Breed The Secret Design To Maintain Racial Inequality Among The Despised Classes

by William Chasterson

  I accompanied Rizzo for what seemed like hours. Steadily we ran under logs, over rocks, and between trees. We entered a clearing and I was suddenly hit with the smell of urine and rancid flesh. I was reminded of the awful smelling food I was offered the other day. Just ahead was a large wall of rock climbing high into the air. It hung over us inclining forward at the top. It served as a shelter for all those huddled under its protective shadow. What was huddled under that shadow was literally hundreds of cats. A large tomcat menacingly approached us. “And what do we have hear?” he asked. Rizzo stood erect. “May I present to you, Christopher the Great!” announced Rizzo excitedly. “He doesn’t look like much to me!” shouted a voice from among the crowd. In the shadows I could see hundreds of glowing eyes sizing me up. It was true that with regards to size I was without a doubt the smallest cat in the shelter. “Now hold on brothers hear me out,” pleaded Rizzo. “What our brother here lacks in size, he more than makes up for in brains. Why just look at him. You can tell by his appearance that he’s never been out maneuvered.” What I gather Rizzo meant by this was that in contrast to all present company I had all my appendages in tact, no missing eyes, half tails, or chewed off ears. In fact compared with this lot, I was quite healthy looking and I had a smooth clean coat of fur. Not like the matted, dirty mess of fur, fleas, and dirt that the rest of the gang was styling. It was reasoned that my appearance was a direct result of my having out smarted dogs and mice and cleverly charmed humans. “It only stands to reason my brothers,” exclaimed Rizzo as if he was rallying troops, “…that such a feline as this is just what we need to bring about real change. No more scrounging for food, no more being chased by dogs, and no more having to tolerate vermin.” This last word, ‘vermin’ was said with a sinister snarl. Everyone in the cave seemed to know what he meant by this because they began nodding in approval. I had no idea what Rizzo was going on about but the way he spoke of vermin gave me a feeling of irritation for some reason. “Yes, cats and kittens it's a new day!” And with that the crowd broke out in applause. The excited cascading of meows was interrupted however by the large tomcat who asked, “How may I ask is he going to do all of that? What's his plan Rizzo? I'll remind you we've been here before. We've gotten our hopes up only to be let down by false promises. Before we hand him the throne let's at least here his... Reeeeoowww!!!” screeched the suddenly alert tomcat. But along with the alertness there was a look of what seemed to be madness. A wild mouse jetted across the ground and about ten of the cats began chasing him. They were right on his tail with the suddenly distracted tomcat leading the pack. I just stared at the crowd in amazement as the caravan chased the intruder around the shelter in circles and figure eights. Everyone's eyes were intently fixed on the mouse with the same look of madness mixed with hatred. Those who were chasing him were running as if there were only one cat and one mouse and they were going to be the one to devour their prey. Again I looked at the crowd. Those who weren't chasing but were looking on, appeared to fancy, that they too were chasing the mouse. So the overall affect was that the intruder distracted the entire crowd. When I looked toward the action again I saw the caravan of predator and prey heading directly towards me at full speed. I caught the eye of the little mouse and the mouse was looking at me as if I weren't an enemy but rather one of his comrades. Before I had time to even think about this strange turn of events, the mouse darted under me for protection and the caravan came to a screeching halt. All the cats in the alley suddenly came to, as if they were awakened from hypnosis. "Here it is brothers!" announced Rizzo. "You asked for it, and now you are about to witness our leader's plan to eradicate the vermin. It's the final solution!" Once again all eyes were on me. Now let me tell you something friends. Before these recent events, which have opened my eyes to the existence of inequality in the world, I would have understood chasing after and even roughing up a mouse like this. Not out of hatred or even hunger. But just for fun. The creature was a toy nothing more. But now things were different. When I looked at this creature I saw a face not too different from my own. I saw in his eyes a look of despair. I felt as if this creature could be spoken to. “Eat him!!” commanded the crowd. “Well, what's it going to be? What are you waiting for?” asked the tomcat. I looked down at the tiny creature. Instead of looking for an opportunity to escape the mouse looked up at me. I noticed his tiny mouth and it was moving. At first I could only hear squeaking. But as I concentrated I began to hear a tiny voice speaking indistinguishable words, “Ruoy eht taerg eno, tnera uoy?” I concentrated harder and began to focus on the voice. "Help me! You are not like them. I can see it in your eyes. They can't be reasoned with but I can tell you understand that we're the same." on hearing this my mouth dropped open. This was partly because I was astounded at being able to understand this creature and partly because I now knew what I had to do. With one fell swoop I gobbled the mouse up in my mouth. The crowd went crazy with cheering. Gradually the cheering subsided and it was noticed that I wasn't chewing. Before the startled onlookers could say anything in protest I took off running and broke through the crowd. I ran down to the other end of the shelter and darted into the woods. With a gang of cats now running after me I hurriedly deposited the mouse on the ground. "Thanks Great One!" said the creature as he scurried off through a hole in the tree. "You had better have a good reason for doing that brother!" said the tomcat, who was now out of breath and again had the look of madness in his eyes.

  The tomcat’s name was Hector and apparently he had been taking the lead in this gang since they lost their official leader. Judging from his objections to a new appointment of leader I could tell that he was not ready to relinquish the throne. Aside from my battles with Vincent I had never been in a serious fight. Although it seemed like it at the time I now realize that my battles with Vincent weren’t a matter of life and death. Most of the moves I knew were for evading an attack. "That was a meal you just let get away!! But you know you’re not much bigger than he was so I guess you'll do,” said Hector as he lunged at me with the same ferocity that the dog had earlier. I ducked and the tomcat went crashing into the trunk of a tree. This didn't seem to deter him though. He swung at me with a left claw, then a right. He was just barely missing my face and I could feel the closeness of his blows on my whiskers. I knew I couldn't keep this up much longer. As if he were reading my mind Hector screeched “You can't keep this up much longer! Now stop running and fight!” Just then Rizzo arrived along with the rest of the gang. “Break it up fellas. Let's not act like wild animals,” Rizzo said, thrusting his body between us. Looking at Rizzo Hector shouted, “You brought him here, so you're going to have to answer for his actions brother.” “Let's not lose our heads,” returned Rizzo nervously. “I'm sure Christopher had a good reason for letting that vermin escape. Right Christopher?” Once again, all eyes were on me. Now, I knew why I did what I did and I was certain that it was the right thing to do at the time. In fact if I had the opportunity I’m sure I would do it again. However articulating my thoughts and explaining it to this crowd seemed impossible. As I opened my mouth to speak I wasn't sure what words would come out. “Well, well, well, if you aren’t the sorriest pack of flea ridden vermin I've ever had the disgrace of seeing…” These were the words. But they didn't seem to come from me. A look of first shock, then anger, then terror ran through the gang in quick succession, as my shadow grew larger. I suddenly realized why the words didn't seem to come from my mouth as I turned to see a beast even bigger than the first one that had chased me earlier that day.

  “Are you lost?” growled the monster. At once I could here the sound of an army of cats fleeing and hiding. In hollowed out logs, under piles of dried leaves, behind large rocks, they all hid. I appeared to be alone but I could tell that everyone was watching. My mind began to race. What could be done? It was to late to run. There was no chance of standing my ground before this monstrous beast. “Maybe I can talk my way out of this,” I thought. Then for some reason the situation with the mouse came i
nto my mind. So instead of running I just looked up at the beast. “Well aren't you going to run?” snarled the monster. I said, “No. I surrender. If you’re going to eat me there's nothing I can do about it. I just want you to look me in the eyes first, so you can get the full effect of what your about to do.” The dog barked fiercely, “Run you fool!!!” I closed my eyes out of fear briefly then opened them quickly to stare my death in the face. The dog looked puzzled. A look of embarrassment then swept over his face. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. All the cats were still completely out of sight. Unexpectedly he gave a snort in my direction and turned around to run in the opposite direction muttering, “Crazy cat.” As soon as the coast was clear, cats came out of the woodwork running up and bowing down to me as if I were the king of cats. Rizzo and Hector stood at a distance looking on. I could faintly hear the interchange. “Well I think we've found our leader,” said Rizzo with an air of pride, he having been the one to discover their new ruler. “We'll see,” hissed Hector scornfully. He then walked away. Later they took me farther into the woods to an old wooden milk crate turned over on its side and nestled between two large rocks. Inside pressed against the sides of the crate were newspapers. These formed a layer of insulation. Having been rained on then dried by the sun then added to with more papers I couldn't tell where the layers of newspaper ended and where the crate began. “You sleep here,” said a thin tabby with a striped pattern forming an ‘M’ on his forehead. As I entered I felt the warmth and security of my surroundings in contrast to the damp windy atmosphere of the woods. It was autumn and the weather was getting very cold at night. Immediately I got the sensation of being home. I remembered sleeping snug under the computer table with my brother and sister without a care in the world. Even more warmth and security were added as the entrance was covered over by a huddled mass of eager cats. Their bodies formed a constant supply of warmth like a wood stove. After the day’s hectic activities, which included being chased by dogs, almost hit by a car, daring escapes, and my first real fight, I was exhausted. The aforementioned activities combined with my suddenly comfortable surroundings caused me to close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep immediately. In no time I was off in dreamland. Now, dreams were nothing new to me. In fact as far back as I can remember I had dreams. They usually consisted of my siblings and I running, playing, eating and pooping. Ironically enough my daily routine and my dreams were barely distinguishable. How long ago all of that seemed. Lately I had been having very elaborate and strange dreams that at the time seemed very real but when I awoke I couldn't always remember the dream. I knew that I had been dreaming and that the dreams seemed significant in my mind but I just couldn't remember the details unless I was reminded by something. The dream I now had which was a recurring dream was of running down a path towards a river. I knew it was myself running and not someone else because everything in the dream was seen from my point of view. I also felt my chest rise up and down as my lungs filled and emptied with air my heart rapidly pumping. At the same time I felt as if I weren’t myself because I didn't encounter the familiar signs that I experienced in times past when I ran. For example I couldn't see my paws extending in front of me as I took each stride and when I looked back I couldn't see my tail. My point of view was different. I felt as if I were much higher off the ground. That is, only my head seemed to be much higher from the ground because I could still feel the paws from my hind legs touching the ground. My front legs felt as if they were hanging loosely. When I looked around I could see humans but they looked different as well. They were smaller than I remembered. I wasn't looking up at them but rather they were my size and I could see their faces at eye level. This was all very strange. As one of the humans approached he opened his mouth and said, "Christopher are you awake?" but of course it wasn't the human that said this it was Rizzo.