Scram

The day started with monotony. It continued into the afternoon and bled into the evening. Not much can be expected working in the basement archives of the public library and Tessa Cridley never expected much anymore. She organized, shelved, and cataloged the books with robotic autonomy.
Her phone alarm rang, signaling the end of her shift. As she packed her belongings her neck hairs stood on end. She got the feeling she was being watched. She slowly wheeled around. A Vader-black tabby cat was perched on one the shelves. It observed her with curious deep green eyes. Sufficiently creeped out, Tessa scooted towards the library exit, only to bump into her friend Margot.
“Whoops! Watch the tea, T,” Margot said, balancing a cup of coffee and tea on a tray. “Thought you might like some before I head to class.”
Tessa took her cup and they headed down the block. It was pouring. Both she and Margot thrust up umbrellas and hastened down Bond Street.
“So what’s wrong?” Margot inquired. “You looked spooked.”
“Nothing,” Tessa replied. “I just saw this weird cat.”
Margot glanced back. “Is that it?”
Tessa whipped around only to find the tabby was padding along after them.
“It’s cute! Have you considered adopting it?” Margot asked.
“Hell no! I can barely afford to take care of myself,” Tessa replied. “Besides, I don’t think the Meridian takes pets.Go on! Shoo!”
Tessa waved the cat away. The cat pressed on.
“Well, good luck with that,” Margot giggled. She wave goodbye and headed towards Sneade Community College. Tessa turned around again to find the cat was nowhere to be seen.
“Thank God!” she sighed.

 Tessa returned to her apartment and lay heavily on her bed. It was 6:59. Time to watch Lords of Law.
She clicked the power button on the TV remote. BOOM! All of the lights clicked off.
“Oh come on!” she exclaimed. She looked outside. All of St. --- was consumed in darkness. A city-wide power outage.
Fine. She felt like turning in early anyway. Tessa flung herself into bed.
“Meow,” a disembodied voice said.
Tessa nearly jumped out of her skin. Panicking, she threw her light beam around the room. It landed on a squat figure in the darkness. It was the Vader-black tabby cat yet again.
“Get lost!” Tessa shouted.
The cat ignored her. Instead it hopped on to Tessa’s blanket and curled up beside her. Tessa had half the mind to toss this furry intruder right out the window. She grabbed its sides, ready to hoist…
Until she heard it purr.
It was the kind of sound that touched your heart and shivered your soul. Only someone of the deepest, most severe evil would ever even think of harming a single hair on such an adorable creature. Tessa, an individual of average moral standing, gingerly stroked its back.
“Okay wise guy,” she muttered, “you can stay tonight, but tomorrow, you scram. Got that?”
The cat shifted to rest in her arms and purred again.
“Heh heh. ‘Scram’. I like that,” she whispered.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 3, 2017 at 6:59 AM

    Tessa Cridley:
    1.) Phrases, descriptions, imagery that is good.
    Vader-black, scooted, bled, padding, pressed on, disembodied voice,
    “Watch the tea, T” (this is just clever, it made me laugh), “thrust up umbrellas” (again this is clever, shows the setting and weather, helps audience
    2.) What kind of person do you think this character is? (Personality, physical)
    She has some moral code as she said, but deep down I think she really does care about the well being of the cat, it shows she has more empathy and emotional depth than she lets on.
    This character is a college student, age between 18-22, I feel like she is a scrawny, short bookworm ish type with brown frizzy hair, glasses, but in a way she is pretty.
    3.) What do you want to know more about?
    How did she get to work in the library?
    How did the cat get into the library in the first place?
    4.) What seems confusing?
    How do you know the cat is a boy in the second post??
    How do you know the cats a boy?
    Why does the character seem so jumpy and scared?

    ReplyDelete

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