A high-pitched howl woke her before dawn. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, as the desperate cries continued.
‘Mara, darling?’ she called.
The howls stopped. They were followed by short meow.
She sighed, and climbed out of bed. As she shuffled into the other room, she rubbed the sleep dust from her eyes.
There, bathed in silver light from the window, was a cat-like creature of enormous size, tabby fur, and an oddly human shape.
The creature turned wide eyes toward the human.
‘Did you see another cat, darling?’
Mara nodded, then looked back out the window.
The woman smiled tiredly and came to stand beside her. ‘You’ll feel better at dawn, darling,’ she said, gently stroking the fur on Mara’s back.
Together, they watched the cats disappear from the street below and the sun rise over the neighbourhood. And then the pair, now both human, went and shared breakfast.
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Another microfiction for Mastodon.