That’s My Cuz

Short Story Day 151 of 365

Mrs. Bob saw “She Who Would Not Be Named” from a distance. She asked, “Know her?”

“Naa. Seen her around some. Not one of us. Distant cousin, I think.”

“You sure? Looks like she’s one of us.”

“No, she’s not,” Mrs. Lynx said. “She’s, um, she’s one of them.”

“Really? I didn’t think the domestic types did that kind of strutting.”

“Pfft. Are you kidding? The Domestics are all about strutting. So pampered, so full of themselves. Just look at her. Not a hair out of place. Plus, she looks like she could slim down some. Too much pamperage going on there.”

 “Jealous, are we?” Mrs. Bob said.

“Jealous? Nooo, not at all. She’s got nothing on any of us Wild Ones. Domestics are a dime a dozen and quite vulnerable.”

“Vulnerable? How so? Housed. Fed. Well taken care of. They even get some health benefits. I wouldn’t say vulnerable.”

“Instincts, Mrs. Lynx, instincts. Because they’ve lived such sheltered lives, they wouldn’t know what to do otherwise. We could show her a wild time, but she wouldn’t last a night. Probably a lot less.”

“Probably right.”

“Hey she looked over at us,” Mrs. Lynx said.

“Now she’s meandering towards us. Think she wants out but doesn’t know how to show it?”

“Noo. She’s just bragging, that’s all. Just boasting.”

A coyote howled in the distance.

The Domestic turned around and went to the porch of her home.

Mrs. Lynx said, “Hey, what do you say we have some fun with the howlers two streets over? Let’s make ‘im run away like a little girl.”

“What if he’s with the pack this time?”

“Then we go our separate ways. What, are you going soft on me here?”

“No, just not in the mood to take chances tonight,” said Mrs. Bob.

“Well, we could scare Domestic out of her wits. That’d be fun.”

“You had supper yet?”

“No, let’s go scavenging for supper instead,” Mrs. Lynx said. “There’ll be plenty of time to scare Domestics. We know where they live, and they know nothing about us.”