Me and My Shadow - The Rise of the Guardians - Chapter 2

It was mid afternoon on November 1st after completing his assigned duty as “Commander of the Grave Yard Shift” that Shadow returned home. Despite his brilliant victory over Lucifer he was sad and deeply depressed. The  “Victory” was  officially achieved at break of day however Shadow took the long route home stopping in every cul-de-sac and alleyway to deliver to family members the tragic news of their son’s or daughter’s death. 

Shadow knew full well before accepting this assignment there would be casualties, however he could never have imagined the heart wrenching experience of informing his comrade’s surviving family members. Even his assurance that their brave kitten whether brother or sister, son or daughter had died fighting valiantly for a noble cause did little to assuage their deep and heartfelt grief. As sad and depressing a situation as this was it paled in comparison to the inner pain and turmoil he felt at being incapable of informing the human owners that their “run a way” pets were never coming home and would in all likelihood remain forever MIA unless some kindly civil servant had the decency to deliver their metal “license tags” to them from the crematorium.

When he entered the house Shadow was very tired and distressed. Despite his wretched condition he did his best to offer me a warm and enthusiastic greeting. He rubbed my shoes and weakly purred but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. He made a token attempt to eat at least a little of the food I had placed in his dish in anticipation of his safe return. Then he purred softly as he rubbed against my leg. 

I briefly scratched him behind his ears, however it was quite obvious he did not wish to be picked up and cuddled at that particular moment. After I finished scratching behind his ears he slowly began to make his way across the kitchen floor and into the bedroom. He paused for a brief bath before climbing up onto my bed pillow. He quickly performed his perfunctory three turn security check before curling up in a tight ball. Several minutes later he was sleeping quietly on my pillow. He was so tired he slept with both eyes closed his normal purr replaced by a slightly raspy snoring sound.

I decided I would not read the daily newspaper until tomorrow. Shadow and I would share the post Halloween headlines and comics together over breakfast. I ate my supper alone. After I had washed the dishes I retired to the living room, sat in my chair by the window and quietly read several acts from the Shakespearean Play “Hamlet”. 

While I was reading my eyes began to feel tired and slightly strained. I closed them.  When I awoke several hours later it was nearly dawn. I peeked through the bed room door and saw that Shadow was still resting peacefully on my pillow. I quietly got undressed and climbed into bed resting my head close to where Shadow was laying. Instinctively he reached over and placed his tiny black paw on my shoulder. Despite this movement it was obvious that Shadow was sound asleep.

It was close to 8 AM when Shadow awoke. He yawned and stretched … and then licked my face several times before jumping down to the bed room floor. The November air was cool and brisk giving me pause to consider the possibility of staying under the covers just a little while longer… but Shadow would have no part of that scenario. He had already walked into the kitchen and was rattling his empty food dish and mewing loudly his call to action. 

Reluctantly I got up and quickly dressed. The cold tiled bathroom floor gave me an added incentive to accelerate my customary morning rituals. Slipping on a pair of argyle socks and an old pair of bedroom slippers I slowly made my way towards the kitchen. Shadow seemed a bit more impatient than usual most likely because he had only picked at his food the night before. I filled his food and water dish and placed both on the kitchen table. 

Today we would share a nice, relaxing, intimate breakfast together. After I finished eating my breakfast I poured for myself a second cup of coffee, picked up the newspaper from the day before and commenced reading the headline news aloud to Shadow. 

Overall the headlines were quite encouraging. Damage and vandalism was at a multiyear low. The overall level of crime was considerably lower than anticipated especially in light of its pre Halloween rate of escalation. This news largely reflected Shadow’s success. I, the not so Grim Reaper, had also contributed slightly in my own way. 

Shadow listened quietly and appeared to be somewhat relieved by these news reports. One headline however appeared to chill him to the very bone. The workers at the local cemetery reported finding the desecrated remains of over a dozen cats spread throughout the town’s central cemetery. Along with the badly mutilated remains they discovered large patches of an unidentified green slimy residue that was currently being analyzed by the local department of health to ensure that it posed no threat to public safety. The workers had collected the cat’s remains placing them in large green garbage bags normally used to dispose of leaves, grass clippings and litter. They carefully scrubbed the green slime off of the grave markers before bringing the bags of “dead animals” to the crematorium for sanitary disposal. 

“Officials are tentatively investigating a gang of young homeless thugs in connection with this atrocity.” 

The local police chief was quoted as saying “This is not the first time Halloween desecration had occurred at this cemetery; however it would be the last!” 

Shadow was clearly upset by this news report. He knew several of his comrades had fallen in this battle however he had not been able to count them all before he was obligated to leave the scene. Just the thought of all those brave kittens giving up 1 of their 9 lives to save humanity only to receive such ignominious treatment was more than Shadow could bare. To be placed in mass in a ground keeper’s green plastic bag, carried over to the crematory like so much potentially hazardous material and burned in an oven like organic waste….  was a gross display of ungrateful human ignorance. 

Shadow jumped off the table and headed outside through his private cat door. He did not even wait for me to read the daily comic strips to him. He was visibly upset. I was certain I saw tears in his eyes … but that can’t be because Ninja kittens never cry. I looked out the back window and saw him lying dejectedly on the patio beside the outstretched boughs of a low growing bush. The sun had warmed the patio tiles he was laying on, but it was still very cold outside even under the warming rays of the sun. I wanted so much to help him. But there was nothing I could do. Only time could heal his psychological wounds. All I could do in the meantime was to be as supportive as possible.