Saturday, July 24, 2010

Gentleman Cat

The gust of wind from the subway train as it came speeding into the station ruffled his fur and caused him to hold onto his little top hat.

Standing, waiting for the train to come to a stop, in his best suit and top hat, the gentleman cat looked small among the crowds of people.

The train slowed and came to a halt and he made his way on with the rest of the commuters. Some of them stared and pointed while whispering to one another and giggling.

But the gentleman cat paid them no mind, he simple found an open seat and hopped up onto it. He sat up tall and proud as he brushed a few hairs from his neatly pressed suit pants.

At the next station, more commuters boarded and a pregnant woman came on. Seeing that there were no available seats, the well-dressed cat hopped down, and offered his own seat to the tired woman, whom thanked him gratefully and sat down heavily.

The gentleman cat stood holding onto the bottom of the silver pole in the middle of the train car to maintain his balance as it rocked along.

The next time the doors opened, some passengers departed, and more boarded. Along with them entered a handsomely dressed dog; a black bowler hat atop his well-groomed head.

Immediately, the two spied each other as the dog took a spot opposite the cat.

Nowhere on their distinguished faces showed the animosity that boiled within the two gentlemen, but the tension filled the entire train car.

For a moment the din of the crowded car fell silent as all watched out the corner of their eyes; no one looking directly at the two figures standing in their suits.

Both regarded each other for what seemed an eternity, and then, casually, the gentleman cat touched the brim of his felt top hat and nodded a greeting to the dog, who in turn nodded politely.

The tension broken, the crowd went back to their conversations and at the next stop the cat straightened his bow tie and exited the car with another touch of his hat to the dog.

As the train pulled away and the cat walked proudly along the platform, the dog stood up on a seat and watched out the window.

The cat, not looking as the dog passed by inside the train, smiled a sharp-toothed grin as he took out his pocket watch to see that he was right on time.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Rain City

Sometimes she missed the sun. The blue skies; a dry breeze blowing through her hair. But all those were distant memories from her youth. Memories her mind would drift to as she stood waiting for the train on the high-rising platform.

The drops of rain splattering down on the roof top of the platform shelter above her head; rhythmically plinking their ever-present tune.

She looked out across the city, the gray clouds hanging in the sky; constantly heavy with moisture, which rained down up on the vast cityscape.

The many drain ways and devices that lined the rooftops throughout the city, catching the unending flow and using its natural potential energy to fuel the entire city's power needs.

A marvel of ingenuity and resourcefulness. Every brightly lit building; every vehicle; every piece of modern technology, powered by harnessing the rains that had blanketed the world so long ago.

The entire planet had put aside their warring and bickering when the clouds converged, blocking out the clear skies of the day forever, and the had developed a new, world. Using their natural plight to their advantage.

It was a golden age is some ways.

But at night, when the clouds inexplicably cleared, and the stars in the black sky above, twinkled and reflected on the watery surface, far below the high-raising buildings; built atop those of the ruined and flooded cities of the past, she would stand out and try to picture the blue skies of her youth.

And now, standing on the platform as her hover train approaches, she looks up at the cloud-covered sky and imagines the sunny skies that lay just beyond the gray rain clouds. And despite all the advancements humans have made since the rains, she still misses the sun, sometimes.