Rhoda @rhoda9                                   10/3/20

I’m now in another reality, remembering my ancestor—the Egyptian Queen Mut who had more than nine lives. Expending my Earthly ones October 2020, stepping into my pink egg lined with a Hello Kitty blanket, I took my last breath. My human Chella was not home. #CatCommunity

Rhoda @rhoda9     10/8/20

In this new existence I’ve finally learned what Tweets are. When I used to hear the word, I ran to the kitchen staring up at Chella for oven-roasted chicken-flavored treats. But she didn’t notice me, looking at some light in her hand and then tapping it with her fingers. #Cats

Rhoda @rhoda9     10/13/20

I understand more things human. The joy of writing. The frustration over bills. Why Chella and her human twist in the sheets, moaning and screeching like we do in heat. #Caturday #CatLovers

Rhoda @rhoda9      6d

Recalling my last day with Chella, I hear her singing to me, a country hymn her grandmother sang. Not her words but her tenor, deep and soothing. She lay on the quilt and I crawled onto her stomach. She scratched my face and stroked my neck. #CatLovers #Cats

Rhoda @rhoda9      4d

I want to thank Chella. Oh my goddess. There she is @chellacouringto. I hit follow. Who are those two gingers? Did I say thank her? She should feel guilt (a human feeling I’ve learned) for letting those feral things on my bed. #Cattitude #CatsofTwitter

Rhoda @rhoda9      2d

Thanksgiving has gone. I’m strong. I don’t fear the following: bananas, apples, and nasty snapping turtles; those feral things on my bed; loud, lumbering vacuums, and water on my fur. #Cattitude #Caturday

Rhoda @rhoda9      1d

I return to the lioness deity, living in her infinite space. I stretch my forepaws and rub against her leg, sharpen my claws on her throne and leap onto her shoulder. #Cats #Caturday

 Rhoda @rhoda9      23h

Did I say that I can see red and green not just blue and gray? I can see far away and up close. The world no longer is lit by a black light but a full beaming sun. #CatsofTwitter #CatCommunity

Rhoda @rhoda9      2h

I’m happy again. There’s a picture of me in Chella’s lap. In her blue housecoat and smiling, she looks down at me, rubbing my chin. @chellacouringto

Chella Courington is a writer and teacher whose poetry and fiction appear in numerous anthologies and journals including SmokeLong Quarterly and Potato Soup Journal. Her novella-in-flash, Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage (Breaking Rules Publishing), was featured recently at Vancouver Flash Fiction. Courington lives in California. Twitter: @chellacouringto