Nine Lives (June 2017)

How dare this giant humiliate me in such a way. Again, the human ward I was charged to sent me away to her as a punishment for simply existing. I never asked to be sent to the woman! I do not even know WHY I must protect her. Perhaps this life is to be a miserable mark on my mind.

The little giant my human sent me to is a familiar face in an even more familiar dungeon.

The entire place smells of misery and the tears of beasts. Hair that has been ruthlessly taken from cats and dogs of all walks of life litter the ground every visit. I never see the same face twice. Dogs are locked in cold cells, crying as they ponder their fate.

Today, I am here again. I do not understand why. The human sends me to the land of the blue giants far too often. They lock me in a cell, they cut off my nails, my true line of defense, and they glue silly fake nails over them, as if I would not notice the humiliation.
The littlest giant is the one I am given to every time. Perhaps she is a child of the giants? Her red hair is like fire, only matched by the franticness of her eyes. Those eyes, they hold true insanity as she pulls me from what I have learned to be my transportation cell. I cannot truly help myself as a flicker of hope rises in my belly as the little giant removes the slaves marker from around my neck and puts it somewhere, hidden away from my sight.


I begin to move, quickly taking in my surroundings as other giants walk past the little one, some talking at me in strange voices, some touching my most sacred parts. Why must they molest my belly? Rage fills my tiny frame as I begin to tremble, plotting my escape at the littlest giant places a noose ‘round my throat before carrying me to a platform she ties me to.
I know what it is coming. ‘Stop this! Let me go!’ I protest but the giant just replies in nonsense to my cries. I think she mocks me. I flatten myself as I feel the platform move beneath my paws. She pulls me close, despite my best efforts to keep from her arms, and she takes hold of my paws. With a skilled press on my paw, she has exposed my hidden weapons!

‘Please! Release me!’ My pleas fall on deaf ears and I watch the giant take these terrible scissors from thin air. She moves quickly and my nails are cut down to nubs. I struggle against her hold, even though I know it is futile. What irony is this? I cannot save myself in this life. I eventually stop struggling as the disgusting, plastic nails are glued onto my paws. I do not understand this barbaric action but it is not unfamiliar.

My claws are gone and replaced by these frauds. The giant scoops me into her arms, touching my belly as she does so. I have to swallow my disgust, knowing the worst is still to come. Soon enough, I am in a cold room with no ceiling. The noose has been tied around my arms in some sort of straight jacket to contain me. They know I am a threat. The giant holds onto my ties before she takes the yellow snake and gives it a squeeze.

I cannot help but scream as the cold water soaks to my skin. ‘Stop this! I am Cattila! I will end you!’ I roar in shock, using what little fight I have in me to lunge at the giant but she stops me mere inches from her face with a quick tug on the jacket and I am on the floor, panic filling me. I try to attack her again but she is too fast for me, staying just out of reach as another burst of water hits my face.

If only she truly knew who she tortured…then perhaps she would respect my authority! But, alas, I am no longer than war general I was. That life is over, in the worst way. I was known as Cattila the Kit. The name sent fear into the hearts of cats and dogs in every land until I was just another casualty of the Great War, a sky assassin taking me out.
Now I am known as Lucy, the cat that is kept in a house with people I must protect, or defeat, despite their best efforts to tame me.
Dress me in pink, remove my claws, but you cannot kill the warrior in my heart. No matter how many times the giant will torture me, I will not succumb. This life will not be wasted. I have much to do before my next assignment but I fear what comes after that, as my Ninth Life approaches.