Just a note - the above two fills are much better than this one, which is neither clever nor funny and was written very quickly, but it isn't about America's child. I definitely didn't want to offend anyone (and if I have, throw something heavy at me).
-
Dimitris had just been fired.
It was for the usual reason. Not because he was idle, not because he was distracted, not because the business had closed down. He worked harder than anyone he knew, with unmatched concentration, and this had only been a small taverna, tucked into a corner of a rural town. He'd moved all the way from Athens to take up that modest job, it wasn't as if he hadn't put his soul into it.
No. It was because of the cats.
In every other respect, he was a normal citizen of Greece, living on whatever he could save between his many and varied jobs. What singled him out in a crowd, every time, was the sea of cats around his feet. Wherever he went he would hear a tell-tale mew, followed by a sea of fur and waving tails twining around his ankles. They were there now, as he pulled his car up on the side of the road and began to walk down the dusty path. They came bounding out of nowhere, the dirt, the scrub, all to rub against his legs and declare their undying love for him, even when he tried to nudge them away. He could travel as far as he liked but they always found a way to follow him, infiltrating his workplace until he was dismissed again.
It had always been like this, ever since he was a child. His mother, Sophia, had thought they would make good companions, after his father was forced to leave them when he was an infant, but even she admitted it became too much when they started waiting on the steps outside. Every morning they would curl up to bathe in the sun until Dimitris appeared. Nothing dissuaded them.
Add twenty years. He dragged his feet as he walked. Where he was going he didn't know. Anywhere. The road went on into the nothing of blue sky above barren ground. At this time of day, in this quiet place, it was empty, apart from the occasional tree sprouting from the stone and, beneath one of them, a man.
Dimitris watched him without taking much in. The stranger was lying on the ground in what little shade was cast by the branches, breathing as slowly as the rare breeze. Any sound was masked by the chirp of insects and the cats jostling amongst themselves. He could have been a statue. There was certainly something familiar about him, an everyday, common quality, the example of your average man, much like Dimitris. He even had a cat asleep on his chest.
Since he seemed content where he was, napping in the balmy afternoon, Dimitris walked on. Soon he was left in silence. Complete silence.
He frowned before he realised something was wrong, then glanced down, at his feet. Nothing. No warm weight of fur, nothing mewling at him, no tails knotting around his legs. The cats were gone. It threw him so much that he stopped in his tracks, staring dumbly at the heat haze on the horizon until a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned to see the stranger. Cats dripped from his shoulders but he seemed oblivious to them, eyes still half shut.
“Are these yours?” he murmured. Each word seemed to travel a long distance before it left his lips. “I... like them.”
Dimitris shrugged, and then added, before this opportunity vanished,
“Please, keep them. They seem to like you more anyway.” Which, he added mentally, should not have been possible, but that was unimportant. For whatever reason, this man had much more affinity for the furry devils.
If he expected an answer, one wasn't forthcoming. Instead the main raised a hand, inching it through the air, slowly, slowly, and then stroked it across one of the cats. The feline yawned and snuggled into his arm. Unsure whether it would be polite to just walk on, Dimitris said,
“Thankyou.”
After another infinite pause, the deep, drowsy voice spoke again.
“It was the least I could do.”
It wasn't worth waiting for, and a bizarre sentiment to boot, but Dimitris nodded.
“Well – goodbye.”
He took another step and the hand fell on his shoulder.
“Send my love to Sophia,” said the man. A minute later, both he and the cats were gone, leaving Dimitris stood alone in the road with the dust.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Underfoot
(Anonymous) 2010-10-15 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)-
Dimitris had just been fired.
It was for the usual reason. Not because he was idle, not because he was distracted, not because the business had closed down. He worked harder than anyone he knew, with unmatched concentration, and this had only been a small taverna, tucked into a corner of a rural town. He'd moved all the way from Athens to take up that modest job, it wasn't as if he hadn't put his soul into it.
No. It was because of the cats.
In every other respect, he was a normal citizen of Greece, living on whatever he could save between his many and varied jobs. What singled him out in a crowd, every time, was the sea of cats around his feet. Wherever he went he would hear a tell-tale mew, followed by a sea of fur and waving tails twining around his ankles. They were there now, as he pulled his car up on the side of the road and began to walk down the dusty path. They came bounding out of nowhere, the dirt, the scrub, all to rub against his legs and declare their undying love for him, even when he tried to nudge them away. He could travel as far as he liked but they always found a way to follow him, infiltrating his workplace until he was dismissed again.
It had always been like this, ever since he was a child. His mother, Sophia, had thought they would make good companions, after his father was forced to leave them when he was an infant, but even she admitted it became too much when they started waiting on the steps outside. Every morning they would curl up to bathe in the sun until Dimitris appeared. Nothing dissuaded them.
Add twenty years. He dragged his feet as he walked. Where he was going he didn't know. Anywhere. The road went on into the nothing of blue sky above barren ground. At this time of day, in this quiet place, it was empty, apart from the occasional tree sprouting from the stone and, beneath one of them, a man.
Dimitris watched him without taking much in. The stranger was lying on the ground in what little shade was cast by the branches, breathing as slowly as the rare breeze. Any sound was masked by the chirp of insects and the cats jostling amongst themselves. He could have been a statue. There was certainly something familiar about him, an everyday, common quality, the example of your average man, much like Dimitris. He even had a cat asleep on his chest.
Since he seemed content where he was, napping in the balmy afternoon, Dimitris walked on. Soon he was left in silence. Complete silence.
He frowned before he realised something was wrong, then glanced down, at his feet. Nothing. No warm weight of fur, nothing mewling at him, no tails knotting around his legs. The cats were gone. It threw him so much that he stopped in his tracks, staring dumbly at the heat haze on the horizon until a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned to see the stranger. Cats dripped from his shoulders but he seemed oblivious to them, eyes still half shut.
“Are these yours?” he murmured. Each word seemed to travel a long distance before it left his lips. “I... like them.”
Dimitris shrugged, and then added, before this opportunity vanished,
“Please, keep them. They seem to like you more anyway.” Which, he added mentally, should not have been possible, but that was unimportant. For whatever reason, this man had much more affinity for the furry devils.
If he expected an answer, one wasn't forthcoming. Instead the main raised a hand, inching it through the air, slowly, slowly, and then stroked it across one of the cats. The feline yawned and snuggled into his arm. Unsure whether it would be polite to just walk on, Dimitris said,
“Thankyou.”
After another infinite pause, the deep, drowsy voice spoke again.
“It was the least I could do.”
It wasn't worth waiting for, and a bizarre sentiment to boot, but Dimitris nodded.
“Well – goodbye.”
He took another step and the hand fell on his shoulder.
“Send my love to Sophia,” said the man. A minute later, both he and the cats were gone, leaving Dimitris stood alone in the road with the dust.
Re: Underfoot
(Anonymous) 2010-10-15 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)Anon of the second fill
(Anonymous) 2010-10-15 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)France, China, Greece... I wonder who's next...? XD
...
(Anonymous) 2010-10-15 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Underfoot
(Anonymous) 2010-10-15 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)