In approximately three minutes and forty-eight seconds the police would arrive at my apartment and bang down my door. I could already hear their sirens screeching ever closer. I could already feel their cold metal handcuffs being prepared behind my back. It was as if they were already in front of me. Right before my eyes.
I searched desperately around the apartment for any means of escape. The stairwell was blocked and the windows were too high. Perhaps the old woman next door might have been able to hide me for a while? But then again, she could have well caught a stray bullet in the cross-fire. Or worse, the nosy old-timer might have sold me out to the cops instead...
No, there was only one thing for it. I had to go and find my gun.
Two minutes and fifteen seconds to go. I could hardly believe she was gone. The love of my life; dead. Face down on the open dishwasher, her poor body fatally impaled by the jagged silverware and pointed carving knives.
We had been in the midst of a fight, screaming and scratching at one another like loved ones sometimes do. Her untimely death had been an accident, of course. But the cops would not believe that. They would label me a murderer.
Knock, knock...
There it was, my date with destiny.
Knock, knock, knock...
“I’m coming in, ok?”
I had envisioned ten to twelve armed and angry police officers waiting in the hall. But instead, the door simply swung open on its own accord. Someone had turned the key...
...the old lady from next door.
“It’s ok...” she said sweetly, “...don’t cry now.”
I swiftly concealed the gun beneath my tear-stained shirt.
My poor girl was dead, and it was all my fault.
“Don’t worry...” the old-timer reiterated, “...first thing tomorrow, we’ll head down to the store to find you another one, ok?”
With that she stood up and I proceeded to wipe my eyes. My elderly neighbour turned towards the dishwasher and delicately lifted Puddles’ limp body in her hands. Only then, did I finally accept that she was gone.
Puddles was my companion. My best friend. The love of my life...
...she was the best damn cat a guy could ever ask for.
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