MidReal Story
Feline Hearts: Love, Friendship, and Whiskers' Dilemma
Scenario: A world where Cats are Intelligent as humans and deal with the ups and downs of dating and other life choices.
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“C’mon, Whiskers, you have to ask her out,” Paws said for the umpteenth time.
I was beginning to think he was more into this whole thing than I was.
What did he care if I asked my friend Mittens to be my girlfriend?
The answer was simple: he didn’t.
But he liked to pretend he was the expert on all things dating and relationships.
As if we could ever forget the time he went on and on about how we were “compatible” and “meant to be together.”
He had practically proposed marriage to me before I told him I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship right now.
He looked at me with his big, round, yellow eyes, waiting for me to say something.
I sighed and put my paw over my face.
“Why do you care so much anyway?”
He patted my back in his wise and gentle way.
“I just want you to be happy, Whiskers.”
I looked over at Mittens and felt my heart doing that weird beating thing.
She was playing with a fluffy ball a few feet away from us.
Her sleek black fur shone in the sunlight and her piercing green eyes sparkled with playfulness.
She had an air of confidence about her that drove me nuts.
Every time she flicked her tail or batted at a toy, she completely captured my attention.
But that was the problem.
She could have any cat she wanted.
She was so beautiful and flirty, but she also had an elegance about her that made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for her.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to ask her out.
I did, more than anything.
But what if she said no?
I couldn’t handle the rejection.
It felt like there was a knot in my stomach that just kept getting tighter and tighter every time I thought about it.
Paws slapped his paw against my back again and I turned to look at him.
“Just go up to her and ask her out,” he said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
I shook my head and sighed.
“I’ve tried that before, Paws.You know how it always goes.”
“You just have to believe in yourself, Whiskers!”
he said, standing up on his hind legs and raising his paws into the air dramatically.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I couldn’t help but smile.
Paws was always full of energy and ready with advice, even if it wasn’t always the best.
But then again, what advice could change the fact that Mittens had never shown any interest in me?
Sure, we were friends, and sure, we flirted with each other every day, but that was just who Mittens was.
She was flirty and fun and lived life on the edge.
And I was a shy, introverted cat who liked routine and predictability.
We were complete opposites, and it made me wonder why Paws and Mittens were so insistent that I ask her out.
It wasn’t like she would ever say yes, anyway.
We met up at the cat cafe every morning at 7am.
It was our routine, and I loved it.
Every morning I would get there early and set up our favorite table in front of the window.
At exactly 7am, Mittens would walk in, swishing her tail playfully as she spotted me and made her way over.
She would greet us with a purr and a smile, and then she would go over to the food and water dishes and have a quick snack.
Sometimes, I wished she would sit with us right away, but she always had to eat first.
She was so particular about her food, and it was one of the things I loved most about her.
I would watch her as she ate, and then afterward I would watch as she groomed herself.
She did everything with grace and elegance, and her shiny black fur always looked perfect.
If I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that part of the reason I came to the cat cafe every day was to watch Mittens.
And as much as I hated to admit it, I had more than just friendly feelings for her.
I had a crush on her, and I had for as long as I could remember.
But even after all this time, I still didn’t know how to tell her that I wanted more than just friendship.
As Paws and I sat at our usual table, watching Mittens groom herself, we both knew that this was our chance.
He gave me a knowing look and nudged me with his elbow.
“Go on, Whiskers,” he whispered.
I shook my head and looked down at my paws.
I couldn’t do it.
As much as I wanted to ask her out, I just couldn’t bring myself to say the words.
What if she didn’t feel the same way?
The thought of ruining our friendship by making things awkward between us made my stomach turn in knots.
But then again, what if she did feel the same way?
What if she wanted to be more than just friends?
Every time I thought about it, that knot in my stomach grew tighter and tighter, until eventually it felt like a rock sitting in the pit of my belly.
Paws gave me a look of disbelief and shook his head.
“I can’t believe you’re still thinking about this,” he said.
“Don’t you want to be happy?”
“Of course I do,” I replied.
“Then go up to her and ask her out!”
he said, his voice getting louder and more insistent.
I shook my head and looked over at Mittens again.
She was looking at her reflection in the window and I couldn’t help but stare at her and feel a little bit of longing in the pit of my stomach.
She was so beautiful, with her sleek black fur and her piercing green eyes.
But she was more than just beautiful.
She was smart and funny and adventurous, and we had so much in common.
She was everything I ever wanted in a cat, and I couldn’t help the way I felt about her every time I saw her.
But she wasn’t looking at me like I was anything special right now.
She was looking at her reflection and grooming herself, and the longer I sat there watching her, the more I realized that she probably didn’t feel the same way about me at all.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how ridiculous this whole thing was.
So what if she didn’t want to be more than friends?
It wasn’t worth ruining our friendship over something so silly.
I shook my head and sighed as I looked down at the table in front of me.
“I can’t do it,” I said quietly.
Paws rolled his eyes and shook his head again before turning back towards the counter and giving a nod as he got up from his chair and walked away from the table to go talk to our usual barista for a few minutes before coming back with a tray full of treats for all of us to share.
He set it down in the middle of the table and Mittens quickly joined us, taking a seat next to me and giving me a friendly smile as she looked over at the tray and sniffed around for something good to eat.
“Hey guys,” she said, happily wagging her tail back and forth as she looked from Paws to me and then back again, but there was no hint of anything more than friendship in her voice as she spoke.
“Are you ready for movie night tonight?”
“Yes!”
Paws replied with a gleam in his eye as he reached out one paw and picked up a treat from the tray in front of him before taking a bite and letting out a satisfied purr as he chewed it up and swallowed it with a smile on his face.
“I’ve been waiting all week for this!”
“Me too,” Mittens replied with an excited purr as she picked up a treat of her own and took a bite out of it with one of her sharp teeth before licking her lips and setting it back down on the tray in front of her so that she could look over at the two of us again with a smile on her face and her eyes wide and bright with anticipation as she spoke again and gave her tail another playful swish back and forth behind her.
“What are you going to watch tonight?”
“I don’t know,” Paws replied as he reached out and picked up another treat from the tray in front of him and took a bite out of it before speaking again and looking over at me as though he were suddenly struck by lightning with an idea that was going to change everything for me once and for all.
“What if you made a big romantic gesture?”
he said with a slow smile as he looked over at me and leaned back against his chair with one paw tucked beneath his chin and his other paw crossed over his chest as he spoke again with a look of contentment on his face as he remembered the time that I had made that same suggestion to him and he had been foolish enough to actually follow through with it, resulting in one of the most embarrassing moments of his life so far that only served to prove my point that such things never worked out for anyone who tried them and he should have known better than to listen to me when I suggested it in the first place.
“I did that once,” he said quietly as he gathered up his treats and shoved them into his mouth while he still could before continuing.
“And it worked!She’s still my girlfriend today!”
He glanced over at Mittens and gave her a wink as she sat next to us and started cleaning herself again, but there was no sign that she had noticed the look in his eye or the way that he was staring at her as she continued washing herself without a care in the world, completely oblivious to what was going on between all of us and focused only on making sure that she was clean and presentable before the three of us went out into the rest of the city where we would be seen by other cats and possibly even some humans who would be able to admire her beauty if she took the time and effort necessary to look her best for them all the way that she always did and had done every day since I first met her and fell in love with her in the first place, but she still showed no signs of being anything more than simply a friend, and it was starting to drive me crazy.
She’s not your girlfriend,” I said quietly with a frown, and Paws turned his head towards me and gave a look of surprise as though he had never thought of that before, but before he could speak again, I continued on and spoke more loudly this time so that he would be sure to understand what I was saying and not just ignore it like he usually did whenever I was right and he didn’t want to admit it, choosing instead to change the subject and pretend that nothing had ever happened in the first place so that he could go on with his life and not have to deal with any of the consequences that would otherwise result from his actions later on down the line when it was too late for him to do anything about it.
“You’re not going out with anyone right now, remember?”
Paws sat back against his chair with a frown and a pout on his face as he remembered that I was right, and there was no arguing with it now because the facts were simply against him in this case, and he couldn’t do anything about the truth of the matter, no matter what he said or did later on when we were alone again and there was no one around to hear or see him try and weasel his way out of it or pretend that it had never happened in the first place.
I took a deep breath, trying to find the courage within myself to tell him how I truly felt about Mittens Whiskerton, and how I didn’t just want to go out on a date with her, but I wanted her to be a part of my life, no matter what we were doing or where we were going or who we were with at the time, whether we were grocery shopping or going on an adventure or even just sitting around at home watching TV without a care in the world, because we would be able to do it together and nothing else would matter as long as we had each other, and I would do everything in my power to make sure that we would never have to be apart ever again for any reason at all, because I loved her, and I wanted her to love me back, and I didn’t care what anyone else thought of us, because it didn’t matter as long as we were happy together, even if it meant that we would have to move away from here so we could be alone together without anyone there to bother us at all, so we could live out our lives together forever and ever without any trouble at all, even if it meant that I would be poor and she would be rich, because money couldn’t buy us love or happiness or anything else that mattered when we were together, even if it meant that she would have to give up everything she had ever known or wanted or cared about just so we could be together forever instead of having to be apart, because I didn’t want anyone else but her, and I would do anything in the world for her if she wanted me to, even if it meant that I would have to die or kill someone else just so she could live on without me, because I would be willing to do whatever it took just so she could be happy and healthy and safe with me for the rest of her life, because she was the most important thing in my entire world, and nothing would ever change that in any way at all.
“You know, you say that you want to date her, but you don’t want to go out on a date with her at all,” Paws Meowington said, his voice gentle as he tried to talk some sense into me, the one who had been so lost in his own fantasy world that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him.
“You’re just like everyone else, thinking that they can go off and have some grand adventure without bothering to share their lives with each other along the way, never realizing that they’re missing out on so much more than they could ever know if they were only willing to take a chance on something new and different for once, because they’re too scared of getting hurt in the end.
But the truth is, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, because life is just like that, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
