It is a bit scary to think about how fast this is all happening. Too fast. Just the other day i was just an ordinary grad student working on my paper for Mayan mythology. Today, however, i have turned a different corner and now have become Kendra the neophyte Wiccan. I am confused at how fast this is moving but somehow in a way i do not mind that it moves this fast. For it seems like a natural progression of time.

The bus pulls into the stop and i enter it. Again, not many people sit on the bus this time of night. I show the driver my student id and wander back to the far back of the bus, where i can be alone to gaze out the window and think. Ten minutes pass and i am off the bus, looking at the brick-building complex that is my home. There are a few lamplights on but for the most part, the area is dark. I inhale the night air, look up at the sky, see a few stars and head back to the safety of my studio and Mosi.

Mosi is sitting by the front door patiently waiting for me to get home. Upon seeing me enter through the door she starts meowing at me.

“I know, i know, sweetie. I was gone too long. I am sorry i left you here all alone,” i say to her, bending over to pick the calico up. “It has been a long day for the two of us has it not?”

She begins to purr. And i just stand there petting her. Sometimes i wish i could be a cat. Having no cares in the world. She begins to squirm so i set her down. I remove my backpack, leaving it by the door and take off the scarf still wrapped around my neck. Then i go into the kitchen and figure out what i will make to satisfy my hungry tummy. I settle on using the last bits of milk and butter to make mac and cheese on the stove. I get a pot, fill it with water and 10 minutes later, i have a house smelling of pasta and cheese.

I go to the bed, grabbing one of my literary books, and begin to settle in for a night of studying and working on my midterms. The food is hot but nourishing and it does help to place me in a much better mood than i was a few hours ago. It is nice to return back to a normal schedule and routine.

The cat, however, has a different agenda. Usually, when i study she sits quietly curled up next to me. Watching my every move and sometimes napping. Tonight, she doesn’t want to do that. Instead, she walks over to the middle of the room, sits down and then begins to cry. I star at her and watch this action for a few seconds.

“Mosi, what is wrong with you? Stop howling. You are going to wake everyone up.”

She pauses her crying for a minute. Then as soon as i turn away from her and refocus my attention back on my studies, she starts crying again.

“Cat you need to stop that now. Do not make me break out the squirt bottle.” I do keep a squirt bottle next to my bed, for the rare times i need to use it on Mosi. Sometimes if she gets loud or tries t open the cabinets or attempts to scratch at the chair, i have had to break it out and squirt her with one stream of water. She never likes that. Usually the word squirt is enough to get her to quit whatever action is annoying me. Not tonight.

Knowing that i am more or less just threatening her and not really feeling up to squirting her with water, she decides to wander over to me. Thinking that she has calmed down a bit, i settle further into my studies. Instead of sitting next to me however, she decides that the textbook makes a better bed and goes to sit on that. Obviously, this stops me from being able to study at all.

She begins to clean herself, right there on my book.

“Okay, beast.” I start. “What has gotten into you tonight. You have never done this to me before. So obviously, something is bugging you. I need to study; i have midterms in two weeks. And if i do not pass, then i may not be able to continue going to school here.”

I tell her all this like she may understand me. But she does not. Instead, she blinks. I reach my hand out to pet her, and then grab her and move her off my book. She draws back and jumps off the bed. I lean back, confused at what she is doing. She never has acted this way before.

“I am going to ignore you now.” I say, thinking that she is just playing with me and does not really want my attention.

This seems to aggravate her because she once again jumps on the bed and sits on my book. “Okay, i give up. Mosi what do you want? Do you need more food or water? Is your box not as clean as it should be?”

I get up off the bed and go check her food and water bowls. They are accurately filled with food and water. So i know that it cannot be those things that have her bugged. I start heading towards the bathroom where i keep her box, passing my backpack by the front door. She darts under my feet and stands next to the bag.

“Hey, careful.” I say.

She stands next to the bag. And cries. I look over my shoulder into the bathroom. The box is clean. Scratching my head i look at the cat once more. She stops crying the moment my eyes fall on her. Seeing that i have no idea what she is up to, she begins to paw the backpack.

“I do not have anything in there for you sweets. There has not been catnip in there for weeks. So what is it you are trying to tell me.” Again i reach my hand towards her to pet her.

Mosi pulls away from me again. I look at her, and then the backpack. And then i sit on the floor, drawing the backpack towards me. I open it and take everything out of the bag.

“See, Mosi, there is nothing left in the bag.” She wanders over to me, and i think she is going to walk into the backpack, but she does not. Instead she walks right by me and goes over towards the books and miscellaneous items i have extracted moments ago.

I watch this with curious interest. She sniffs everything. The pens, the loose-leaf papers, and then the big Book of Shadows. After sniffing that, she sneezes once.

“Bless you beast.” i chuckle. “i guess you are not used to me bringing home books that are so dusty.”

She shakes her head and then moves over to the Book again. I think something on the book must smell weird to her because of her actions towards it. But that is not the case. No, instead what makes it even weirder is that she goes and paws the book. It is almost like she is trying to move it over to me. I hold my breath. This is not happening to me, i think. There is no way she is pushing that book over to me to have me read it. I rub my tired eyes. And blink.

I open my eyes and she is still there, pawing at the book as if she is trying to push it my way.

“You want me to read this book,” I ask her. I move my hand over to the book to pick it up and she stops trying to touch it. Seeing that my hand is firmly on the book she darts off again, and sits on the bed.

I grab the book and set it in my lap. This book has got to be the strangest thing i ever came into contact with. And somehow even my cat knows there is something special about it, because she has never reacted to a book in this way.

“Okay, i guess you want me to read this,” I say again as i get up and move back over to the bed.

I set the book down on the bed, prop two pillows up beneath me and settle in to start reading it again. The cat, who is happy now, walks over to me and curls up in her favorite spot, snuggling next to me as i go back in to read it.

I hope that somewhere in this book it tells me why my cat acted so strangely to it. And with that i take the purple ribbon out and begin to read.