post by Ava Reiss
A former friend passed away recently. It wasn’t from Covid-19. I heard it was from kidney complications. He had moved out of state, so we didn’t keep in touch.
Before he left, we had a falling out. It had to do with my cat; the one I modeled Mantou after. Mantou is a character in my Space Tigers children’s book. My cats’ favorite toy is a shoe string tied to a stick. This former friend tied the shoe string to Mantou’s tail. She tore through the house, nearly having a heart attack. It took me a while to catch her. Mantou eventually cowered in a corner in the basement. Her little heart was drumming too fast and her eyes were terrified. The stick rattling behind her made her thing she was being chased.
Just a few nights after this guy passed, Mantou got herself caught in a plastic bag. That bag had been sitting in the same, open spot for nearly two years. My cats don’t care for plastic bags in the eight years I’ve had them. They see them all the time, but have better toys.
The handle was looped around her. Again, Mantou tore through the house, knocking things over. I found her trembling in the basement like before. Those were the only two times anything has ever spooked her.
She’s alright. Just needed some soothing words and a good head rub.
It’s likely this was all a coincidence. But I couldn’t help but say a loud, and a smidge sadly, “Goodbye, Asshole.”
Space Tigers Publishing 