Wednesday, May 16, 2012

milk


I spilled milk cleaning my paws the other day, and it seemed to drain the color from the little patch of fur where I spilled it. I tried mopping it up with my tongue but it seemed to just spread, until a whole corner of my coat was paler than it used to be. I hoped nobody would notice. I had a reputation to maintain. Not that I entertained anymore.

I slept easily, woke up, and got ready to nap the next morning, only to find that the metal bell on my collar was curiously pale. And I thought that was odd, but what could I do? Maybe metal just turned pale sometimes. It wasn't as if it looked bad. Then I noticed that my claws had faded as well, and then I started to worry.

As I made my way to the couch I noticed that everything was losing its color. The grass, the trees, the houses and buildings, all had this horrible fade about them. Like I'd spilled milk on them, too, trying to clean up after you. By the time the bus faded I couldn't tell what color it used to be. What color is a city bus meant to be? Are the seats really that sickly pale green color?

I spent about thirty minutes napping before it was too much. I told myself I was feeling ill and spent the day hiding in the clean white sterility of the bathtub. Eventually the automatic lights turned off, and I curled up in the dark and slept uneasily, dreaming alien dreams of color.