The day started like any other for Hiro. He was woken up by the thunderous roars of his empty stomach, before fulfilling his duty as Frankie’s alarm clock, sitting on her chest and meowing until she finally stirred and rolled out of bed to feed him. While he ate his breakfast, Frankie made hers. He would then curl up in her lap as the crumbs from her toast rained down on his scraggly coat. ‘A little snack for later,’ he would think to himself.
Frankie would then put her headphones on and head off to work, and Hiro would follow her out the door. Frankie would then check the door three times to make sure it was properly closed, and Hiro waited patiently by her side every time, knowing this had to be done before they could go. Hiro and Frankie walked the top of the street side-by-side before they’d part ways for the day, both off on their own adventures. This morning routine was something that had been perfected between the two of them over the last 7 years, and they had now reached a perfect state of symbiosis.
As Frankie disappeared into the distance, Hiro went to find the perfect piece of concrete to have his morning nap on; one that had been kissed by the early morning rays, but had since been sheltered from the sun. He walked up and down the lane behind his home, closely inspecting every inch until he finally stumbled upon the Holy Grail of nap spots. The bins perfectly sheltered it from the sun, but somehow maintained the heat from dawn. It was like it had its own microclimate, it was magic. Hiro managed to sleep there once and it was the best nap of his life, but every other day it was taken by Megan Meowkle; a cat that lived on the same street as Hiro and certainly acted nothing like her namesake. Every day, Hiro would inch past Megan hoping not to stir her, and every day he would fail, only to be met with a cat twice his size hissing and lunging at him. But the sleeping spot was so well revered that Hiro couldn’t help but check every day in the hopes that she hadn’t made it out on time. And today was that day. It was Hiro’s day. He did his biggest stretch, but before he could even begin to curl into a ball, he was scooped up and swaddled.
Hiro wasn’t against the idea of being picked up by strangers, in fact he loved his little daily encounters with the people of the neighbourhood. However, it was important that he had first gotten his 2 hours of shut-eye in the morning, and this had not happened and for that he was incredibly dazed and confused.
“Oh hello little guy! Oh aren’t you just the sweetest! I can’t believe that someone as lovely as you would be left to fend for yourself, you poor little angel…”
Hiro looked up confused, a little offended even, as he hadn’t been left to fend for himself despite what the strange lady seemed to believe. But before he could even muster up a meow, he found himself being torn away from his dream sleeping spot and brought into the strange lady’s house.
Peggy was entirely clueless as to Hiro’s lack of enthusiasm but it didn’t quite matter, as she certainly felt enough of it for the both of them. It’s important to note that Peggy had not felt anything close to joy in quite some time. The last 6 months had seen her parents kick her out of home, her high school girlfriend breaking up with her, and her childhood cat Miso passing away. It was all too much for little Peggy, who was getting closer and closer to giving up as each day went by. She may or may not have projected a little bit of these feelings of grief and abandonment onto the unassuming Hiro, though she’d never realise it herself.
“Now I’m Peggy, and I promise that from this day forward you’ll never go without love again.”
Hiro tilted his head at her, wondering why this strange lady by the name of Peggy thought he lived a loveless life when he knew that Frankie would ride at dawn for him if it came to it. He stood at the door and let out his biggest meow, in the hopes that Peggy would understand as Frankie did that he wanted to be let out, to run back to the finally vacant sleeping spot before Megan Meowkle could reclaim it.
“Oh silly me, you must be hungry! Let me see what I can rustle up for you.”
Normally Hiro would never say no to a second breakfast, but today was different. Today was supposed to be his day and this crazy lady had gone and ruined it. He was not at all happy, and ate the bowl of tinned tuna very begrudgingly.
“Oh god I’m going to be late again! Oh god the bins! Oh god okay I’ve got to go. Oh god the cat!” Hiro watched as Peggy ran around the house like a tornado, before finally making it to the door. He ran up excitedly to the door, hoping that something terrible might have happened to Megan, and his spot would still be free. The day wasn’t over yet and there was still time for all to be redeemed. Peggy opened the door and Hiro went to follow, only to be met with the door being slammed shut in his face.
He thought that maybe the strange lady would realise she’d forgotten him inside and that she would come back in 5 minutes to let him out. But five minutes quickly turned into 10, and then 10 turned to 30, and his dreams of finally napping in the perfect spot once more were crushed.
After an hour of sitting at the door, Hiro’s accepted his fate, that he would be stuck in this strange house for the day, and decided he might as well do some exploring here. He eventually found a window that looked out onto the back alley, and from it he could see Megan Meowkle smugly snoozing in the spot that should’ve been his. After staring at her intently for far too long, as if in the hope that looks could kill, his eyelids grew heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.
He awoke disoriented to the sound of a kibble bag shaking and thought that maybe he’d just had the most bizarre dream, that the sleep spot was so good that he napped all day and it was Frankie calling him home. Alas, it was none of those things. The window got far too much afternoon sun and he felt as though he’d fallen asleep in an oven, and as he looked around he realised he was still stuck in this strange lady’s house. He followed the sound of the shaking bag, only to be met with the strange lady towering over him, holding a bag of Fishies. Hiro hated Fishies. The only time Frankie got them, he resorted to going on a hunger strike until she finally caved and bought a bag of Precious Purrs. To this day, that bag of Fishies sits defeatedly at the back of Frankie’s pantry. Peggy poured a bowl of the kibble and Hiro stared at her, hoping she could tell just how offended he was by this insulting act.
“Oh aren’t you hungry? Oh well, you can always come back to it later.”
Of course Hiro was hungry, but he’d never stoop so low as to eat those budget biscuits.
As the days went by, his morning routine that he was so familiar with became a distant memory, one that he would reminisce on as he grazed on the crumbs left in his coat. On the third day of captivity, Peggy decided to give Hiro a bath and washed away all the crumbs that he’d been rationing. Hiro watched them go down the drain and meowed despairingly. Peggy mistook this for a dislike of water, which was true, but he wasn’t crying about that.
These meows came from a place of mourning, as he tried to grapple with the fact that he may never get to see Frankie again.
On the fifth day, Hiro succumbed to his hunger and fought his gag reflex as he tried to shovel down as many Fishies as he could. This became his new routine. He’d make no effort to wake Peggy up as he wanted to put off the inevitable for as long as possible. Once she had risen, he would fight his daily battle, eating the godforsaken Fishies that he hated so much.
Back on his second day of captivity, he found a window that looked out onto the street. As he was taking in the new view, he spied Frankie putting up pieces of paper on the forbidden scratching posts. These pages had photos of a cat that looked identical to the one that would always copy his exact movements on the wardrobe doors. He thought it a bit strange, but paid no mind to it, and instead meowed out at her with all his might, hoping she might see him and come to his rescue. Hiro was instead struck with betrayal as she seemed to ignore his desperate pleas.
He would sit at this window at the same time every day, when he would normally be walking up the street with Frankie before parting ways for the day. He would watch her pass by and muster up his loudest meow, but despite all his efforts, she never heard him.
After days on end of unanswered meows at Frankie, Hiro couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t a misunderstanding at all, rather it was actually one big conspiracy. Maybe Frankie and Peggy were in cahoots, maybe Megan Meowkle’s absence on that fateful morning was more than a coincidence, maybe it was a trap!
Though he didn’t quite understand why he was living with Peggy, there was one thing he was certain about, and that was that he needed to get out of there.
From that point, Hiro swapped his morning naps for taking time to hatch the ultimate escape plan. He came up with countless ideas but came across the same issue every time; Peggy was too unpredictable to plan around. Weeks went by and Hiro was beginning to lose hope. He made his way over to the window to watch Frankie, feeling as defeated as the bag of Fishies at the back of Frankie’s cupboard. But right as he was about to jump up to the windowsill he realised that as Peggy left the house in her usual chaotic flurry, he didn’t hear the door close behind her.
It was too good to be true. He didn’t once consider this in any of his schemes. He thought that all humans check the door 3 times before leaving the house, that it was one of their strange rituals like standing under running water instead of licking themselves clean. He crept up to the door and poked his head out. The coast was clear.
Once he was outside with the breeze blowing on him, Hiro was met with an immediate surge of relief. He looked up and couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw Frankie making her way up the street. He thought he’d missed her, she was never late! Hiro ran with all his might, faster than he ever fled from Megan Meowkle, because this was different. He wasn’t running away from something he feared, he was running towards someone he loved.
As he bolted down the street, Frankie set eyes on him and ran as fast as she could towards him. She scooped him up. Instead of the usual crumbs Frankie would drop on Hiro’s coat, a stream of tears fell onto him. Hiro hated water, but that day he didn’t mind it at all.
Author: Luna Whitlam
Luna is a proudly queer and autistic writer living on Gadigal land. They’re studying a Bachelor of Journalism, and hope to feature in many more magazines in the future. They’re a huge lover of cats, with three of their own: Fifi, Maya and Cindy. Hiro is a mosaic of all three, in both personality and appearance, so no matter what angle you’re looking from, you’ll see a little bit of all of them shining through. This story was inspired by a strange morning over a decade ago, when Luna woke up to a cat that wasn’t theirs staring right at them, who’d been ‘rescued’ from a laneway by their well-meaning sibling the previous night.
