art by https://www.furaffinity.net/user/nekrozs/

Birthday pic 3

...

Heavy; her eyes were heavy.

Sunlight; there was lots of sunlight.

*Mrrpfh*

Mae Borowski forced her eyes open, scratched her ass, and with her normal clothes already on, tried to reach for the boot that was farther away without getting off the bed.

…

With her morning routine out of the way, the blue cat was more or less ready to go. The clock read well past 4:00 p.m., but that was expected at this point.

“Two years…” she said. Two years since the incident in the mines; where she and her closest friends learned of that evil force that roamed beneath their home, and the psycho uncle fanatics who worshipped it.

“Two years…” she repeated. But that wasn’t the true reason her spirits were fading right now. No, she had a far more horrid thing to be afraid of:

“Two years…and I’m still living in my parent’s attic.” Mae groaned and rubbed her temples as she exited her bedroom. “Guess Mr. Penderson was right; soon it’ll be my whole life.”

…

The outside was still in autumn crisp, believe it or not; not a single flake for miles. As the cat ran across the telephone poles overlooking possum springs, she looked down at all the different mammals roaming around, just as she was. She wasn’t ready to see any of her friends before the day was over, which meant she wanted to talk to strangers first.

“Talk to strangers…” Mae smiled to herself as she realized what she was thinking. “Oh, mom, if only you could see me now.”

She jumped down from the wire, and down to the street level. She was just outside of Miller’s bar. Despite being legal drinking age, she still had no interest in alcohol; it tasted like piss, and it always made her say the stupidest things.

That lady hanging out outside, however, didn’t seem to care.

“Hmm…”

A cheetah by the looks of it. She was wearing a vest-hoodie combo, along with her black skinny jeans and boots. Her eyes were a deep shade of blue, and her hair was a natural white. Mae slowly walked up the steps to get a closer look, just as she took a huge swig of something she was certain had to poison in it.

Not that she knew what it was per se, but her gut was just telling her.

The cheetah lady took the bottle away from her lips, and Mae was able to get a look at her lip scar. Ran all the way down.

“Whoa…” Mae said.

“…what?” the lady said back.

“Cool scars,” Mae said.

“Oh. Thanks.” The cheetah lady said back.

“Where’d you get them?”

“New Orleans.”

“Whoa…”

Mae thought to herself for a moment.

“That where you live?” she asked.

“Practically raised there.” The lady said; Mae could make out some of her accent.

“So why you all the way up here?”

“Change’ a scenery; never was one for the same thing all the time.”

Mae looked towards her home. “I’m the exact opposite.” She said.

The cheetah lady raised her glass. “To opposites.” She took a swig.

Mae could only watch in astonishment as she took the already half-empty bottle, and reduced it to three-quarters empty with just a couple of gulps.

“Whoa…”

“Y’all say that a lot, girl?” she asked.

“Uh…no,” Mae answered.

“Kay. Just had to make sure you ain't one of them annoyin’ hoverin’ knob types; always trying to be cool by talkin’ when others are tryin’ to have a good time.”

“Pfft, …no way,” Mae said. “So anyway, what’cha got there?”

The cheetah lady looked down to her bottle. “What this? It’s everclear.” She said. Then, she gave Mae her first smile.

“Y’all wanna try?” she asked.

The bottle might have suggested it was alcoholic, but to Mae, the liquid looked just like water. So with that, in mind, she took the bottle and put the top to her lips. And then:

*PPHPHPHHPHPHPHPHPHPHHPP*

A couple more sips, and a couple of hacks, the bottle was back in the cheetah’s paw as Mae tried to use her own paws to rub the horrid taste out of her mouth.

“How…how…how in the eff can you DRINK that stuff!!?”

The cheetah smiled again.

“I like a challenge.”

“CHALLENGE? What do you mean CHALLENGE!?”

Mae held out her arms. “Why don’t you just drink beer?!”

She held the bottle out, as if offering again, and looked Mae in the eye.

“Beer’s weaksauce for sissies.”

Mae froze in place, and then she lamely let her arms back down.

“…whoa.”

...

Mae had to idea who that lady was, and she had no idea if or why she'd ever see her again. One thing she did know, was that she was going into the journal.