Talking to a Cat

You are not as stupid as I think you are. The cat said, Tumelo looking at this cat. Mouth agape. He said, what? You can talk. Now this is getting crazy. This is really getting crazy. How could you understand and how could I understand what you are saying? Tumelo said to the cat.

The cat meowed again and said, I'm not sure how this is possible. You've been talking to me, and I've been responding. It's as if we've been communicating all along. I have to admit, humans can be quite lazy when it comes to understanding us animals. We're more than just pets, after all.

Tumelo said, ha. You smarty cat. Why are you criticizing humans? You animals also have your flaws. The cat and Tumelo went on and on. Tumelo said, okay, okay. Let's figure this out.

Jessie, the cat, had been a part of Tumelo's family for four years now. Tumelo's mother had taken Jessie in when he was just a kitten, and Tumelo had grown up with him. Jessie was just lying there, doing all the things cats do in a house. Curling, rolling around, meowing, and making all the usual sounds at night.

Tumelo looked at Jessie, still wondering in his mind. What is happening? How can Jessie understand my words?

Then Tumelo said, "Okay, let's figure this out. Since you and me, we can speak, we can tell each other about things." Then Tumelo went on and said, "Okay, Jessie, how's it like to be an animal, like a cat?" Tumelo leaned forward, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Jessie meowed and said, "Oh no, this again." He rolled his eyes, his tail twitching slightly. "Why do you people always ask us about how it is being us? How do you like being you?" Jessie's ears perked up, as if daring Tumelo to respond.

Then Tumelo said, "Oh no, I'm just asking because I just want to know." He shrugged his shoulders, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "I just want to feel how...I just want to know how it feels because it seems like you cats are so fast, and how do you do that?"

And Jessie said, "Okay, let me tell you how it feels to be a cat." He settled into a more comfortable position, his whiskers twitching as he began to speak. "Us cats, we feel...not as you humans. We feel...soft, and anything is normal for us. You, as humans, as you grew up, you will get faster, but we are super fast. Anything you see as fast, we see it...we see it as normal."

And Tumelo said, "But you catch mice, and mice are very fast. How can you do that?" He leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing slightly. "And us humans, we are so slow." Jessie let out a dismissive snort, his ears folding back in annoyance.

And Jessie said, "Why are you only asking me these questions?" Tumelo shrugged again, his shoulders rising and falling in a gentle motion. "I just want to know. I told you, I just want to know." And Jessie said, "Okay, let me tell you. As us cats...as I said, this is our normal speed. We do things like that. This is our normal speed. You humans, you don't have claws, and you humans, you don't have paws. And we can be flexible. We learn it by nature. It's natural for us to roll around and go through small corners and things."

Jessie went on, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "You humans have a theory that we love to chase mice, and that we are eternal enemies of dogs. And you're right, we are in your house to kill mice, snakes, and all kinds of things." Jessie's eyes seemed to gleam in the dim light, his tail twitching with excitement.

"We don't eat snakes," Jessie continued. "We don't like them. We just...it's in us, in our DNA, to not like them. It's like we have been created for that. To not like snakes and so on."

Jessie said, and then Tumelo, hearing these things, nodded slowly. "Oh, that's why." Jessie's ears perked up again, as if pleased with himself. And Jessie said, "Listen, listen...we don't like milk. You give us milk. Okay, if you have a deal, we love milk." Jessie's whiskers twitched with amusement. "We don't love milk. We love other things than milk, like yogurts and all those other things that you make. We don't love milk very much, but...something about them.

Then Tumelo said, "Okay, we'll give you milk." And Tumelo asked Jessie, "Why do you like licking yourself?" The cat meowed, and Jessie meowed harder and harder, as if to attack Tumelo.

Tumelo said, "Cat, whoa! I was just asking." Jessie said, "This is personal. This is how we wash ourselves. It's like the saltiness, everything that's around us. We like to lick it off." Tumelo said, "But that's disgusting." Jessie said, "We love to lick ourselves. It's just that by our nature, we love to lick ourselves. You just ask stupid questions - I don't know how you can be so stupid, you human beings. As if to say you can't understand us." Then Jessie walked away.

Tumelo said, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry if I struck a nerve there. Let me tell you how I got these powers. How I've been able to understand you. You see, I met a man when I was coming from school, trying to help this man up. When he touched me, I felt like a power." Jessie stopped walking and turned around, his ears perked up. Jessie said, "Oh, I know what you're talking about. You're talking about a transferrer."

Tumelo said, "What transferrer?" Jessie said, "Yes, it's someone that can handle great powers." Tumelo leaned forward, eager to learn more. Tumelo said, "Why didn't you tell me that you know all these things?" Jessie shrugged. Jessie said, "Duh, you didn't ask."

Tumelo said, "Now that you've told me about the transferrer, please tell me more." Jessie settled into a more comfortable position, ready to explain. Jessie said, "Transferrer is someone that has supernatural powers. Since the ancient days, in Egyptian and Pharaoh times, humans have transferred powers to other humans. They have created these powers to give over to human beings, so that they can talk to animals, talk to the heavens, and talk to spirits. And it seems like you got the power to talk to animals. That's why I will call you the animal kind."

Tumelo said, "The animal kind. What?"

Jessie's eyes gleamed with a knowing intensity as he spoke, "Yes, the animal kind." His voice was low and mysterious, sending a shiver down Tumelo's spine. "Beyond communication, you will also experience a profound transformation - you will take on the very forms of the creatures you encounter," Jessie declared, his tail twitching with an otherworldly energy.

Then Tumelo said, "What? Change into that? I don't want to change into you. That's so creepy."

Jessie's expression turned nonchalant. "Creepiness is relative," he drawled. "What's unsettling for you is merely endearing to me."

Tumelo shook his head, bewildered. "Yeah, you're loving you, but what about me? I didn't ask for these powers. They're cool and all, but to change into you? What?"

Jessie's ears perked up, and he leaned in, his voice taking on a conspiratorial tone. "There's more to being an animal kind than just talking to us," he whispered. "You'll start to think like us, to feel our instincts coursing through your veins. It's a strange, primal sensation, but it's also exhilarating."

With a tilt of his head, Jessie asked, "So, does your aunt, does your father or your mother also have these powers?"

Tumelo asked, "Why?"

Jessie's voice took on a mystical tone. "Since you have gotten these powers, these powers are only inherited by the ancestors. Since you have inherited these powers from the man in the bush, that means that man is living alone or he has chosen another, he has chosen another man as his heir. I don't know why he chose you, but maybe he saw potential in you."

Tumelo's curiosity was sparked. "How do you know all of these things? I mean, you've been staying with us all the time."

Jessie's tail swished behind him. "I had a mother before you adopted me," he began. "She told me all of these things when I was a kitten. I didn't understand all of these things at first, but as I grew and learned, I began to grasp the secrets she shared with me. I also learned from my feline friends in the neighbourhood, and from my adventures exploring the world beyond our home."

Tumelo's eyes widened in awe. "Wow, this is great, but me changing into an animal? Oh no."

Jessie's ears folded back, and he stood up, as if ready to depart. "Okay, enough talking to you. Bye."

With a mischievous glint in his eye, Jessie darted away, calling out, "Then catch me!"

Tumelo watched him go, his mind reeling with questions. "So peculiar. So many unanswered questions. But I just have to ask him tomorrow. Or somewhere when I find him."

And Tumelo stood up, went to the bathroom, and washed himself. Took out his books and did his homework. While he was writing and doing things, he felt a little bit different. Like he could understand the things in the books.

And then when nighttime came, he went to sleep.