A Story of a Cat Boy

The moon shone brightly in the night sky and all stars faded into darkness in comparison to its brilliant vividness. It was a snowy, white paradise island in the dark, tumultuous sea of space, a place of refuge for all of the passed Earthlings to look up to.

Gilyk Oftyde looked up as well, perched ever so precisely on a thick tree branch, tail dangling over the side. ‘What a beautiful backdrop,’ he murmured. ‘Never seen the sky like this from up there, nya; or eaten so well. I love the Earth,’ he giggled, and bit into an apple he had placed beside him on his branch, his sharp canines piercing through its thin red skin before it gave way to his duller incisors. Its stem was a light green colour wrapped in a thin paper of brown – still fresh and alive after being tweaked off the tree earlier that day. Its colour faded to grey in the night. ‘Never tasted a flower so sweet,’ he said as he took another bite of his fruit, his tongue lapping its sweet juices. And when he finally took the last mouthful from its core he threw it down to the ground below and slept, peacefully and quietly, listening to the crickets chirp in delight at the sugary treat that had just fallen from amid the leaves.


The sun rose to around half-way up the sky when Gilyk opened his eyes again, his white hair shining golden in the sunlight. The moon had said its goodbyes and left to rest as the sun took its place, and a colony of ants swarmed over the leftover apple core. A bird chirped into Gilyk’s furry ears, which he flattened against his head. It was a beautiful morning.

‘Nyaa!’ he yawned, and stretched. As the bird continued to sing he turned to watch it, his eyes following its every movement. It was a small blackbird – not very large but big enough for a mouthful or so, he thought. His tail swished and curled at the end in anticipation. Although the apple from the night before had been delicious, his stomach was still empty and his tongue craved the taste and feel of meat. His tiny body grumbled with hunger as he watched his anticipated prey.

It hopped from branch to branch tauntingly, head turning this way and that and fluttering its wings in the morning air.

But Gilyk never really could hold back his feline instincts, and after a moment of preparation pounced forward. The bird shrieked and fluttered away, rustling the tree’s leaves as it went. Gilyk nearly missed the branch. He managed to grasp onto it with his fore and back paws, hanging upside-down. ‘Another missed supper,’ he sighed, and looked at the ground.

Although it was an interesting view, the truth was that he hadn’t been on the ground in a few days, maybe even weeks. If he hadn’t chased a squirrel up there a while back in the first place, he probably never would’ve gotten himself stuck in that tree. But unfortunately he had, and for the last while he had been living off of apples.

He weighed the odds of his survivability if he let go of the branch and let himself fall. Cats were supposed to land on their feet, weren’t they? But then again he was pretty high up, and a fall such as this one could induce serious injuries on such a small person like him. And he wasn’t even a complete cat, so the rule didn’t apply. So maybe he should stay in the tree? But the apples there could only sustain him for so long, and there wouldn’t be much time until Lady de Winter came to lay her snowy cloak onto the world. So what next?

As he hung upside-down pondering, someone approached. He paused for a moment and watched the intruder near his tree, already beginning to feel the hairs on his tail rise. However it was no more than a young girl around his age, maybe younger, maybe older, with long black hair and a somewhat depressed demeanour. She slouched and let her arms hang at her sides, her long black sleeves trailing on the ground and not quite matching her beige sundress.

‘Nya, little lady!’ he called cheerfully, swinging himself right-side-up again on the tree branch. She looked up at him with a sombre expression. ‘Why so sad?’ He smiled and swung his tail back and forth, and the girl looked on.

A tail? she thought, but no words escaped her lips. She turned away and simply continued walking, leaving the cool shade of the apple tree and entering the sunlight once more.

Gilyk’s ears drooped and his tail hung limply as she left. ‘Why so sad?’ he asked again, although this time a bit sad himself. He hadn’t had any company in many a while, and now his first visitor was off and away again without even saying hello.

The girl stopped and turned round again, squinting her eyes. The strange cat-boy became lost within the leaves and shade of the large tree, and was difficult to see. She stepped back into the shadow.

‘No reason,’ she replied, though not too convincingly. ‘I just…never mind, it’s not very important, I guess. Why are you so sad?’ Her voice was calm but had a dreary tone to it.

‘Err, well you see,’ Gilyk began, ‘I’ve been stuck in this tree for a long time, and you were the first person I’ve seen in a while. But you walked away so coolly as if I were of no importance…’ He frowned. ‘Is it because of my tail?’ he asked, his voice slightly anxious. ‘It must be - it always is.’

‘No, no! Not at all,’ said the girl, still unsure of what to say. After a moment of pondering she scratched her head and asked, ‘Do people make fun of you too?’

Gilyk looked down at her. Her arm was still up and her hand rested at the nape of her neck, and what he once thought was her sleeve he now saw was something else. A pair of large black wings seemed to be attached to her arms, and the one raised made it very clear to see – she was not all human herself.

The End