Flash fiction by Kerry E.B. Black
Satara Katrine
Katrine found a kitten mewing beneath a star-filled October sky, scooped the warm bundle into her heart, and named her Satara. Like all cats, Satara walked like mystery, and her eyes housed occult secrets, but something plagued Katrine. She worried her purring pal mightn’t belong to her after all. At night, starlight streamed into her room, tapping impatient rhythms upon her eyelids. Satara swatted with silent paws, fur fluffed, tail twitching. With woeful whines, Satara pined during days as though lonely despite Katrine’s lavished attentions. No toys captured Satara’s attention. She refused meals, instead lapping like milk the moonlight pooled on windowsills. Satara stretched to spread claws toward bejeweled night skies.
Katrine lost sleep from worry. She nestled into Satara’s sweet-smelling fur. "Are you unhappy, my little Satara?"
Deep in her chest, a rumble unlike a purr belied the truth.
With despondent resolution, Katrine sighed. "What can I do?"
With sorrow-filled reluctance, she acted on a hunch. She scratched behind Satara’s ears, a sad goodbye. Despite the autumn nighttime chill, Katrine cracked the window.
Satara danced light-footed as a fairy when stars studded the velvet-smooth sky. Silvery celestial light enveloped the kitten. Her fur effervesced and her eyes glistened gratitude. She blinked thanks before dissolving into the welcoming light.
Katrine wiped tears, her stomach heaving. She pushed her head through the window. Cold air caressed her moist cheeks like a mother’s comfort. Constellations winked consolations. She whispered, "Goodbye, Satara."
Starlight streamed through the heavens, playful as a kitten.
Celestial Symphony
A melody drifted through the sleepy town of Springwick, Pennsylvania, infiltrating the dreams of its stupefied residents, yet only Barbara Hammings woke from a lack-luster dream. She blinked at the saturating colors surrounding her, as though someone lifted a blind to admit the undiluted illumination of a full moon and sky full of stars. The mundane sparkled with purpose, and she gained insight into everyday miracles, sighing at all she’d overlooked.
Her cat, Pooka, jumped into her lap and batted at dust motes burnished to sparkling silver. As Barbara stroked her cat’s head, she felt the rhythm of her purr, a backbeat to the celestial music.
"What is this?" she asked the cat in an awed whisper, reluctant to add her voice for fear of dissuading the magic. With the lithe dance of a mother serpent as she coils around her young, a feeling of worthiness encircled her heart and soul. Barbara scooped Pooka to her chest and sprung to the window.
A sprinkling of ice clung to the grasses, and a hush fell like snow, yet her ears rung with the echo of celestial music. Her breath swirled through the night, eddying little clouds of promise. No other faces looked from their windows.
"How could they sleep through this miracle?"
The cat blinked as starlight reflected within her wide eyes.
Katrine found a kitten mewing beneath a star-filled October sky, scooped the warm bundle into her heart, and named her Satara. Like all cats, Satara walked like mystery, and her eyes housed occult secrets, but something plagued Katrine. She worried her purring pal mightn’t belong to her after all. At night, starlight streamed into her room, tapping impatient rhythms upon her eyelids. Satara swatted with silent paws, fur fluffed, tail twitching. With woeful whines, Satara pined during days as though lonely despite Katrine’s lavished attentions. No toys captured Satara’s attention. She refused meals, instead lapping like milk the moonlight pooled on windowsills. Satara stretched to spread claws toward bejeweled night skies.
Katrine lost sleep from worry. She nestled into Satara’s sweet-smelling fur. "Are you unhappy, my little Satara?"
Deep in her chest, a rumble unlike a purr belied the truth.
With despondent resolution, Katrine sighed. "What can I do?"
With sorrow-filled reluctance, she acted on a hunch. She scratched behind Satara’s ears, a sad goodbye. Despite the autumn nighttime chill, Katrine cracked the window.
Satara danced light-footed as a fairy when stars studded the velvet-smooth sky. Silvery celestial light enveloped the kitten. Her fur effervesced and her eyes glistened gratitude. She blinked thanks before dissolving into the welcoming light.
Katrine wiped tears, her stomach heaving. She pushed her head through the window. Cold air caressed her moist cheeks like a mother’s comfort. Constellations winked consolations. She whispered, "Goodbye, Satara."
Starlight streamed through the heavens, playful as a kitten.
Celestial Symphony
A melody drifted through the sleepy town of Springwick, Pennsylvania, infiltrating the dreams of its stupefied residents, yet only Barbara Hammings woke from a lack-luster dream. She blinked at the saturating colors surrounding her, as though someone lifted a blind to admit the undiluted illumination of a full moon and sky full of stars. The mundane sparkled with purpose, and she gained insight into everyday miracles, sighing at all she’d overlooked.
Her cat, Pooka, jumped into her lap and batted at dust motes burnished to sparkling silver. As Barbara stroked her cat’s head, she felt the rhythm of her purr, a backbeat to the celestial music.
"What is this?" she asked the cat in an awed whisper, reluctant to add her voice for fear of dissuading the magic. With the lithe dance of a mother serpent as she coils around her young, a feeling of worthiness encircled her heart and soul. Barbara scooped Pooka to her chest and sprung to the window.
A sprinkling of ice clung to the grasses, and a hush fell like snow, yet her ears rung with the echo of celestial music. Her breath swirled through the night, eddying little clouds of promise. No other faces looked from their windows.
"How could they sleep through this miracle?"
The cat blinked as starlight reflected within her wide eyes.
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Raised with fairy tales and fantastic stories, Kerry E.B. Black believes in the magic within the everyday, the beauty the commonplace. She hopes to represent these beliefs in her writing. She crafts her stories from a buttercream cottage situated in a swamp along the Allegheny River, five kids in tow. To follow the author, find her social media accounts: www.facebook.com/authorKerryE.B.Black and https://.twitter.com/BlackKerryblick
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