HISS-TOPIA by Cindy Rosmus
from Dystopia: a PUNK NOIR Magazine series
Our Leader hates cats. And so do we. (Frozen smile).
No! He can’t read minds. This is madness.
I love cats. Even straggly strays. But since Our Leader saved us, all cats vanished.
Except . . .
Precious. My little mischief-maker, toilet paper-shredder. White, with black over one green eye. And those velvety, pink ears.
Last week, you’d be burned alive for reading a banned book.
Now, ‘cos Himself hates cats, my owning one . . .
Makes me charred meat.
Madness.
Cats love windows. I’d hung drapes to block neighbors’ view.
Across the rug, Precious saunters. Stops, then turns and licks her belly.
When her food runs out, then what? And there’s no more litter. The stench of piss will give us away.
Our Leader. Who’d kill a furball with baby-pink ears. Out of hatred.
Or, maybe . . .
Fear.
Years back, I was shocked awake. In his crib, our giant tabby lay on my brother’s chest. He couldn’t breathe!
Our big sister, eyes bulging with fear, just watched.
When I grabbed it, the beast hissed and clawed.
Footsteps, I hear, now, racing up the stairs. Sent by Our Leader . . .
Scaredy-cat!
This story appears as part of Dystopia, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series.
Bio
Cindy Rosmus originally hails from the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ, once voted the “unfriendliest city on the planet.” She talks like Anybody’s from West Side Story and everybody from Saturday Night Fever. Her noir/horror/bizarro stories have been published in places like Shotgun Honey, The Yard, Punk Noir, Danse Macabre, The Rye Whiskey Review, Under the Bleachers, and Rock and a Hard Place. She is the editor/art director of Yellow Mama and has published seven collections of short stories. Cindy is a Gemini, a Christian, and an animal rights advocate.
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