” The lady softly spoke. I captured her clear definitions, the brown wavy hair and soft smell of fruity scents. Her outfit was like my plushy spot – comfortable and gray. “You need to get better, so I gave you my house for a little bit. Once you are all fixed up, we’ll let you go. Alright?” The lady smiled genuinely, I’ve never felt that before. I’ve never seen it. She bent down and kissed my forehead… I think it was a kiss? Though she didn’t groom me afterwards. She placed a small bowl of whatever smelled delicious. I pulled myself over to a few bites, it was chicken. This was the best chicken I’ve ever tasted, it had something slimy on top. I don’t know what, but it was delicious. Absolutely wonderful. I finished in a matter of minutes, that was the biggest meal I’ve ever had… I didn’t even hunt it. Another bowl next to it was full of water, in which I drank as I would anything else.

The fire holder was so enticingly warm, I couldn’t resist but stay the night. I didn’t care for the plushy thing, so I dragged myself away and laid on the ground. My leg, I could care less for the purple sparkly thing. I hated it, it was itchy and annoying to have. Though, that chicken made up for the annoyance.

I’ve never felt this pampered thing. It was so sudden, apparently the sparkly thing comes off after a few weeks pass. My leg felt great afterwards. The human life was nice though. The comfortable fire holder and amazing chicken meals I always got, I didn’t want to leave.

So, I faked my leg injury afterwards. I went back and met the white coated people where they gave the lady-mom some new food and wrapping. I got to go back to the lady-mom’s house and rest a little while. She taught me about the wooden planks being “shelving” and how I shouldn’t knock the “books” down. Furthermore, the fire-holder was a “fireplace” and it was so comfortable along the couch. I’ve tested it myself.

The best part, besides the chicken and gravy that the lady-mom always gave me, I would curl up on lady-mom’s lap and rest near the fireplace. It was so comfortable. She would lay still but I felt her emitting some warmth herself. It was nice to feel that comfort. I’ve never experienced such a thing.

I had to go back to the white coated people again, they couldn’t diagnose anything more. They couldn’t conduct anything else. I went home only to leave the house.

I couldn’t leave, lady-mom was so nice. I’ve never felt this warmth in me, this love and comfort. She adopted me. I stayed with her. Of course, I went our sometimes and met some friends, but I stayed with lady-mom in anyway possible.

One year turned into two, she found some man and I could tell… she loved him. I was a little jealous but figured that he needed to be there to take care of lady-mom in turn of me. Of course, more servants in the house was preferred. He was sweet and caring too, he didn’t mind me walking over his desk either. Apparently, he’s an author and while mom is a critic. I learned more human cultures through him, the big words humans use and how to recognize cues and orders. He wasn’t as lenient, but I caught on quickly on orders and the basic house cat rules.

After a few years of them being in the house together, mom started experiencing some immense pain and left for a few weeks. They came back with this miniature man. The son, Aaron. Aaron Wishmeyer. I was concerned for this little man. He looked like dad, however acted like mom. I went to greet him, my usual “Hello, how are you doing?” like I would for mom when she came home. The little gremlin yanked my tail and laughed when I pulled back. I hissed, I was so close to biting him. I held myself together and gave him a lick on the forehead. I didn’t want to be mean at the tiny man, I went to greet him anyways. So, a friendly gesture like kissing him on the forehead was nice, that’s what lady-mom did to me.

He started crying. His eyes were nothing, but watery tears and his screaming was terrible. I panicked and started yelling incomprehensibly too. I went to get mom by pushing her with my head to the mini man and she instantly calmed him down.

That was Aaron Wishmeyer, my best friend. He grew up quickly, going from crying and grabbing to whimpering and sharing. He still cried, only he wasn’t so brutal about yanking my tail. He started petting me, viciously yes, but petting me in a loving nature.

I got used to him, his few years of incoherent babbling to his first word… “cat.” At 4, he started school, so I didn’t see him as often. Mom still went to work early in the morning while dad left with Aaron to school and brought him back. I usually took this time to go out and find a nice present for Aaron. I’ve learned from mom and dad that birds and mice don’t make the best presents, so I brought back leaves for Aaron. This leaf was the biggest one I could find. It was a dark green and wasn’t easy picking it off the bush. Once I got it, the lady Siamese across the street found me.

“Hey, Toby!” She called, “You doing your daily outing today?” Her small figure made her slip through the window easily, Pharah isn’t normally out but she likes to greet me from the window.

“Yep.” I dropped the leaf to continue, “What are you doing out here?”

Pharah laid on her back and started twisting, “Having fun! I don’t go out cause Jenny says no, but when I do, I’m bored.” Her feminine voice rings softly in the streets. “What are you doing? I thought Aaron comes home in a few hours.”

I pushed the leaf to Pharah to show my prize for Aaron, “I wanted to give Aaron a little present. He’s getting much better at talking. He likes to talk about me too! Things like my fur being gray and having stripes like a tiger. Mom and dad get a little jealous.”

“Mom and dad?” Pharah asked quizzically. She let out a small chuckle afterwards. “Call them by their human names. I thought that was some street cat code you live by.”

I never thought of it that way. “She’s my mom, and he’s my dad. Aaron is their son and my best friend. Technically they are family I’ve never had. So, they are my mom and dad.”

“Aaron would be your brother then.” Pharah chuckled, “I guess it doesn’t mean much difference, he’s still a sweet little pumpkin.” Pharah got up and quickly shook her fur of any rocks and dirt. “Can’t wait to see you two grow up.”

Aaron and I, grown up. “You make it sound like we wouldn’t.” I laughed. I grabbed my leaf and headed back home. “Bye!” I muffled afterwards.

Pharah shared a laughed as well, “Bye, Toby!” She swayed back into her house before her owner could return.

I got home and took a small cat nap before Aaron came home. I woke up and gave the leaf and we both slept in his crib. A few more years went by and he got bigger in his bed. The bush I got leaves from started to die, so I got different presents. Flowers, roots, I got some tomatoes from the yards a few blocks down. I always let Aaron pet me. I was about 14 when he was 10 in human years. He started coming home later in the day, he started to become more distant from everyone. He always made time to pet me.

I watched them all grow up in the end. Mom was rarely ever home, and dad had trouble making dinner and driving Aaron to and from school while writing his many books. Sometimes, Aaron didn’t come home until dinnertime. He was immensely busy at “Math Club” or “Debate Club” afterschool. He still always found time to pet me. I was so grateful for that. I started to get weak in my joints. Having the need for medicine every night became a hassle.

Pharah didn’t come out nor greet me, though Jenny never came home either. My only guess was she died, turns out she had moved away. I didn’t know that was a thing. I kept by Aaron’s side, he had always been busy as the day passed by.

Aaron was so dedicated in studies, he panicked mainly but he always found some comfort in petting me. It got harder for me to go up the stairs, I focused on staying in one area versus another for minimum movement. Mom didn’t go to work after a while and dad kept writing at home. Mom started doing writing as well and became an award-winning novelist, dad following behind her steps. Aaron was doing well in school, but he started coming home super late. I caught him multiple times not sleeping. He became an insomniac easily. Though, he would always pet me.

He was 15, I was 19. I got weaker by the day and my food was nothing but unappetizing. I couldn’t eat the hard kibble and had to resort to the wet food again. I found it difficult to see too. I had to yell to understand where I was in the dark, in which Toby yelled back and guided me there.

Some days nobody came back home, some days only dad stayed. A few years passed, I couldn’t stand anymore. I dropped down on my legs. I couldn’t find any strength to get up. Aaron was the only one with me that day, he couldn’t stop looking at me without crying. I gathered as much strength to get to his forehead while he laid down and kissed his forehead. “It’s going to be alright, I’ll get better soon.” I closed my eyes then open to see him crying. I remembered him crying as a baby, this was not him. I couldn’t get up to eat, I couldn’t get up to use the litterbox. I couldn’t do anything. Aaron watched over me, seeing how I couldn’t move and moved me whenever I asked for something. I was spoon fed instead. I didn’t know how Aaron could hold the spoon steadily as I ate.

He cried to his mother on the phone in which she came home with tears. I was so dehydrated, I couldn’t find the strength to drink water though. I closed my eyes then opened to mom crying. I felt tear drops on my fur each time they held me.

This feeling, I felt sad. I blinked once more to see the dark moon illuminate the cage I was in. I didn’t want to go to the white coated people. Mom was crying so horridly, Aaron tried so hard to be composed but he couldn’t do be composed for long.

It hit me, I didn’t want to go. I heard those rumors; the people would catch me and make me go to sleep. If it was the first visit, they’d find nothing wrong and send me home. Please, I couldn’t leave like this. I want happy faces, I want everyone to be happy.

“Mom!” I cried out as the white-coated lady took me. “Aaron!” I yelled out. I grabbed onto them, they gave me a big hug. No, please no. I started crying to, “Guys, you’re forgetting me! Mom! Aaron! Wait.”

The double-crossed door shut behind the vet. “Mommy? Aaron?” I whimpered sadly. The people laid me on a table and attached all the equipment to me. “My family, where did they go?”

“This won’t hurt a bit. It’ll be quick and painless.” The white coated lady talked through her white mask. She put a needle in my arm and I closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes, like a blink. I didn’t feel anymore pain. I felt rejuvenated, I’m ready to go home! “Thank you!” I quickly got up, though my body didn’t move. I looked at the lady in the white coat, she was tearing up. The people surrounded the table and closed their eyes. “I’m just going to leave.” I started to head off the table but looked down to see my slate fur and darker stripes lay limp. I picked up my paw, it looked transparent. Like a window, I could see through it. My pads were black, like they were when I was real.

I felt like a wind pulled me up. I was slowly floating upwards, this made as much sense as the red dots. I looked at my tail, transparent as well. My stripes were still intact, and the table was slowly growing smaller. I tried to move forward, though made no progress. “Mom! Dad!” I yelled out, hoping they could hear me after leaving. “Aaron!” I yelled out. Nothing in return. They couldn’t have not heard me. I’m loud in general. “Aaron!” I yelled out once more. I looked up to see I am almost at the ceiling. I closed my eyes to brace myself.

A bright light shined at my face, forcing me to look. It was a shining ball of pure light. I looked all around me, nothing but fluffy clouds and blue skies. What does one say to a ball of light? “Hello?” I dumbly asked. The light swirled around me, like the fairy in those games Aaron played. I was blinded with light around me, I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded.

The light stopped and in front of me was a gate. A stunning gate, might I add. A huge golden gate with many swirls and curls. I went to walk forward, seeing my feet shrouded in clouds. I can move at least. I marched forward, the light dissipated. A small wind blew against me, almost like a whisper.

“Welcome, Toby.” The whisper hissed in the wind. It was a warm fuzzy chill, as if I knew that it was safe to go forward. That this was a haven, a heaven more like. I didn’t die, I know I am going back home soon. I walked up to the gate, being blinded with more light.

I entered, seeing a mass number of cats and kittens alike. It was strange, I’ve never seen so many free cats in a vicinity. I saw a shadow fly above me, a cat had wings. He flew over the gate forward, along with several other winged cats.

I marched forward, though couldn’t help hearing over the many shouts and cries.

“Mommy!” A heard a small kid cry out, he sounded like he was upset, “I wanna go hooome.” His sobs echoed out loud. It was chatty like at the adoption shelters and white coated offices. I turn to the commotion, the mother picked him up by his black scruff, “Mommmy…”

“We’ll be off soon,” the mother trailed off with the crying kitten in her jaw.

I turned to the gate again, seeing how there was multiple lines of cats. Big cats, small kittens, some Bengal cats. None looked like each other. Everyone was unique in their own aspect. Each cat sounded immensely different from each other. Some words and phrases I’ve never heard of. The languages were just as varied.

I walked up the staircase to the shortest line and asked the cat worked. She had a slightly brown coat with a darkened muzzle and chin. “Name?” Her voice asked. She had glasses, are cat glasses a thing? After realizing this, I saw my vision was perfect. I wasn’t having any difficulty seeing ahead of me. She looked up, having a disapproving glare to my presence.

“Toby.” I calmly replied, “Toby Wishmeyer.” The feline looked down and swatted the pages to reveal more and more check lists.

She sighed before looking up and replying, “Sorry, Toby. You should be looking for the spirit board.” I shook my head, spirit? “If you look to your left, you can see the board just in front. Follow the protocol and you’ll be adjusted shortly.”

“I’m looking for my family. Do you know how I can find them again? We got separated and I’m trying to find them.” I asked.

“I’m looking for a new job, but here we are.”

I paused, why did she snap at me? I took in a deep breath and asked a simpler question, “Where am I?”

“Heaven. You died exactly 7 minutes ago. When you die, you become a spirit. As I had stated before, please go to the left and you’ll find the spirit board.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around this scenario. I pressed further, “How can I have died? I need to go back to my family. Do you know where Aaron Wishmeyer is? My mother? Dad?”

The brown cat chuckled under her breath, “You mean Aaron, that handsome tom? He left a while ago to the guardians. Why do you ask?”

“No, my owner. Aaron Wishmeyer is not a cat.”

“Sir, you are holding up a line.”

I looked back to see many cats, wondering and confused just like me. I turned back to her bored and unamused face. “I didn’t die. I need to find my family.” I coldly stared into her eyes, as gray as they were. “I will not leave without seeing them.”

She sighed and gesture to a small light spot in the clouds. “Please step there, sir.” Her emotion had not changed, neither did her enthusiasm or tone. I stepped forward and fell through the cloud. The clouds reformed themselves above me as wind pushed against me. I braced myself for impact, until falling onto another cloud. I flopped from one cloud to another, realizing that my claws had no effect towards the clouds. One surface to another, I hit many cats and dodged those who had wings. Soon enough I fell comfortably onto a cloud, in front of a huge golden building.

None of this made any sense. Cats with wings? A cloud utopia? A snappy lady telling me that I had died? Nothing made sense! I stood up, feeling a slight pain on the side I fell on. I shook to relieve myself. The groups formed down here were much larger and diverse than those near the gate. Huge forest cats walked casually towards the golden building, others were skeptical going in. I looked around, seeing huge market stands and buildings surrounding the area.

I felt a hard nudge on my side, followed with an energetic “Hello!” afterwards. I looked to see a dark brown cat with a white under belly coat. He had a tabby pattern as he happily greeted. “You seem confused.”

I looked at his physique, he was like me almost. Not too slim, though not too muscled. “I’m just lost. Where am I?”

The brown cat lit up his hazel eyes, “The international district! I couldn’t help but see you were falling and without wings. Were you testing out your flight?”

Flight? No cat should have wings in the first place, “I was just at the gate and this lady told me to step on a cloud. I guess I fell down?” The way I said this out loud made just as much sense as everything else. “This is incredibly confusing.”

“Ohh, you met Carol!” The cat happily called back. “Yea, she can be quite a cold person. She has a big heart though! Trust me.” He chuckled afterwards. “Hey, that means you’re new!”

“New?” I questioned. I was ready to speak more, until a loud bell rang next to us. I ducked because of the loud bang, though the cat was happily entranced.

“You need to go, huh?” The cat happily shoved me into the doors.

“Hey! Wait!” I tried to fight back but I was in the doors and sat in a seat. The seats were red and velvet like. “What is this?”

The cheery cat left me in the chair alone. “I’ll be outside when you’re done! Good luck!” He bumped into a huge Norwegian cat and apologized before turning back to me and nodded faithfully.

What had happened? He never told me his name either. I looked around, a huge court was full of diverse cats. We all surrounded in a circular room, a red circle was in the middle. There were TV like objects plastered everywhere. The entire room was filled with commotion and chatter, I couldn’t think properly. Could this be one of those court rooms? Like those shows mom had watched?

The room’s noise was superseded with a loud, “Ladies and Gentlemen!” as an English Fold walked in. A camera followed him plastering his image to the screens of TVs. The second whispers and chatters muffled down to silence, almost deadly silence.

The English Fold walked around, he was massive compared to some of the cats in the audience. “Now that I have your attention, I am here to discuss your current state.” His voiced boomed like a grand court hall justice. “I understand, you all must be confused at where you are or where you could be instead. Some of you are stray cats, relying on mice for dinner or any scraps from the nearest feedings. Some pets rely on the comfort of a couch, bed, or lap… and instead you all are in this room. Do not worry, you all collectively died.” He paused, and the room went into an uproar. I looked the entire room, seeing huge tigers and lions on one end and small kits on the other. Hundreds upon hundreds of cats sitting in this room, they are all dead? I’m dead too. This was beyond any imagination of heaven. This wasn’t anything that I’ve ever thought of.

“Silence!” The Fold cat bellowed aloud. Once again, the room mumbled into a soft rumble. “You all must be scared or worried to have appeared here, and you all appeared here for a reason.” He continued his spiel, however, I couldn’t understand him.

I could only think of my family. This is where he’d pet me until I was comfortable and calm. Mom would set the fireplace on, and dad would give me food. I could almost feel them crying and mourning… for my loss. If I died, that means I could use another life to see them again. Right? Every cat has 9 lives. My thoughts were interrupted by the room growing loudly again and the Fold trying to silence them.

“You are all spirits! You are all part of a stage in Heaven where we try to achieve peace. Being a spirit is the third of 5 stages. You all exited your second stage, which was being alive in the human world. Your next stage is to become a guardian, to guard over Heaven and those in your position. Do you all understand?”

As if it was timed, a cat yelled, “Can I go back home?!” and the room turned silent. Everyone listened carefully, nobody made a sound.

“You can return to the real world; however, it is almost impossible. That is though the process of reincarnation, something you’ll learn along the way in your spiritual life.” The English Fold finished, having the room turn into an eruption of screeches and lost hopes.

I felt nothing, this felt like an excuse to keep people here. I must see my family again! They need to see me in return. I overheard the conversation next to me, “I won’t be able to see my owner, that’s not true.” I agreed, it wasn’t true.

“I’ve heard rumors already, someone actually managed to leave the Spirit Realm!” A gray cat answered the conversation. I perked, it’s completely possible. It had to be!

“Silence! Silence!” The English Fold coldly echoed in the court. He turned directly to the cat who had yelled. “Your time is up. Reincarnation is certainly an affable choice, discovering the rest of Heaven is another. You cannot go back to be the same life you had on Earth. You all would be changed in one aspect or another!” The Fold circled the room again. “Your choices affect your nirvana. Please assure that you make it in the next session.” He sat coldly in the middle, “You are all dismissed.” The sunlight had cloaked him until he had vanished. The room of cats were left confused and murmuring for clarification or help. Some cats left the room and fled outside, others tried to assure another that they would be okay. Cats were angry, crying, some just blankly stared. I was confused, just like everyone was.

Nonetheless, I was going home. That gray cat said it was possible, I will make it there. I can’t sit by, this is monumental. I’m going back to my family.

I’m not going to stop until I see them again.

I got up to leave, though the cheery cat startled me at the entrance. He wore a huge smile on his face, “Hey buddy! How was the speech?”

I hesitated on answering, I didn’t know him nor knew his name. Though, I didn’t have much to lose it seemed. “The presenter was distant with… the spirits? Though, it was informative.” He walked next to me as we exited the building, the golden walls shined brightly when the sun hit us.

“He may seem cold, but he knows how to get his point out!” The cat chuckled, “Oh!” He quickly rushed in front of me and stopped me in my track. “Name’s Ace, by the way! I’m a guardian in training! I’m almost ready to be a guardian, I just need to help one more person.”

“One more person to help?” I asked back. A guardian? The English Fold mentioned that being a key compenent to Heaven, Ace must be trying to gain his wings.

“Yep!” Ace smiled, happy to explain more. “To become a guardian, you need to help people throughout your Spirit life. I still need one more person to help… so you’re the lucky one!”

Me? What luck was this? I felt rejuvenated, someone has finally answered my calling, “You’re going to help me go back to my family?” I smiled back, my tail held high. I looked at his face, shocked at my response. His fur sharpened while his tail held frozen.

“Your family?” he asked in a high-pitched question, “I’ll… I’ll make sure you get to see your family!” He nervously chuckled at the end of his response. “That’s a long journey though, you just got here!”

I felt enthusiastic about this, I can finally go back! A guardian is helping me go back home, even if he is in training. He probably knows Heaven inside and out. Ace probably helped dozens of other cats find their families. “I’m sure of it.” I confidently said. We’d define all odds together, like a partner in crime! “What do we need to do first?”

Ace smiled ahead of me, “Well… how about you know what Heaven consists of! Heaven’s big, you should get used to it, of course.” Ace moved forward, revealing a gorgeous scenic view of golden treasures, cats, and clouds. It was almost overwhelming to take in at once. I’ve never seen anything like it. “First and foremost, the International District!”

A district makes up a part of Heaven? I panned around, seeing booths and shops filling up lines of made up roads. Cats walked by, purchasing items and food from these shops. To the right was a huge library. It was a deep rustic brown in which contrasted well against the golden book sign. The library seemed bigger if not as huge as the building we just walked out of. There were cats flying around the library and creating cloud patterns, while felines walked in through the many entrances lining the front. Buildings lined the streets even more, acting like apartments or offices that I’ve seen going to the vet. It was a mock life of domestic living.

“We have the library, some complexes, apartments. Booths are everywhere, something for even tourists to compute by. We just walked out of the Justice Hall, we hold trials and meetings for both wanted feline felons and the newcomers, like you!” We slowly walked towards the gorgeous center, a giant golden fountain with three tiers of golden dishes. “That’s the Fountain of Watch.” We both approached, seeing how the library was much bigger than the Justice Hall and the Fountain was beyond my wildest imagined size. “This is quite the artifact for Heaven. You stare into the fountain water, and you can see the thousands of souls reaching their home destination in their heaven. Most souls are the owners and former family that you had lived with, of course, if you choose to stay with them.” We sat on the fountain ledge, next to a curled sleeping white cat. “You could enter the fountain to visit in their afterlife. Though, most cats don’t usually enter anymore.”

I looked deeper into the water, seeing souls and bubbles fly upward which faded as they reached the top. I didn’t see any soul look interested in me nor do I recognize them. That must mean my family is still safe on Earth, no reason for them to suddenly die. I looked over to Ace, seeing him faintly smile at the fountain water. “Have you seen your family in the water?”

Ace snapped back into his thoughts, chuckling. “Thankfully no, I have not. They are still safe on Earth, I just know it.” He looked back to the water, have intent in his thoughts. His smile faded a little further now. I couldn’t tell if that was a lie or not. He chuckled once more and looked at me, with a pep in his step once more. “This is nothing! Heaven has so much more!” He jumped up and trotted to the next destination, wherever that could be. I followed, all four paws in sync towards another.

As we walked, I started focusing on the conversations around us. The diversity was incredibly varied, no cat looked like another. I saw a Siamese cat talk to their Persian friend, elegantly speaking in what I could only assume was Japanese. I remember Aaron listening to those Japanese people talking, the subtitles scrolling about magic and transforming. That was most prominent amongst all the voices. One cat with a black moustache on his muzzle spooked the little kittens around him, bellowing a laugh as the kittens scrambled to their mothers. His deep laugh was covered by the mother’s yell. He chuckled afterwards, one of the kittens had imitated his loud roar in a petite meow. I chuckled as well. Almost every cat was at a stand, buying some sort of item or basket of food before heading off. Most cats stayed in groups together and chatted amongst themselves. No sign of threat or danger, only harmony and peace.

I looked towards one fluffy brown cat with her many kits around her. The kits were messing around, rushing and roughhousing as kittens do. She yelled two words, something I can barely decipher, however the kids had slowed down and walked back to their mother. I smiled at the rejoicing of the family, reminding myself that would be me once again.

Soon enough, I bumped into Ace’s back. “Sorry.” I quietly spoke. I was so focused on conversations and the diversity of the district, I didn’t realize he had stopped. Why would he have stopped? I looked up to see a gigantic stairway leading to another golden gate. It was almost identical to the one I had saw before, however, the curls were different and shaped into wings. Cats were flying in and out of the gates, some cats sleeping outside the gate without the wings to fly with. “What’s that?” The blue sky and clouds bathed in the light that the gate reflected. It sparkled in the sunlight, I couldn’t look away.

“That’s the Gate of Heaven.” Ace proudly announced. “The Gate of Heaven only opens to Guardians, and it’s like a Utopia! You enter and get crowned to be a guardian, then you proudly rejoice with whoever you look over. That’s what I want to be.” Ace started walking away, but I followed the stairway up. I could rejoice with my family! “Wait!” Ace called out instead.

I looked back, seeing Ace walking a different direction, “Why? This is how we can see our families. You could see yours too!” I started walking up again but Ace rushed up, spreading the clouds all around him.

“You need to be a guardian to open the gate.” Ace chuckled, “I’m not quite there yet. Plus, we shouldn’t bother the receptionists up there.” Ace walked back down the stairs, trying to guide me back down. I debated whether of not to follow, I followed anyways. I was just appointed into Heaven, I was far from any sort of Guardianship.

I rushed back down the steps, the clouds moved around my feet. “Coming!” I called out. I got next to Ace’s side and followed his steps again. He continued his tour.

He explained the importance of the International District, especially for domesticated cats like us. Heaven was divided like Earth was, only divided into more continents and sectors than Earth has. Ace explained about each district can ultimately benefit a feline based on their past life. I found myself zone out of the tour, knowing that these attributes and sectors wouldn’t affect me. I’m going home, this was merely postponing the mission. After what felt like an hour or two, Ace finally stopped in front of the Fountain again, we must’ve circled back around. “That’s about it for the International District! That’s only one of many districts, though we can’t discover them all so quickly, we are kind of bounded in.” Ace sat proudly in front of the Fountain, the new meeting place if I’ve ever got lost. “There’s more, though you learned the main sections!” Ace concluded.

I didn’t see much reason to show much all of Heaven. “That’s great and all, but I’m looking to go back to Earth. I want to live with my family again.” I restated.

“Going back to Earth, that’s much harder than you’d expect.” Ace stated, seeing the hope start to drain. “Heaven is great, I can show you around some more.”

“I’m going to see my family. I need to make sure they see me, and they know I’m safe. I need to make sure they are happy.” I explained. I had to pause to not spill out crying. To think, that was just a few hours ago, I rightfully died. “They miss me. I miss them back just as much.”

A silence paused between us, leaving me with just thoughts. “They mean that much to you?” Ace asked. He had a family too, did he not like his family? I thought he’d agree.

“They mean so much to me.” I took a deep breath in, “So, are you going to help me?” I looked up, I felt the hope rise.

Ace looked, concerned at first, then with a smile. “Of course, I’ll help.” He looked around, nervous though, “We should look in the library. Maybe that could help us.”

I nodded. We both got up and walked in. What seemed like a serious moment was turned joyous, Ace brought back the pep in his walk and carried onwards. The plan is in circulation once more, death can’t stop my plan now.

“Hey, I never asked. What’s your name?” Ace confidently asked.

I never stated my name? “Toby.” I said back, just as confidently, “Toby Wishmeyer.”

Ace and I migrated towards the library, admiring the rustic scenery. We entered the gigantic doors, this was completely furnished with comfortable places to sleep and thousands of lined books. This was nothing like dad’s small bookcase on Earth, this was beyond anything. The shelves themselves were encrusted with gold, like the fountain outside. “Here we are!” Ace loudly spoke. “My favorite place.”

“The library.” I spaced upon my thought. There were so many books, though I never understood most books dad and mom had written. “Why would Heaven have a library?”

Ace pointed his snout towards a huge draped list alongside a world map. “Most cats come here to see if their families are here. That list over there tells you where you family’s names are posted.” There were cats climbing up stairs to read a specific name. It covered the entire wall, at least 10 bookshelves side by side and another 7 stacked on top of each other. “They are human families, rather your own personal family… you know?” Ace smiled before walking forward again. “Even if that isn’t your intention, the library is filled with just about everything. Guardian Training prep books, recipe books, novellas, we have volunteer-led session to read for the Kittens. It’s quite the comfortable place to even lay down and sleep. I take cat naps all the time.” Ace started to trot up the slabbed steps, I followed still bewildered at the whole expanse.

I still questioned further, “How could we understand the texts? I didn’t understand human text then.”

Ace paused, following a chuckle after. “Easy! This is Heaven! Dedicated just towards cats, we can understand any text we couldn’t on Earth. Like, some cats have a language barrier and could only read texts in that language, so they notice see the language they grew up with and go with it. You speak English, so you’d probably understand English texts.” Ace proudly presented a small book with silly font spelling Shapes and Colors! in rainbow coloring. “Or you can always read a kitten book like this one.” Ace bellowed a laugh.

I rolled my eyes as I smiled, it was strange he could be loud in a library. I never heard of that. “Oh, and…” Ace trotted up to a ladder leaning on the shelving. “To grab a book…” Ace ran up and jumped on the ladder, forcing it to glide along the shelving. He slapped a book with his tail, causing it to tumble out a fall from its original spot. Ace quickly jumped off and the ladder abruptly slammed into the wall. The book elegantly landed on a rolling cart underneath, Ace promptly and joyfully pushed the cart to me. “Easy as pie.”

That was a cool stunt, no doubt about it. Though, that looked like luck. “Let’s find a book for going back to Earth.” I started towards the History and Historical Fiction aisles first. “I’ll go down here.”

“Alrighty!” Ace happily sauntered over to the Manga and Fiction sections. Figures, his joyous personality came form somewhere. I couldn’t help but chuckle, I went my way.

I entered the walls, overwhelmed with the myriad of books that had lined the shelves. The bookshelves were taller from this perspective, they had reached the second floor so easily! There were cats pushing carts stacked with books, nudging the thick pages with their heads and noses. I found it very difficult to find most books, some sleeping cats stretched and pushed books off their shelving. It was like an avalanche of books. Historical facts flying at you, literally. Every few feet or so was a new subsection; Earth facts, Earth History, Heaven Districts, the list could go on forever. I scaled through the next few aisles, hoping to see a more precise location for my cause. I ended in the Kitten section instead. This wasn’t for me either.

As I walked away, I overheard a smooth female voice. I looked back to see a tortoise shell sitting on the mat, acting out a story for the cats sitting down. That must be one of the volunteers, none of the cats looked alike. “Though as the night grew dark, the lost kitten saw that the forest was too big. ‘What could I do,’ said the kitten. ‘I don’t have my mommy or my daddy, I’m lost!’” I walked closer to the reading mat, seeing how the kits stayed near each other for comfort. “There were scary noises everywhere. The clouds were dark, like it was going to rain.” She explained, some of the kits bowed in fear. I couldn’t help but feel the eeriness myself. “Little Mittens was scared, he missed his mommy and daddy. Then, a bush went shake, shake, shake all throughout the night! Mittens was extra scared now!” I noticed myself sitting down on one of the benches, I listened to a kitten story. “The shaking had stopped, Mittens went to investigate.” She leaned forward, the kittens following along. After a brief pause, the reader went “Boo!” as she scared the other kittens, I jumped as well. “A little white kitten jumped from the bush, giggling about the spook!”

The kittens giggled like the presenter did. I could help but shuffle something beneath my own voice. Ace bumped into me, “What are you doing?” He quietly asked. Now he lowers his voice, probably for the better though. “Are you… listening to a kitten book?” Ace chuckled at the expense. He looked back at the storyteller, seeing her mesmerizing pattern. “You were looking at the lady… weren’t you?”

Listening to a kitten story seemed embarrassing enough, though I couldn’t admit to the second option. “I did not, I overheard the story and was drawn in.” The kittens gasped in fear at my sentence. I looked over, seeing the kittens control themselves as the teller went on. “It seems they like the book too.”

“Little kittens or not, you weren’t looking for the Earth Returning book.” Ace sat on the bench next to me.

“Says you. You went directly towards the Manga section.” I chuckled, putting my head down.

“Yep!” Ace confirmed confidently. “I found a novel for Earth you might want to check out. Legends of Cats: Risks to Take! seems like a fitting title.” Ace pushed the book in front of me as I perked my head. “It’s basically about a cat who set out to find his family from Heaven. You are Welcome.”

I took the book from him and immediately started reading. It was a huge book, I can’t imagine reading the entire novel in one setting. I had no time to lose, I did die. The first few chapters highlighted the importance of the Human Atmosphere and how he Atmosphere contributes to veils on Earth. I remember Aaron talking about the Atmosphere and Anthrosphere, talking about how the human interaction caused pollution and many other harmful things. The book did as well, explaining how the veil is too weak to hold new coming spirits in. One chapter caught my attention, it had talked about one cat who wanted to go back home to Earth. A brown tabby walked across Heaven to the Earth Viewing Area. As a note, the Earth Viewing Area was highly recommended for anyone willing to go through reincarnation or wanting to see their family. It was fascinating to read about.

Another gasp came from the kitten reading session. I looked down to see Ace laid down, intently listening to the story. “Little Mittens is still really lost. Even the white kitten was confused through the forest. ‘Where could my mommy have gone? I’m really scared.’ Mittens said. The wind picked up, pushing against the two baby kits. White kitten went out and grabbed a leaf, ‘Maybe the leaf could lead the way!’ White kitten let go of his leaf, making the leaf fly freely through the wind.” The presenter enthusiastically said her story, the kitten perking with joy. I went back to reading.

The problem with the Heaven Cat was that he wasn’t found afterwards. No one had heard of him. He gathered such courage to try and break through the barrier of Heaven and Earth, only vanished without a traced. This could mean he is still safe in Heaven for 2,000 years… or he transferred into the veil holding Heaven together. I closed the book, touching Ace with my tail, “Ace?” I asked quietly, hoping not to disturb the reading session. “Ace?” I asked a little louder, nudging my shoulder to him. He still hasn’t answer. I looked up to see Ace tearing up, much like the kittens. Was the story session still going on?

“Little Mittens finally found his home! White kitten walked him up the doorstep, he said, ‘Goodbye! It’s nice to have a good friend with me. I was starting to get scared too.’ Little Mittens touched White Kitten’s forehead, something he only did with his mommy and daddy. ‘Thank you! My mommy probably really missed me.’ White Kitten headed off back into the forest. Little Mittens knew, he was no longer a scary cat… he was a nice friend. The end.” The storyteller ended by closing the book. “How was that story?”

The Kittens sprung up in unison, “Yea!” they all shouted. The kittens scattered to their own mothers, telling and chattering of the tale of Little Mittens. My heart warmed to the greetings. Many of the kittens touched each other’s forehead, teaching their mother how Little Kitten was best friend with the mysterious White Kitten.

“Ace.” I asked once more, noticing a subtle sniffle coming from him. I turned to see a sobbing grown cat.

“Mittens… he found his… home.” Ace tried his best not to cry, though the sniffles gave it away. “He made a… a… a… a new… a new friend.” He whimpered until turned his head and exposing his crying face. He panicked and jolted up, wiping any tears left over. “You didn’t see anything!”

I shared a small chuckle. “You? Tearing up at a kitten story? Impossible.” I nudged the book over and put a paw on the picture in front. It was modeled like it had said in the book. “That’s the Earth Viewing Area, right?”

Ace looked down and nodded, “Yea, it’s a huge sphere that shows where humans are on Earth. Why?”

“That’s our next destination.” I smiled.

Ace looked more concerned, “That’s almost a two-week walk. We won’t make it there in time.”

“In time?” I questioned. “There’s a time limit?”

Ace looked up, trying to find the right words to explain. “You are a spirit, safe in the Spiritual veils that support Heaven. However, when you step out of the region, such as the going to the Viewing Area, you last only a few days before you deteriorate.” Ace turned his head, revealing a tip of an ear missing. “My ear tip is missing since I walked out pretty often, after a month or so, my ear started fading away.”

I looked closer at his ear, it wasn’t like a rip or scar. The ear tip was faded away, like it had vaporized into a solution. “A few days? Do you think we’ll be able to make it?”

“My ear started vanishing after a month of moving between different veils and spots. I think we should be fine.” Ace smiled back, “Problem is, once you start fading, it’s irreversible. It’ll only get worse, but we are both strong spirits! It’s hard to get rid of us!” He boasted about us, confidently as always.

I smiled back, my confidence restored in his judgement. “We should get going then.” I turned, accidentally bumping into the volunteered tortoise shell that was reading the kitten book. “I’m sorry ma’am.”

“That’s alright.” Her soft voice spoke. “I couldn’t help but notice you guys listening onto my story session with the little kits. Do you have kittens of your own?”

“No, we are on a mission.” I answered. “Do you know anything about this book?” I shoved the book over to her.

The tortoise shell closely inspected the book jacket, “This is some old legend we tell the kittens. A mysterious cat tried going back to his family in Tokyo from the Spiritual realm. Well, he tried, though he disappeared. We don’t know anything about what had happened, only that there was one witness.” The tortoise pushed the book back over, “You two better be careful, the veils are getting weaker out there. You little boys should be extra careful. She started walking away, “Please come for another reading session though. We could love the company!”

Ace walked in front of me, catching my attention instead. “Well, I am not a little boy.” I smiled, ready to officially leave and start the journey. “Ready, Ace?”

He took in a deep breath and nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” He gave me a smile and we started walking out. “You want to join the next story session first?”

I chuckled until opening the door, dashing on sight. “Hurry up! You are too slow!” I quickly rushed to the next destination, the end of the International District. That way we can leave.

“Hey! Slow down!” Ace had trouble catching up. Considering he always rushed in front of me, I thought this wouldn’t be a challenge.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Viewing Area…

Here I come.

We stopped in front of the edge. A desolate land of fog in the seemingly bright area. The clear barrier reflected our faces. I looked at me, my slate coat and tabby stripes. I looked at my chest closely, I could see the building behind me through my chest. I was translucent, see through, transparent. I looked over to Ace’s reflection, frightened. His tabby coat of brown made it more difficult to see through, though I don’t think he’s mind to it anymore. His face, he looked scared. Panicked even, he’s done this before. I looked at his ear, the nick being clearly visible. I saw his eyes dart over to my reflection, seeing how I looked.

“You are positive you want to do this?” Ace voice sounded shaky, demonstrating his emotion. “The library lady is not wrong, it is dangerous.”

I looked back at my reflection, taking a deep breath and letting go, “What’s so dangerous about it?” I shuffled my own voice. I was going to take control, shove any fear under a rug and walk away. We go this, a soon-to-be guardian and a spiritual figure, how bad could it be? In a haven like this?

Ace sighed, perking his head abruptly, “I have an idea!” Ace got up and started walking away from the edge. “Follow me!”

Follow? We just got to the edge of the barrier, why would we go back? I decided not to question. Maybe I was in for a thrilling ride, maybe I just wanted to see the fun of an adventure. I blindly followed.

Ace took a sharp left and entered an alleyway. I felt a little uneasy, I never liked some of the alley cats back on Earth. They were into sketchy business and somehow knew many ideas that we unbeknownst to me. Just like the white-coated men, how would they know? I still followed reluctantly. The tall buildings towered, shadowing any light passing. I was intimidated to be in such an alleyway.

“There’s less trash here than normal.” Ace happily said, “That’s how you know it’s a good day!” Ace continued his journey, to a dead end. I’d be lying to say I knew what he was doing. Why was Ace here? What could help us here?

“Where… are we?” I paused, seeing how tall the building was in such an area. The ledges protruded from the sides, potted plants lined the edges. It was scary to think that this resembled the human life I’ve grown accustomed to. “Why are we here?” I followed.

Ace let out a small chuckle, “To a map, where else?” He kept walking to the trash can, not caring that this led to a dead end. He is my guardian… as of a few hours ago, of course. I was like any other neophyte in Heaven, I shouldn’t question a guardian’s intention then. Besides, I owe him the help that he’s given me.

My thoughts were interrupted as a pitter patter echoed on the trash can. I looked forward, seeing Ace prepare himself on the garbage bin. I tried to hurry forward, however, Ace immediately jumped forward towards a low window ledge. I felt my heart stop, a gut feeling that this might not end well. “Ace!” I called out, a little bit of the brick started chipping away, “I don’t think that’s the safest idea!”

“This is nothing!” Ace shook his tail high before taking a large jump to another ledge. He must’ve miscalculated, he slid off and hung by his paws.

“Ace!” I yelled once more. Ace luckily pulled himself up. I felt the chills being sent down my spine. “Ace!” I called out again, hoping he can at least stop or tell me what he’s going to do.

“I do this all the time, don’t worry!” Ace shook his tail again and took a larger jump, from the left building ledge to the right. He bumped into the side of the wall, a brick crumbled beneath him. The loose brick crashed down and created an obnoxious bang in the utmost quiet alleyway. “Watch out down there!”

He jumped once more, pushing a potted plant to crash down onto me. I jumped out of the way in time, shocked he still is going up. Watch out down there… I wasn’t looking out for you anyways? I looked back up, seeing no sign of brown. “Ace?” I yelled out, there’s not much to run to. Could he have made it to the top? A few ledges, and the building had ended? I walked over to the bin and put a paw up, hoping to have a better view of the top. “Ace!” I yelled out, “Hello?” I felt my ears flatten out of instinct, did he just leave me? At that remark, another potted plant slammed directly onto the bin, shattering it instantly. I jumped away as quickly as I could have, missing any part of that plant or pot. I immediately realized my senses towards the whole situation.

“Sorry!” Ace mumbled, he jumped down with different ledges than what he used before. He went into a spiral, making sure he was more careful about the plants.

I let my breath go, he didn’t leave after all. That was a sense of relief more than anything else, where or who would I go to if he did leave? “Where did you go?” I asked, as if I hadn’t already expressed much concern. Ace jumped down on the bin, holding a small page valiantly of his search.

He dropped the paper on the ground, putting his paw on top. “This is your ticket out of here!”

I took a closer look, no less it was a diagram. Though, it looked like a bunch of circles inside other circles with many lines. I smiled, hoping he didn’t sense too much cluelessness. “What exactly is it?”

“Your ticket out of here, I just said that.” Ace restated. I rolled my eyes, having a small snicker come from both of us. “Alright, this is a map of Heaven, well… a piece of it.”

“A piece?”

“Yea, I found this map inside a library book. I did rip out the page and kept it, though I don’t know where the other book is to gather the other section of Heaven.” Ace flattened out the page with his paw, sitting down to explain. “So! We are going to a different district to find the other book!”

I froze, we are going on a quest… not to get home, but to get a different book. “Do you know where? Why are we looking for a different book?” Different questions popped into my mind. As a coincidence, a wind kicked up behind us, blowing the page out of our sight. What were the chances of that?

As of an instinct, Ace dashed to catch the page. “Wait!” Ace went to jump up and catch it, only the wind pushed it further. I had to run to catch up, though it seemed he was still anxious to catch it. Ace rushed into a crowd of the International District, following a yellow page in the sky. I looked around, seeing the best possible way to catch up. How was it he couldn’t catch up to me to the border, yet he’s much quicker here?

Faintly, I saw an auburn coat dance throughout the crowds. He jumped up and down, chasing the page as much as he could. He was decently far into the crowd, still running at full speed it seemed. I rushed ahead, trying to catch up. As I ran behind him in the crowd, I heard many gasps and bumped cats falling. Ace obviously is not looking for the crowd around him. “Ace!” I yelled out, to no avail, he did not reply. It’s as if his careless personality was thrown out the window, he changed so quickly over a page.

I noticed I was slowing down, Ace was getting out of my line of sight. I looked down to my transparent paws, I needed to catch up. I started sprinting, faster than I’ve done in a long time. Oof! I slammed directly into another cat. I felt apples crash and splatter onto me. I shook my head, snapping back into the reality I was in. I got up, panting, and turned to the poor victim. She was Calico with orange and black spots. Bright oranges, dark blacks and white whites. I felt shocked I’ve knocked into someone this roughly. She got up and shook her fur, turning to me in anger, “You shouldn’t run in such a crowd!” She yelled at me. I can hear the anger she emitted, “You realize the amount of danger you are causing?”

I don’t understand what got over me, though it wasn’t Ace. I started trotting away, soon going back into the sprint I was locked in, “Sorry!” I yelled back, hoping she could forgive such a terrible mistake.

My sprint was abruptly stopped as the road broke off into an intersection. Where could Ace have left in such a hurry, it beats me. The intersection was absurdly full of wandering spirits, all different cats alike. Each one had something different with them; baskets on their backs with straps, some were talking with heir friends, some held their kits by their neck… it was all so diverse. Though, none looked like Ace, only a floating page in the air.

Ace made it look so easy to go through the number of cats. I looked around, only tall buildings with large ledges. I wasn’t really thinking, though the fact that Ace did it so well… I could to. I jumped on a pot, getting on the small ledge that separated the apartment complexes with the entrance. “Ace!” I called out, hoping that he could hear me now. Hear me? With this crowd. I hope he could see me more than anything. I jumped onto another ledge.

I looked to the window I sat at, the cats were terrified to see a strange spirit sitting at their window. I kept jumping up, accidentally pushing pots off or a plant of catnip. After a while, climbing became easier. I always jumped a ledge, then looked down to search for Ace. I saw flutters of the missing page in the middle of the crowd, a small brown tail pushed the crowd away. “That’s him!” I yelled out, “Ace!” I jumped up further, trying to make up for the loss of distance.

The building had been scaled, clouds were fogging the bottom where I couldn’t see too clearly. Once I reached the top of the building, I took a moment to stop and look down. “Ace!” I yelled as loudly as I could. At this height, I couldn’t even distinctly see the page flying about. No way could I see Ace fighting through the crowd.

I turned, being greeted with the same orange and white face. I screeched as I jumped back, feeling my back paw slip off the building. I was spooked, to say the least, “You?!” The calico from the race here, why would she be here? How did she beat me to the top? A breeze brushed past us, making the meeting even more ominous. “How did you get here?”

She firmly stood there, “You need to say that you’re sorry to the International Distinct.” The calico’s tone was stern and strict, I felt intimidated by her green eyes darting at me.

Still, my mind was shrouded in how she got her so quickly, and for an apology? “What?”

The calico’s face turned poker, “You need to apologize for rampaging through the district. We put time and effort into this city, and you are destroying it.” The calico put her paw in front of her, ready to pounce when needed. “I’ve realized that sure, we could make you clean up the disaster, but I’d rather want an apology.”

An apology? “You mean, you followed me from the marketplace just to get an apology?” I relaxed myself, she didn’t at all joke about this. “I’m sorry but–”

“Thank you.” She interrupted.

“But…” I started again, seeing her face turn sour. “I need to find my friend. He was chasing a after a map, I couldn’t lose him.” I started walking past the calico, “If you’ll leave me be, I’ll be on my way.” I was ready to run away and make up the lost time, though a felt a sharp pound onto my tail. I squealed and turned back, the calico slammed onto my tail. “Hey!”

The calico angrily looked at me, “Where are you going? To go wreck our community again, aren’t you?” She stared at me, I swear she was trying to shoot me with her stare.

“I’ll try my best, you need to let go first,” I mocked her authority. I pulled my tail away to start jogging again, only my tail was slammed down once again. “Could you stop that!”

“I will once you stop terrorizing our district.” The calico intimidating said. She must’ve been younger to catch my tail like this. “I can escort you to your next destination if I need to.”

I rolled my eyes, seeing the page float this high. It calmly fluttered away, catching my attention. I flicked my tail from the hold again, seeing how she tried to catch it again. I took off into a sprint, hearing her calling me to “Halt” each time I ran further. I jumped from the roof to the next building. I skidded and soon tumbled, only to get back on my paws and dart through the stairwell.

I scaled this building through the stairs as easily as I scaled the other building. I couldn’t hear any scampering behind me as well, I think she finally got off my tail. I busted the entrance open, seeing the page flutter in front of me. I jumped to catch it, though it dodged my attack. “Hey!” I heard the calico voice yell towards me. I looked around, even up. I never would have thought she jumped from the ledges downwards! She was so quick as well!

“Leave me alone!” I sprinted once more. Chasing the page, that’s the only objective now. Where the page is, Ace would be too. Though… wherever I went, the calico followed. This was all a mess of chase.

I bumped into countless cats, though I made sure no one person had fallen. The kittens I would have trampled, I picked up and moved them aside. The folk passing by, I would have nudged them as I tried my best to weave. The page was in front of me, I saw it flutter so low to the ground.

“Stop! You can’t run forever!” The calico threatened. Why was she so persistent into catching me? I wasn’t stealing anything? I’ve tried to get through the district anyways. The paper flew out of the group of people, dodging the buildings and drifting into a clearing. I pushed through, seeing Ace exit through a different clearing. “Halt!”

I ran with everything in my system, exhausted to have ran this much for a stupid map. I sprung on my back legs and caught the page midair. It had blown low enough to catch it… finally. I happily cried out, “Yes!” Though, I looked back to see both the calico and Ace coming at me. My happiness was interrupted by the sight of that calico.

“Toby?” Ace called out, he stopped in his run. The calico kept running at me, she jumped onto me and pinned me down. Though Heaven was purely clouds, that was painful. “Who’s that?”

The calico and I turned to the clueless Ace, “Take the damned paper!” we said in an angry unison. The calico turned back and angrily stared into my eyes, “Say that you are sorry.”

I felt all the anger swirl in me, “I am sorry.” I intimidatingly said, though she pinned me down and it sounded more like a croak. She pushed herself off me, and I was free.

After the brief and sudden exchange, Ace blurted into the conversation, “Who is that?”

The calico cat rolled her eyes, “I should’ve known you were behind this.” She then turned to me and gawked at my sight, “It makes sense now.”

“You know Ace?” we both turned to see what Ace really had to say, though he looked dumbfounded by the encounter.

“Ace Condor.” The calico addressed, shocking both of us. “He’d been causing trouble for a while now, though he was so genuine and nice about our encounters.” The cat turned to me, “Unlike you.”

I could only roll my own eyes, though I wanted to sarcastically counter her. “Why are you still here? I didn’t hurt anyone.”

The calico darted her eyes at me once more, “To keep you out of any trouble. Where are you headed to in such a rush to cause all this commotion?”

Ace joined the conversation, “The Earth Viewing Area.” His smiled relieved the tense air around us all. “Toby wants to see his family once again, so I’m taking him. I would get my guardian title after helping too!”

The calico turned to me, “Genuine and nice…” She walked by Ace’s side, “Sounds like you need some authority to lead the way.”

“It does not sound like that!” I stood my ground, ready to defend myself or attack back.

“We’d love for you to join!” Ace added after me.

“What?” I dropped my anger in shock, “Ace, she chased us!”

“I have a name, you know.” The calico held her chin high.

“That you’ve failed to mention.” I mocked her request. I looked at her disgust in my response, then back to Ace, “We can do this by ourselves, Ace.”

Ace looked between the two of us, “The walk there is pretty dangerous.” Ace looked down at the map, “One more person would be better to get there with.” He looked at me, “Sorry.”

“Then it’s settled!” The calico smiled, “I’m joining. I need to keep the other districts safe from you two.” The calico got up with her tail high in the air. “The next possible area is the district just before us, the Cyris District.” She got up and walked before us.

I wanted to pounce on her so badly, but what would that even prove. She was clearly stronger and quicker to keep up with us and effectively pin me down. I looked at Ace, she how he shrugged and followed the leading cat. “Fine!” I yelled back. I caught up the group, “What is your name?”

The calico looked back, “Abigail. Abigail Smith. I’ve been here for a while and earned the title for being a community authority. Although, life on Earth was something so memorable, I gained a go–”

“Your name.” I interrupted, clearly annoyed and sarcastic towards Abigail. “Abigail.” I didn’t ask her for her life story on Earth nor Heaven.

Ace turned to me, seeing how I was being a little too rude for either of our likings. I sighed, I needed to fix this mess I’m making. “Have you been outside of the International District?” I tried to sound less condescending, if I could do such a thing.

The calico cop looked at me, “I don’t think I have. I just know that the districts are shielded by different veils.”

At least the veils were correct. Ace and the library lady had said so, the veils are growing weaker. “How do you know about Cyris District, if you never been outside before?”

Abigail looked at me, as annoyed as I did her, “I know how to research. How did you not know if you are heading to the Earth Viewing Area?” She smiled at me, that sarcastic smile of hatred.

I was ready to argue back, but Ace diverted the conversation. “Look!” He made us look forward at the end of the barrier. We were ready to depart on our journey now. Now, this marks the step into our adventure.

“This is it!” Abigail exclaimed, “We are leaving the International District!” Her enthusiasm sparked. “You guys ready?”

“Yes!” I joined her enthusiasm.

“You are positive about this?” Ace asked once more. “This is the start of it all. It’s really dangerous and difficult.”

“Of course, Ace.” I looked at the barrier, I’m ready! I’m going to see my family! Nothing can stop me now.

I rushed into the barrier, passing Abigail and Ace. I broke through what felt like water, though I was dry. The sound was immediately muted, causing my ears to pop. The air felt thin and I struggled to breath properly. I looked around, everything was fogged into the distance… was there anything here though? I didn’t see any sign of other cats or even full clouds. There was nothing here.

I saw Abigail and Ace walk in, skeptical of the new road. “What is this?” Abigail asked, bewildered of the discovery. I looked back to see Ace look concerned for the road, though still showed bravery in his stance. “This is the veil?”

“This is the veil that isn’t supported completely.” Ace tried to explain as he walked quickly through the veil, “We need to be quick to avoid being sucked into the veil.”

We all walked to the next area, trying to not catch up in a trot or jog. To avoid the silence and imminent fading in the veil, I continued the conversation. “What do you mean about the veil being incomplete?” I understand that the book and Ace had already explained part of the idea, however, I wanted to make sure everyone knew.

“So, the distances between districts don’t have a veil. Rather, it’s weak and captures any spirit who’s just as weak. Wandering or lost souls often make the weak barrier in between districts.” Ace explained more in detail. “Cats are becoming stronger and overall avoid these walks altogether, that’s not to say there aren’t people out here.”

“We’re out here.” Abigail assured. “We are pretty strong too!”

“That’s why we aren’t being captured in the walk there.” I added.

“Toby is a new spirit,” Ace interjected the assuring. “That means you haven’t completed accustomed yourself to a specific veil just yet.”

That couldn’t mean I’m in danger though. I was a new spirit, that means I have the strength like a new soul in Heaven. “Am I going to be captured easily then?”

“Not entirely.” Ace explained, “You are much stronger soul wise than the older spirits, though you don’t have a veil strength to help you. You still at better odds like Abigail is.”

That’s still good to know, we were safe still. We saw the fog turn orange and rusty, then turn dark. Ace’s explanations were turned into mindless babbling and fun moments.

“So, you’ve never tried chicken and gravy until you met your human family?” Abigail would shockingly ask.

“That was the first time! It was so good, I’ve had it for years after!” I explained once more.

The Heavenly sky must’ve turned dark at night. I didn’t think there was a nighttime in a haven like this.

“Oh, and I could never forget the time I saw Aaron.” I cooed at the memory, he is the literal best. “I couldn’t meet someone quite like Aaron. He was a gem in my life.”

“He’s a human brother?” Ace asked.

“Yep! My human brother. The best of all friends.” I smiled.

“Lucky!” Abigail chuckled, “I was a barn cat in my home. I didn’t like the job and they let me in the house a bunch.”

“A barn cat, you?”

“Yeah, I shared a house with 10 other cats. We all acted like family to each other.” Abigail looked down for a second, “I haven’t seen any of them here, I think I was the first to die.”

The silenced stun between everyone, bringing Abigail back from her realization, “Nevermind that for now!”

Ace jumped in the conversation, “That looked like a pocket.” We all looked at the shining blue shield sparkling through the darkened fog. “Cyris? Is it?”

“No, Cyris is another day walk.” Abigail thought, “Though we could rest there for a bit.”

“We shouldn’t.” I interjected, “We need to get to the Earth Viewing Area as soon as possible, we can see our families.”

I tried to go around the sphere, only Abigail and Ace didn’t go around like I was. “We shouldn’t risk anything, Toby.” Abigail spoke, “It’s a weak veil, we need our own time to regain energy.”

Ace walked forward into the barrier like Abigail had, created a rippled effect as they entered. I took a deep breath and walked through, rippling into a loud city with singing and lights flashing. I’ve accustomed myself to the silence in the barrier, this was painful to hear.

Our group walked into a small house with its door open. Did we let ourselves into someone’s house? I was last to enter, seeing the huge food displayed before us. “Where are we?”

“Just getting some food.” Ace explained. “You haven’t eaten since you got here.”

“You haven’t eaten anything!” Abigail shockingly asked, “This place has the best chicken! Better than any cat food on Earth!”

I found myself asking why I’ve only seen cats here, yet they serve chicken. Are there other animals in Heaven? How is it we are eating meat here? I focused back at the group, they all sat down at a table and I was last to sit. We all casually ordered food; Abigail had some salmon while Ace and I had grilled chicken.

“What district is this?” Abigail asked while we waited.

“According to the map, Sitamus.” Ace explained. “It’s like a haven for the stray cats and home cats alike, like the International District.”

“Why would there be two districts with he same purpose?” I asked. Both districts had the same function, protect the domesticated cats. Why have two separated districts and a dangerous road to connect them?

The group didn’t answer, I don’t think they knew how to answer. “The districts can separate cats because of certain clauses.” Abigail started to explain, “Like, this district was more populated with the stray cats rather than guardians and gates like the International District had.”

“But there’s house cats here too.”

“The population is like more stray cats than house cats though.” Abigail argued. The food we had order came out and slid onto our tables, interrupting and distinguishing our argument.

Everyone got their food, salmon and chicken. “Eat in!” Ace promptly announced, being happy and joyous as we had first met. I felt a grin hit my face, Abigail as well it seemed.

We started devouring our food, when some new cats entered the establishment. I couldn’t help but look at the new folk, they were all different shades of dark or gray. One cat was a slim white cat. I couldn’t hear anything over my eating, or rather Abigail’s loud eating, though they didn’t seem like housecats.

Abigail did say the district was dedicated towards stray cats, it was obvious for it. I guess the Heavenly districts have the cats adjust to what they are used to on Earth. Would I be part of this district? No, I adjusted to the human life. I was more like the house cat than a stray. They officially adopted me too.

“A toast!” A scruffy voice called out. I glanced to the stray group next to me, their messy fur and dirtiness were sprawled across the ground. “To no filthy house cat wannabes.” The cat deeply laughed, the entire group following afterwards. “Rounds for everyone!” The group erupted with joy.

“Ugh, rowdy.” Abigail murmured as she was eating her salmon, “I’d hate to be the authority looking after them.”

I looked at the group, seeing them more clearly. Five cats, all different colors. The pure white one sat next to the pure black one with tattered fur. The black cat had a clear tear on his eye with his ear nicked off. The gray cat had three legs while the tattered brown cat had an overbite, not to mention he was enormous compared to the rest. This all was brought to the singular Siamese cat in the middle, the one with an x-mark on his nose. “What do they have against house cats?” I whispered under my breath.

The Siamese cat looked at me, his eyes were clearly thin and intimidating to look at. I quickly looked back down to my food, avoiding anymore eye contact I could have with him. How could he have heard me? Technically, I was still a stray cat. Abigail was a barn cat; did that consider her as a stray cat? My curiosity took over, forcing me to look up at the table.

Nothing, the stray cats weren’t there. Their empty plates were, but not them.

“Hey!” Abigail groaned. I felt a bump into me, the tattered fur touching mine. “Get your own salmon.” Abigail hissed at the stray cats forcing themselves into our table. The pure white cat stole her salmon, though Abigail didn’t want to fight back. I don’t blame her; the group was too intimidating for me.

I looked across to see Ace sharing a seat with the giant forest cat, Ace gladly sharing his grilled chicken politely with the humongous cat. Though the rest of the cat crew sat around us, the Siamese sitting next to me.

“You three seem new in this area, too clean for my taste.” The Siamese cat chuckled, signaling the rest of the group to follow his lead. He reached his paw out and flexed his claws out. One small hook on his claw took my chicken in a swoop. “You like the classic kitty foods, don’t cha.”

I scooted over a bit, feeling my ears flatten a little, “I’d like the food even more if you’d leave.” I murmured again. Though, the breathing of the Siamese got closer, his x-mark clearly showing in my face. “That’s alright! We were just leaving.” I got up to leave, though I felt a bump behind me. The rest of the group pushed me back, forcing me to sit here.

“Aw, the newcomers are too scared.” The Siamese grunted, “Where are you guys going to?”

“The Earth Viewing Area.” I proudly said, the cats automatically laughing afterwards. I felt more annoyed than I did when Abigail kept attacking my tail. “Is there something wrong?”

The Siamese focused his intimidation onto me, “Of course a pet would like to go back to a life to a human.”

“What made you think I was a pet?” I asked, seeing how more questions might make him more annoyed and finally leave us alone. His eyes darted at me again, he knows how much it takes to be intimidating.

“You mean, you don’t realize you were a pet slave?”

“I mean, being part of a human life doesn’t mean I’m a slave.” I started to lecture, seeing Abigail shake her head and Ace still eating his food. “My family really loved me actually.”

By that notion, the Siamese slammed his clawed paw of grill chicken back onto my plate, splattering some grease onto me. “No human loves one thing.” His tone changed drastically, from what seemed like a joke turned into a serious matter of subject. I found my fear turn into annoyance, my tail lashing about.

“Humans have just as much emotion as we do. I don’t think you understand that.” I smiled at the Siamese, seeing how he’s grown angry and entered a mind of red. “Maybe you were just never loved.”

Ace interjected, “We were going to leave for the Earth Viewing Area, you guys can come too!” Ace’s polite interruption made the other crew smile back. Abigail rolled her eyes at his genuine attempt. “You know, the Earth Viewing Area helps any reincarnating cats to be more than just cats. Some cats become part of a household, some aren’t cats anymore!” Naïve Ace, trying to teach the unteachable.

“We’d love to pay a visit, though we are stuck in this district for a reason.” The Siamese started cutting shapes into my grilled chicken, his claw can cut anything so easily it seemed. “You might want to join the district, learn a few things.”

“I’m completely capable of learning, something you seem to lack.” I sighed, “Now, we’ll be on our way.”

“No…” The Siamese leaned onto me, “We don’t let kitty-pets go astray in our city.”

“You know,” Ace started up again, “Some kitty-pets were also stray.”

“Once a kitty-pet, always a kitty-pet.” The X-cat snickered.

“A bunch of cats get the feeling that being a pet means you lose your past.” Ace clarified. “Actually, I bet many strays were once house-pets.”

“Not this posse.” The Siamese growled, threatening me with his claw.

A small whimper stunned the air, stopping the table from talking. I looked over to the large forest cat, seeing how he is looking down at the grilled chicken. “Olaf?” The Siamese asked.

The tattered giant flicked his tail, Ace put his paw on his shoulder, “It’s alright, Olaf.” Ace turned to the table, smiling innocently.

The giant, Olaf, took in a deep breath and stood tall, “I had a family.” Olaf stopped standing proudly and hunched over, feeling guilty at his secret. “A mom, and a dad.”

“What?” The Siamese angrily asked, feeling betrayal from his own clique.

“I had one too!” The table all looked at the black cat with a nicked ear and a blind eye. He stood tall as well, “My family was a mother and her two sons.”

“Todd?” The Siamese asked, feeling more betrayal than he had towards Olaf. I heard the heart of his crack a little.

“I’m sorry, X. I was a stray after I left home and came back to a different family.” Todd looked down, ready to tear up and cry. “I felt bad not telling you guys, I knew you all wouldn’t like me anymore.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The Siamese cat sighed, retracting his claws.

Ace put his paw gently on his table, “You feel better now, right?”

The black cat looked at Ace’s paw, then put his own on the table, “So much better.”

I stood there, shocked at this random encounter. I looked at Abigail, open mouthed like me. Ace looked at the both of us, smiling happily. “Sometimes we just need to let go.” What an explanation. Ace sighed, “X, did you have a family?”

“No!” X growled, looking around at the once-stray clique. “I did not endorse in this betrayal!”

Ace’s smile became into a concerned frown, “X, are you sure?” I looked at the tabby, his eyes glowing blue rather than their original color. It was an abnormal blue, striking as cobalt could be.

X looked at him, angry as ever. He tried to argue back, but he gave into Ace’s treatment. “I had a human friend.” He looked down, “A tiny girl.”

I felt myself wanting to laugh, the irony of an intimidating cat having a little girl be his best friend. Though, I reminisce back to my own family. Aaron, mom, dad. It was good to know that X realized his new clique – The Human Encounters Clique. “Did she name you?”

X looked at me, tears in his eyes. “Fluffy.” His intimidating voice turned shaky, upset that he lost such a vital memory of his. “I thought if I forgot her, I would be better off.” X looked at Ace, the only one smiling, “I miss her.”

Olaf and Todd walked over and gave X a huge hug, I’ve never felt more out of place or confused since entering Heaven. Ace got up and hugged X as well, spreading his cobalt aura to the group. “Thank you, so much.” Soon enough every member except me and Abigail had hugged the heartfelt fluffball.

“No problem.” Ace smiled. X was now excessively generous, buying us more grilled chicken and salmon. Ace gave each cat another hug as they left the restaurant. Ace sat back down and ate his grilled chicken, leaving us in suspense. He looked up from his plate to see us two. “What?”

“What was that?” I asked. “You casted some type of magic on them? Your eyes were blue, but now they are yellow?”

Ace looked shocked, but gave a little chuckle, “I’ve trained as a guardian, I’m there to help those who need help.” He went back to eating his food, not a care to the sudden change of atmosphere nor the random encounter we just witnessed.

“So, you caused the group to confess their guilt?” Abigail asked, barely touching her salmon like me.

“I guess so?” Ace mumbled. “Eat up, we will rest here for a bit until leaving tomorrow morning.”

Ace started eating his food, making us eat. I was first to finish, it was true I’ve yet to eat since the day I’ve died. Abigail and Ace finished, and we were greeted once again with X and his crew.

X provided us with a small house and happily gave us a few bread slices that he found from the restaurant across the street. Abigail and I sat from X and Ace, though we all converse in a friendlier conversation than before. Olaf sat behind us, giving us lots of warmth in the small homestead. He acted like a blanket to a cold day.

We slept in the room, using Olaf’s tail as a blanket. He didn’t seem to mind either, he was ecstatic of us anyways. Ace sat beside us, looking over everyone as a soldier to protect us. I felt nothing less from safe, that’s how Heaven became the haven it is.

I looked at X, seeing a newly changed feline. The little girl named him Fluffy, he did leave up to his name.

“Goodnight,” I quietly said, curling myself up, “We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

We were happily greeted and sent off to the next district. The bread was tied in a bag and slung over Ace’s shoulder. We exited the barrier, my ears popping from the amount of silence. The noise in Sitamus was drastically different from the walk.

“They seemed friendly in the end!” Ace’s positivity never failed to put me in a cheery mood.

“Not at first though.” Abigail added, “Their change of heart was worth it after all!”

We all needed the rest and the food before heading out, it was essential for the long trip anyways. “So, what are you guys going to do after going to the Earth Viewing Area?” I asked.

I looked at Abigail, seeing her color pop out from the fog, “I’m going to explore some more before heading home!” Abigail spun around, “I met a new group of cats I never knew existed! I just knew the district was full of them.” Abigail danced around us in joy, “I assumed every stray cat was bad too, I knew they could be good! Mommy didn’t.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, what a cute response. She was a barn cat, she had a family with a dozen other cats far from civilization. Abigail looked at me, making me catch her emerald eyes, “I’ll find my mom too!” Abigail smiled brightly.

“Mom?” I asked, “Your human?”

“My actual mom.” The calico genuinely looked forward and smiled. “She was the sweetest mom ever, I never got to see her though. I just know that mommy past away when I was little. I never left the international district, I didn’t know where to look.”

Never left the international district? She was head of authority it seemed, “Why did you never leave?” I asked, “You know, there was a list in the library you could’ve checked out.”

Abigail turned to me, shocked in her steps, “There was a list, I didn’t know about?” She then turned to Ace who nodded in response. She stopped completely, “What?!”

I busted out laughing, “Yea! The Earth Viewing Area shows human and cat families too, but it just adds to the stress.”

“I didn’t know that!” Abigail’s voice rose two octaves, “I could’ve just stayed home then.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I added, “We are starting a new adventure, and for a good cause.”

Abigail rushed back to our sides, “I guess that’s true.” Abigail trotted ahead and turned to face the crowd, “What about you Toby?”

“Me? We are going to the Viewing Area for me to go back home.” I reiterated. “Forgetful and oblivious, huh?”

“Oh, be nice,” Abigail taunted, “Besides, I’ve been here longer than you.”

“And didn’t know the library list?”

“Shut up!” We all started laughing, though it had to be slightly true for her to be forgetting a crucial part of the international district.

“Hey,” I asked, rather seriously, “How long have you both been in Heaven?”

Abigail quieted her laughter, “Time really flies here, I’d say 5 years.”

“5? Earthly years?”

“Mhm!” Abigail trotted forward, “Good for my Heaven age!”

“Wow,” I looked over to Ace who didn’t seem to be smiling as brightly as before, “What about you, Ace?”

Ace looked at me, questionably, “A long time. A few hundred I’d assume.”

“Hundred?!” Abigail yelled out.

“A few hundred?!” I restated.

“Yea, it’s been way too long.” Ace ended with a smile, “Though, I learned the ins and outs rather quickly here! So, time went by so quickly!”

“What did you do for a few hundred years?” I asked. He’d be here for so long, he’s training to be a guardian. Guardian practice must be taking a while to achieve.

“I did a load of things. I met up with several old friends, my family, I helped the library prosper, I even tried to go across Heaven like this! Though, that didn’t go entirely as planned.” Ace chuckled once more. He stopped and perked his ears, staring into the foggy distance.

“Like what?” Abigail interrupted, though everyone ignored here. We were fixated on the subject in the distance. We saw another cat, small sure but it was there.

“Hey!” I yelled out loudly, hoping to catch her attention. The cat in the fog grew only slightly bigger, she fell. She collapsed? What could she have tripped on in this desolate walkway? Though, the figure… it faded away. Her tail then her head, everything vanished. “Whoa.”

“That was weird.” Abigail said, though everyone was distracted by Ace’s panicked rush forward. “Ace?”

Ace started rushing forward, trying to catch up to the vanished figure. I had to catch up to him, he wasn’t running too quickly. “Ace? Is everything okay?” I kept running alongside him, seeing his emotion turn into fear.

“Just fine!” Ace panted, “I just think if we got to Cyris at the pace we originally went, we’d never… we’d never get there in time.” Ace stuttered? I never heard him stutter like that.

“In time?” I questioned, though I shook my head, “We’ll make it definitely now.” Abigail started trotted alongside us, seeing how she was smaller than us two.

“We could go slower!” Abigail called out. Ace bit into the bag of bread and slung it to me. Her picked Abigail up and she climbed onto his back, “This isn’t what I’d imagine.”

I felt more frantic, seeing Ace act like this was new to me. “Ace knows what he’s doing, he’s way older than both of us combined.” I reassured, seeing Abigail smile. I couldn’t see Ace, though I didn’t feel the enjoyment that he had before leaving.

We ended up slowly down as the sun lowered. We were becoming too tired to talk, Abigail fell asleep on Ace’s back. I wanted to sleep, though I didn’t feel like I could have. The fog grew dark, majorly dark. We looked forward to finding another breathing pocket soon, a new city.

A few more hours past, the fog turning a slight greenish color. Dawn? One could only assume. Ace looked up, rushing forward again. I couldn’t call out to him, I felt myself become exhausted to even speak. I walked as fast as I could, seeing what he had seen.

A new blue aura. A new city. Cyris was just up ahead. I rushed ahead, forgetting all of the tiredness I had. “There it is!” I woke Abigail up on accident. “Cyris!”

“Cyris?” Abigail asked. We all looked forward.

We found another district to adventure through!

We found Cyris.

Ace and Abigail entered first, seeing as they had the speed advantage. I got in, the noise rushed back towards me. I shook my ears, trying to adjust a little easier. Though, I looked up.

Cyris. Lights everywhere, the sky was brightly shining sparkles of stars. I couldn’t help but notice spotlights shining up, all different colors shined on buildings.

“Cyris, the electronic district.” Abigail said, cooing at her words. “I said to my friend back home, I’d die twice to see this place at night.”

Electronic district, how could cats in Heaven specialize in technology? I guess it wasn’t entirely hard, the cats who lived with the tech wizards on Earth would’ve passed it on. Dad was a huge technology person, I got many lessons of him trying to teach me something about the TV or computer. This wasn’t anything like a TV or computer though.

“Well,” Ace started, bending down for Abigail to jump off, “We should stay a bit longer here.”

I snapped into the conversation, “Longer? Why?”

Ace turned to look at me, “After two days of walking in the desolate walks, we need the break. We need to find something here anyways.”

I sighed, only thing I could do. I didn’t know too much about Heaven in general, how could I tell him we needed to leave? My thoughts fled as my stomach growled. I tried to hide it, though it didn’t seem like the case. “Well, we got bread.”

“Let’s go to another restaurant!” Abigail suggested, “I want to see more people here!”

“Cyris is the place many famous cats would reside in.” Ace said. “Most cats here are very prestigious and elegant.”

“I’d fit in just fine!” Abigail chuckled, “Come on!” Abigail ran further into the city.

Ace looked back and gave a small smile, a grin pleading me to go on. I straightened the bag out again and marched forward.

Cyris was full of sound; classical music or pop, poised chattering of fluffy angoras or Persian cats. Not to mention the color everything added, this district wasn’t just clouds and comfort. Cyris meant rainbows and flashing lights. I think that was my favorite attribute by far. The moon was directly above us now, the walk was much quicker than we made it seem. Everyone was completely tired in the end.

“Found one!” Abigail nudged at a pure white establishment with white spotlights shining at it. I heard a soft murmur coming from indoors. “Ready?”

“Yeah!” Ace encouraged the girl, she must’ve wanted a change of scenery. This seemed completely different from any barn cat idea I’ve thought of.

“Deal!” I followed the two inside, being greeted with great smelling food and plush flooring. We were seated right away, a cat in a tuxedo coat put us at a table. The table was gorgeous, it was shining so brightly, yet the table was spinning! The inner table spun around slowly, so everyone can get their appetizer of bread. The outer table, shining brightly from the overhead of lights, stayed still as we had.

“This is so elegant.” Abigail couldn’t stop looking around, admiring everyone in view. “Look at her!” She put her paw out to a cat who was purely white with blue eyes, she was slim and didn’t show any sign of dirt or mess on her. She looked like she was brushed this evening. I looked at her partner, a black and white tuxedo with a white marking on their head. He was just as slim, only a tad fluffier. He looked as clean and poised as she had.

“Everyone here looks so fancy compared to Sitamus.” Ace chuckled a little, “We are way under dressed then.” He spoke to me, having Abigail go about her curiosity checks.

“No! Look at her!” Abigail cooed over the tabby with brushed long hair. This cat was dark in color, but she had color nonetheless. Her tabby markings were patterned in perfection, how did she have such even markings?

Our curiosity fled as the lights dimmed down around us. A single spotlight was on the stage. A red curtain exposed a sparkling white cat whose hair was long and luscious. She wore a sparkling diamond collar and her eyes were two different colors against her pure white coat. One yellow eye was her left eye, a blue eye was her right. She was mesmerizing to look at, she made the entire ballroom sparkle beneath her. “Look at her.” I found myself mumbling, shocked at the white cat.

She stood tall, her tail was left in the air to show off. “The light shined down, the miserable place shined.” Her voice, angelic. It was high and soft, her voice was grand in a way I’ve never heard of. “I still looked forward the warmth in your arm would ignite.” She sung so beautifully. She started to move, swiping her fluffy tail across the stage and sitting down. The collar caught most of the light and refracted it back.

“How could I forget? The night sky sparkling.” Her voice was smooth and connected, elegant as she was. “How could I forget? The stars in your eyes?” She looked into the audience, directly at me. She got up and walking down the small stairway leading to the audience.

“My baby, my sweet. J’adore de mon minou.” She swept along the carpet, leaving a faint scent of flowers and roses. “How could I forget the time we had? My baby, my sweet. How could I forget the love I had?”

I heard a faint purr. My purr? I looked at Abigail and Ace, seeing as they’ve noticed my purring too. Abigail chuckled a little, Ace smiling ridiculously. “My baby, my sweet. J’adore de mon minou. My baby, my sweet. Where could you be now?” She caught my attention from the crowd, marching straight towards me. “As a hope or ray of light, could you seek me out?” She walked up to me, rubbing her silky fur against my pelt. She looked directly into my eyes, her two different eyes looking no less like diamonds.

“My baby, my sweet. Search for me once more.” She ended and headed up the stairs. The red curtains falling behind her exit. I heard my purr once more, the lights turned back on.

I looked at the rest of the group, looking ready to laugh. “What?”

At my question, the two of them laughed and begged for air to keep laughing on. “Your purr sounds so weird!” Abigail wheezed. Ace chuckled, trying to stay compose in the dining room.

I felt my ears flatten on my head, “My purr doesn’t sound so bad.”

Abigail wheezed, “It sounds like an old lawnmower!”

Ace chuckled, “With a rag caught in it.” He busted out into a new laughter, I could only join in nervousness.

“No, it doesn’t.” I mumbled, I couldn’t hold my anger for long. I started laughing along. Our food came out just in time to shut both up.

The portions looked nothing like what we had in Sitamus. My grilled chicken had ginger on it with green leaves speckling the top. Ace’s food was rationed differently, smaller servings yet the same chicken we had in Sitamus. Abigail got her salmon cut up in different serving portions. Every dish was still steaming hot.

“Hello?” I heard the elegant voice of the angora again. It wasn’t as high as the song, yet her speech was still fluid as predicted. Though, it was directed towards the group?

I looked up, a sparkling white angora sitting on the stage stairway, “May I sit with you three?” I froze up, purring once more.

I heard Abigail snicker, though Ace was the one to say the magic word.

“Yes, you may. The more the merrier.”