IT WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT.

There was nothing in the woods.

The doctor had purposefully waited after dark to look for any traces of the same metal. But nothing glowed in the dark. Everything was dark. So much for that plan.

The doctor began to head back to the car. He had expected to find something at least.

He sighed. Not everything always worked out like movies. The doctor unlocked his car and began turned the engine on. He arrived home fifteen minutes later.

It’s a pity the doctor didn’t look a few minutes more.

***

REMEMBER THE MEERKAT SPECIAL WITH THE TAPEWORMS?

She’s okay now, thank goodness, because otherwise, the dressmaker’s cat would have died.

She was now on her way to the little dressmaker’s house, because of very peculiar circumstances. The dressmaker had called the animal control center.

“Hello?” the operator had answered, after putting the dressmaker on wait for half an hour.

“Are you a human?”

This was, surprisingly, a standard greeting. The automated voices had gotten surprisingly realistic nowadays, and many callers couldn’t differentiate humans from machines. “Yes, I am. This is the animal control center.”

“I just saw a standing cat.”

“Excuse me. Did you say a standing cat?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. Can you describe what it looked liked?”

“It had brownish fur, and a pointy nose.”

“I see. Where do you live?”

“42 Funnel Street.”

“Thank you. We will send someone to take care of it.”

The operator hung up.

“What was it?” another operator asked.

“Nothing important. Just a standing cat. This man keeps on reporting things like it. He owns a cat himself, you know,” she answered.

“I see,” the other operator, a man known to everyone as Z, replied thoughtfully. “What did it look like this time?”

“Brown fur and a pointy nose. Whiskers too, I bet. Probably his cat.”

“But doesn’t his cat have white fur?”

“You know how animals are like. The cat’s probably just dirty.”

“I suppose,” Z yawned. “Though maybe we should have someone check it out.”

“Why?”

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“Well, it just sounded sort of like a meerkat. A new meerkat specialist just moved in. I want to see her. Maybe introduce myself…” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“You’re hopeless.”

“Hey, I bet you were like me before you got married. I’m going to ring her up. Where’s the phonebook?”

And that’s how the new specialist’s first contribution to the community was going to a dressmaker’s house to investigate a case meerkats.

The meerkat specialist pulled up to the address given to her. The house, on first impression, was rather small and petite, but very well kept. Thick woods loomed behind a little wooden fence. The specialist, named Oakley, walked hesitantly up the tiny porch steps.

She debated whether or not to knock or look for a doorbell that may or may not exist. She wasn’t given a chance to decide, when a white cat with green eyes meowed aggressively at her.

“Ah, Charles,” a high-pitched voice squeaked. Oakley jumped, catching sighed of an elliptical head poking out of the window, “and who are you?” he asked, glaring at Oakley accusingly.

“I’m,” Oakley gulped, feeling strangely intimidated by this man, “I’m a person the animal control sent? They said you saw a standing cat?”

“Oh. You. Yes, I saw a standing cat. In the woods over there.” The man coughed. “In the darkness a figure appeared, eyes of burning coals.”

“Ah, I see,” Oakley replied quickly, “I’ll just, um, go check on the situation. Do you mind?”

“I told you to come. Of course I don’t mind. But don’t disturb me anymore. I’m a busy man.” He retreated his head out of the window. The cat shot Oakley one last look of contempt, and jumped through the window itself.

Oakley stood at the door for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts, before setting out to the woods.

“Okay, Oak,” she muttered to herself, “try to do something good for the community. Find what’s behind all this. I doubt it’s a meerkat, since meerkats actually look a lot different than cats, but maybe it’s a…a….well who cares what it is as long as I find it. Brown fur and a pointy nose is all I know, but that’s enough. I can do this.”

She stepped over the little fence easily, and made her way through the woods.

Suddenly, the overwhelming size of trees overtook her. Pine trees were everywhere, competing against each other to become the tallest. There were huge open spaces between trees, yet the pine needs were knitted together so closely, barely any light came through. Oakley was reminded just how small she was compared to mother nature.

“I can’t do this,” she sighed.

She marched through the stubborn little and crept deeper through the forest. Never mind the standing cat. There were animals of much larger sizes and strengths. What she should really be worried about was wolfs and coyotes and bears.

Especially bears.

Oakley turned on the flashlight function on her phone, illuminating only a small portion of the vast darkness. It was risky to have her phone on. She wanted to save as much battery as possible, so she’d be able to get back to her car. Oakley knew the chances of finding such a small animal as a cat in this ginormous forest was pathetically small, but she had to try. Failing the first mission her community gave her was not a good way to introduce herself.

Advancing slower, she began to quiet down and listen.

Birds were here, which was a good sign because there wouldn’t be something too dangerous and abnormal here. Squirrels and chipmunks were also scattered across the forest, feasting on pine nuts. Numerous anthills dotted the pine-needle covered ground. But Oakley heard no sign of a larger animal.

She went deeper. For some strange reason, it seemed like a weight was growing steadily on her head. It was irritating. The further Oakley went, the heavier the weight seemed to be. Eventually, she had to sit down between breaks. There were less birds and squirrels now.

Oakley’s instinct was to investigate somewhere else. But her curiosity urged her to find the reason behind this weight. Her curiosity won, and she advance even deeper.

What could it be?

Then came the sound of feet. Pattering paws scurried somewhere close by. It was a larger animal. If Oakley had ears like a dog, her ear would have flicked forward. Like a predator, she stalked closer to the running sound.

Then she saw it. A flash of brown and white with a long tail. Oakley ran faster, but her large size and the bushes kept on stalling her. So close. She reached out…

…and caught the tail. Breathing heavily, she picked the animal up, being careful not to let it bite her.

It was a ferret.

“A ferret?” she asked, bewildered. Why would a ferret be here of all—

The animal twisted and writhed under Oakley’s grip. Oakley released it. The ferret scurried through the bushes and disappeared. The patter of feet stopped.

“What?” Oakley exclaimed, following to where the animal had disappeared.

There was a huge black structure, with no corners and no edges. Just a mass of blackness.

Oakley stared. Then, coming to her senses, she took a few photos, and began running out of the forest.