Black Cats
By: Bay, 6th grade
“Hey, Gwen? What-“ “Don’t wanna hear it, Nikki.” “But-“ “Can it.” Gwen said, folding her arms over her light pink shirt. Nikki scowled, and said, “Look, all I was going to ask was what you were going to be for Halloween.” Gwen unfolded her arms, and grinned. “Oh, I thought you were gonna tell me another one of your dumb superstitions.”
Nikki stuck out her tongue, and said, “Well, I was going to tell you one later.” Gwen groaned, and rubbed her head. “We go through this every October, Nikki… I don’t believe in superstitions.” Nikki frowned, and said, “Well, they’re true! One day, when I was carrying around my rabbit foot keychain, I found 20 dollars on the ground!” The blonde scoffed. “Coincidence.”
The brunette glared, and retorted, “Another time, I saw a black cat, and then I tripped and skinned my knees!” Gwen groaned, and barked, “It was just a coincidence, Nikki! Give it up!” Nikki fumbled with her bracelet for a moment. There was an awkward silence that lasted about 2 minutes until Nikki spoke.
“What are you going to be for Halloween?” She asked. “I’m going as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.” “Well, I’m going as a Persian cat, to drive away all the evil spirits of the black cats on Halloween…” Nikki said this barely above a whisper, knowing Gwen would blow up at her about the whole superstition deal. “My God, Nikki! Can’t you leave that alone for at least 5 minutes?? It’s full of bologna!!” Nikki looked down, wringing her hands. “Fine… I’ll shut up for 10 minutes.”
Gwen gave a sigh of relief. “Finally!! Some peace from that superstition stuff!” She said, throwing her arms up. Nikki said nothing, her hands shoved deep in her pockets. They walked down the street, heading towards their destination, the movie theater. They were going to see a vampire movie. They had been stopped by Gwen’s hatred of Nikki’s constant rambling.
As they walked down Main Street, Nikki grabbed some salt from her pocket, and gripped it tightly. She quickly tossed it over her left shoulder, hoping Gwen wouldn’t notice. Thankfully, the blonde continued in silence towards the movie theater. Nikki gave a small sigh, and glanced down at the rabbit-foot keychain on her belt. It was died hot pink, and she had gotten it from her grandmother. She also held a horseshoe in the front compartment of her backpack. These were all her secret lucky charms.
Suddenly, she felt a bad omen in the air. She perked her head up, her eyebrows raised in alertness. She saw a midnight black cat streak across the street, and hide behind a trash can. Nikki gave a small gasp, and bit her lip. She had to tell Gwen, but she would get snapped at. What to do? What to do?? The last time she had encountered a black cat; her brother had broken an arm. What if the same happened to Gwen? Or something worse?!
She glanced around frantically, trying to find something that could be the ‘trigger’ for the bad luck. When her brother had broken her arm, a safe being lifted to the 2nd floor of a bank had landed on his arm. She noticed a large cement truck waiting at the light up ahead. She wanted to shout out to Gwen, but feared the consequences.
Meanwhile, the truck quickly shot out from its waiting place in line as soon as the light turned green. It darted down the street, eager to get to its destination. Gwen began to walk across the street, for that was the location of the movie theater. Nikki nearly screamed. The truck was headed right for her. She grabbed Gwen’s wrist, and ran as fast as she could for the corner.
After two painstakingly long seconds, Nikki snapped back to reality. She heard a screech and a crash, then the sound of a yowling cat. She opened her eyes, seeing the cement truck crashed into the side of a nearby hardware store. The mangled body of a cat lay on the hood of the truck. Nikki gave a gasp. It was the black cat she had seen earlier!
Gwen stood, brushing herself off. “Oh
my God, are you alright, Nikki??” Nikki made no response, only staring at the
black cat that laid, dead, on the truck. “Y-yeah…” She said dreamily, her eyes
showing that she was off in another world. “You sure??” Gwen commanded. “Uh-huh…
I’m fine…” She gave a small smile. “Come on, let’s go see that movie.” Gwen
frowned, and said, “Well, I’m not in the mood to see a movie anymore… let’s go
home.” Nikki nodded in affirmation. “Yeah…” She said, and they walked down the
street. “And Gwen?” “Yup?” “You won’t be hearing about superstitions from me
anymore.” Gwen grinned. “Finally, you learned your lesson. It’s amazing what a
little silence can do.” Nikki ignored this comment, and thought, Yeah… it’s
amazing what a black cat can do.