I sigh and shake my head, feeling completely foolish. Of course it was taboo to talk like that. The room has even gotten a little colder after I had asked that. I pull the blanket close to me, wrapping myself like a burrito.

“Are you cold?” Bastet asks me.

“We are warm. We warm you.” Anubis says as he climbs all over me, before I am able to give consent or not.

It takes a little bit of adjusting but I end up sitting with both cats curled up on my lap. They were so cute, and they were also obviously attached to one another. I have never seen one without the other.

I would say how odd but is it? I really don’t know anything about talking cats. And although people tend to think of cats as solitary creatures they really aren’t. They can form strong and close bonds with one another. It’s really cute actually.

I let my mind drift as I listen to their gentle purring. In one of the homes I lived in there was a pair of cats. I remember going out in the yard with pieces of fish I had snuck out for them. I wasn’t able to have a pet of my own with all of the moving that we did. I would call them over and grab long pieces of grass and they would chase after me.

I feel my body growing heavier and know that it isn’t just the cats. I need to get myself to bed. I slowly slip out from under the two, hoping to not disturb them too much. I would like for them to easily be able to go back to sleep once I get to bed.

I grab my journal and climb the stairs. When I get to my room I spin around and say, “Thank you for spending time with me again Noah. Good night.”

And with that I went into my room and crashed onto the bed, I flop down face first and lay there for a minute before pulling myself up with a groan. I was here to do better and I won’t get through my depression if I don’t take care of myself. I get off the bed, change into pajamas, wash my face and brush my teeth. “There now that feels better.”

I stare longingly at the bed wanting its comfy embrace, but the empty journal haunts my mind demanding to be fed. Without bothering to sit I hover over the desk quickly penning my entry. I keep it simple, and just to the facts.

“Take me into your embrace” I say collapsing into the bed. “Ahh my one true love.”

*************************************************************************************************************

The next few days pass in much the same fashion. I clean and explore, walk laps and dance, feed me and the cats. Write in my journal, sleep, rinse and repeat. I enjoy the simple pattern.

I feel so good as I make my way to the dance studio. That is until I begin to dance. My body feels weak, and I collapse onto the floor in the middle of a spin. I land hard on my side and wince.

“Holy crap that hurts!” I shout, startled by how dumb I am and frustrated by the feeling that my body must have betrayed me. Why else would I collapse?

“Aurora! Are you okay?”

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“Yeah Anubis I’m….” I flinch and look around.

That didn’t sound like either of the cats. I didn’t recognize this voice. I also wasn’t seeing anyone else in the room. Although now that I think about it, the past few days I thought that I had heard someone muttering to themselves. A voice so soft that I couldn’t make out the words at all.

I had thought that it was all in my head but now... “Noah?”

“Wait, you can hear me? How long have you been able to hear me? Oh no, how many embarrassing things have I said?” he asks, his voice steadily raising in embarrassment.

“I don’t think so?” I say and do my best to try to get off the floor.

I was so startled hearing Noah that I momentarily forgot about the pain. It was a mystery. I could hear him, I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him.

“Leave it to me, you can finally hear me, but it is only after you hurt yourself. It couldn’t have been a fun or silly, hi I am Noah the ghost. You know the one that has been following you around, in a completely non stalker way, and that you have been talking to.

“No you aren’t a crazy person, or something fun like that. Nope! It had to be me outwardly freaking out that you got hurt even though you do that all the time. And I shouldn’t have said all that outload because you can hear me now. I would like to vanish please...”

“Vanish? Noah, I can’t see you, so mission accomplished?” I say and laugh softly.

I was able to laugh without it hurting too much. That was a good sign. “So honestly if you don’t talk, I really won’t know that you are still there. Are you... still there?” I ask, pensive, hoping that he hadn’t wandered away because he was embarrassed.

“And why the heck are you embarrassed? All of that was sweet and made me feel really happy. If anyone here should be embarrassed, it should be me. I am the one that just fell on my butt!”

“Actually, you fell on your side and not your butt. I was watching very closely and…” says a small voice, so small I could barely hear it at all.

Then, as just a whisper “Speaking of which, are you okay?”

“I think so.” I say as I pull myself into a sitting position. I stretch out from there and feel some bruises forming.

“I am a little bruised but over all I’m not too bad. I don’t know why I got so weak all of a sudden, and what is this about watching closely?” I knew he was shy and couldn’t help poking a little fun.

“Silly human.” Anubis walks in and says.

“Ah! Please keep the furry little walking, ghost scaring, four pawed creatures, away from me!”

“Noah, do you mean the cats? Are you afraid of cats?”

“No… And those aren’t cats” he says and I can hear his voice trail off.

Okay, so Noah was scared of cats. That’s kind of cute actually. I got a strong desire to tease him but I’m afraid that if I do it will be a while before he has the courage to talk to me again. Also, it feels like that would be a little too mean, especially since he is being so sweet and is worried about me.

“You pushed yourself too hard. Humans are not hardy like us cats. You were weak when you came here and then tried to do a lot for a lot of days and so of course you would collapse.” Bastet says.

“So no be dumb. Go rest.” Anubis says then turns to where I assume Noah is. “Ghost, she needs help. Work on being more. Make soup. Go now!”

I think I hear an eep and then it sounded silent as though Noah had left the room.

I had no idea how Noah was supposed to make me soup. I couldn’t even see him so how in the world was he supposed to physically interact with objects. I shake my head and laugh a little and then pause.

Wait, before I got here, wasn’t Noah watering the plants in the indoor garden? Well, even if that had been the case it doesn’t seem like it is the case now.

“Don’t worry about it. I will be fine. I just pushed myself a little too hard is all.” I reach out offering my hand for pets.

“You think? Silly human” Anubis said, sounding upset.

I could tell that the little guy was really starting to care about me. He didn’t even take me up on the offer for pets, must be serious.

“Hospital then here. When did you have time to heal body enough to clean, dance, cook and run? No, you need rest. Noah is here, he should be helping!” Bastet said, seemingly loud enough for Noah to be able to hear her even downstairs in the kitchen.

“I mean, you all have a point but I really will be fine. When I get hungry I will go get some smoked salmon for us, okay?”

“Be careful. No grab one with bones! Silly human might choke.” Anubis said, bristling his fur in a huff before walking over and licking my hand.

The gesture was sweet, but cat’s tongues have hair on them which make them scratchy to soft human skin. “I will be careful okay? I promise. Now then, lets go snuggle and watch a movie or something shall we?”