Dancing Lessons

Everyone likes cats. Jimmy was going to make a fortune with his online video.

“Geez, scared them to death.” Jimmy watched the video of a dozen cats flying in the air away from a robot vacuum sweeper.

“Gotta’ be the tenth time you’ve viewed that.” Judy was studying her brother intently.

“People make good money with Youtube videos that go viral. I want to see how they do it.” Jimmy started the scared cats video again.

It was echoed outside the kids window by a roving wild Tomcat, soon joined by more strays searching for the source of the bedlam. Judy covered her laughter as best she could while leaving the room. Jimmy could get pretty mean when he wanted to. Intent on the video, he was ignoring everything else.

“You’re up late,” Sheila, Jimmy’s mom, popped into his bedroom. She watched the video with him once, shook and shook her head. “I thought the noise was just the cats outside. You dad is out there throwing everything he can at them.”

The sound of human pain interrupted the chorus of outside cats demanding justice. Sheila raced downstairs to see what was up with her husband. Mark, oblivious to her even having been there, restarted the cat video in the middle, where they started showing they knew how to fly and howl like banshees.

“Look at me. They attacked me.” Mel’s long sleeved shirt hung in ribbons from his arms where he’d tried protecting himself.

“What on earth were you throwing at them,” Sheila demanded, going to look for the first aid kit.

“Nothing. I switched to using cold water from the hose. I was getting them good, knocking them off the fence when some silently slunk around behind me and climbed up my body. It was all I could do to get away from them. Listen to them.”

Sheila was back. She cocked an ear and nodded. “Your son started this. Him and his stupid cat video got real cats riled up.” She started dabbing disinfectant on her husband's wounds. Boy, they really got you.”

Neither parent noticed the silent shadows that were cats sneaking in. Mel had left the sliding doors open to the patio. Upstairs, the scaredy cat video played over and over. The online cats would soon receive local rescuer reinforcements.

The door to Judy’s bedroom was closed against the high pitched warbling cry for help emanating from Jimmy’s video. Sheila and Mel were discussing whether he should go to the nearest clinic and get stitches for the worst scratches and bites.

The large Tomcat nudged open Jimmy’s bedroom door and peered inside. His hair stood on end as, once again, the viral cats wailed in alarm. The Tomcat wailed in return, unsheathing his claws and nervously licking his fangs.

Jimmy, immersed in the video, was oblivious to anything else. “People love online cat videos. This one is so funny it’s already past a million likes and shares. Whoever made this is rich. All I have to do is come up with the right spinoff.”

His back was aching from sitting on the floor in the same position for so long. The family didn’t own any pets. Sheila was allergic to both dog and cat hair. Mark had bought Judy a parakeet, but one of the strays had caught and killed it when she had been cleaning the cage outside.

Judy had left the cage door open while going to get forgotten cleaning supplies. When she came back, the big Tomcat was inside the cage licking his lips with feathers caught between them. She’d cried for days.

“No more pets,” Sheila had told Mel.

“Fine by me. Save us some money for our annual summer vacation.” Mel added.

Unbeknownst to them, Judy had taken up the practice of cleaning leftovers out of the fridge and leaving them for the stray cats outside. It had become a routine that attracted more strays to her backyard.

The rest of the family rarely spent time outside. Sheila had her neighborhood card games, Mel had his bowling league, and Jimmy had Youtube.

The backyard became a carpet of cat fur when Judy threw day old meat out her bedroom window. She liked watching them fight each other for the scraps. Her favorite was the usual first place winner, the Tom.

The Tom and other males were pacing behind Jimmy now. He was the only other moving thing in the room. He sat hunched over his laptop, eyeballing the video comments. It hid the fact that no living cats were being torn apart underneath his wiggling arms. “Dad won’t spend money on a shelter cat, besides I’ll need more than one.”

Jimmy absently began the cat video again, his hands pawing the keyboard to start still frames at the good parts. As an especially fearful cry from a video cat clutched the air, Tom sprang..

It was the signal for the others to begin a cat fight like no other with Jimmy being the focus. They howled fiercely as they attacked. The sound of Jimmy’s screams lay hidden beneath the caterwauling.

“Keep it down,” yelled Sheila from below the stairs.

Jimmy’s arms and legs flayed everywhere but free. He was becoming the center of what would have been a viral success if you were interested in blood and guts horror movies. A last desperate roll took him under the protection of his bed,

“Free at last. Somebody will come and save me sooner or later.”

A low growl scattered the strays, high into the air, in exact imitation of the video. Except this was no robot vacuum. It was a full grown cougar, attracted by the desperate sound of the cat noise. It had jumped up and slipped through Jimmy’s open window.

The strays used it for their escape. Two glaring yellow cougar eyes blinked at Jimmy’s face frozen in fear. “Nice kitty.”

The cat sniffed the air, smelling the weeping scent of fresh blood coming from Jimmy’s wounds. Silence filled the air. No more cat video piercing feline or human ears. The cougar twitched its ears and padded a step forward, preparing to pounce.

“No.” Jimmy reached up and pulled the covers down off his bed for padding..

Outside, the strays began howling as Mel started spraying them again. He was careful this time to keep his back against a house wall. “Got you,” he cried as his water jet flung the big Tomcat over the other side of the fence. An injured cat cry rang out in the growing night.

The cougar leaped, not at Jimmy, but for the window.

Moments later, there was a high pitched scream of agony from the back yard. “Not again,” swore Sheila. She retrieved the first aid kit and started out the open sliding doors.

“Get out of the way, Mom.” Jimmy had his cell phone camera pinned on his dad dancing with the wild cougar, trying to avoid the razor sharp fangs. Jimmy was going to make himself and his family famous. If only his dad would dance a little faster him and the cougar would be a sure hit.

Contest Prompt

WC 1172 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQeciaoAwA&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2F...