A Cat’s Tail CH 2

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.”