Window to the Soul

Large and glowing, her brilliant green eyes stare back from between the leaves of the shrub. Her whiskers, a stark white that contrasts with the inky black of her coat. A fully grown cat, yet she has short and stubby legs.

Is she part Munchkin? My big sis always wanted a Munchkin cat. She certainly doesn't look like any of the typical strays that roam about the neighborhood. Her fur is quite long and dense. Too long and dense for a Texas summer if you ask me. Her beautiful fluffy tail sticks up in greeting and she continues to stare back.

Unwavering.

Unmoving.

No...this is no normal cat.

Just as the thought crosses my mind, she turns and prances away. Each footfall, more graceful than the last. But just before she rounds the corner of the fence, she stops and looks back. Should I follow?

I take one step forward, then another, and another. When there are only a few feet remaining between us, she glances up at me. Her eyes hold my gaze and look as if she knows some sort of secret. With the two of us at a standstill, the boiling sun reminds us of its presence.

If eyes are the window to the soul, then what does she see? She continues to take me in for a few mysteriously long seconds.

What does she see?

As if learning all she needed to know, the feline blinks her pretty lashes at me and bows her head. She appears to have achieved some sort of silent understanding that I am simply not privy to.

The winds pick up and the branches of the nearby trees wave as if to say goodbye. The cat then turns around and makes her way back to wherever she came from.

At that exact moment, a sharp feeling rips through my chest and invades my lungs. So sudden, I could hardly breathe.

Desperation.

With a shaking hand and a longing heart, I manage to whisper out.

"What did you see?"

My words, carried by the breeze and into her pointed ears, compel her to stop and look back once more. Her tail slinks back and forth behind her and she suddenly vanishes into thin air.

Do cats speak when we are not around?