The eye of Obi
I awoke from my slumber to the sound of someone peppering my front door with their fist. I wondered, “who could possibly be here at the ungodly hour of 3pm”. I let out a belch as I released the gas bubbling in my belly from the previous night’s drinks. I stagger down the stairs unsure of who could need me. I arrive at the door ready to greet the guest with profanity. Much to my surprise I open the door to a cardboard box. Annoyed I mutter to myself, " I didn't order shit". As I inspect it further I see that it had no address. I sighed as I started plucking the tape from it. Before I could clear the first strip I was surprised by the emergence of a fuzzy grey face. Shocked I stumbled back. It was a cat! He jumped out and took careful time to groom himself. I looked in the tattered shell that was the box and noticed a little black book. Upon opening it most of the pages were torn out. The only legible page had the words, "Follow the eye". I turned to my new found friend only to see him cleaning his derriere. Once he was finished he looked up; our eyes met....well, at least one did. I was unsure if he was looking at me or the wind chimes blowing about. His left eye clearly had a defect. I reached down to pet him but he took off and ran across the road into a neighboring yard. I discretely followed him until he got so far, I yelled "STOP!" Much to my surprise he did. As I stood still waiting to see what would happen, he slowly made his way back to me. My patience was running thin, until he took a seat and gazed at me like I was something of importance to him. At that moment, it felt like we bonded. I reached down and rubbed his chin. I noticed a small silver dollar like tag hanging from his collar. "Obi" It read and I thought to myself that it must be his name. Once I made the correlation, I realized that his eye was wandering in a direction that was abnormal. I reached for his chin again but he darted away in the direction of his spacy eye. I chased him to the park and down the boardwalk toward the waterfall. He dodged in and out of the brush as if he had been here before. I shouted "OBI!" and he stopped dead in his tracks. He walked up to me as if I had some form of treat. I noticed his eye spinning around, Confused by it I asked him if he was looking at me or the boardwalk. Soon enough it was indeed obvious that he wanted to follow the path to the waterfall. We arrived at the dead end where there was a powerplant at street level tarnishing the visual of what most would appreciate. Obi sat peacefully under the wooden bench. His eye circulating like a marble tossed to the floor. Without warning he took off leaping over the guardrail and down below the boardwalk. I knew if I was going to retrieve him I was going to have no choice but to follow him. I made my painfully slow journey over the railing catching a good sized splinter in my finger. I took a brief moment to re-evaluate my life choices. “Am I really following a cat?” I thought to myself. I kneeled down and noticed Obi pawing at a small wooden box. I slid it out. Obi comes from underneath the structure and sits like a professional in a board room meeting. I noticed the rather unusual lock securing the box shut. I scoop it up and tuck it under my arm. For the first time Obi seems to be following me instead. I make my way to the clearing, my new found friend in close proximity. I return home and place the box on my kitchen counter. While curious to its contents I was most concerned about Obi as I had no idea how long he had been cooped up in that box. I search for something pet friendly for him to eat while he takes up residence on a small stool shading himself underneath the table. I begin fumbling through my pantry unsure of what I will find. As I rifle through the void full of dollar store treats, I decide to pluck the chilled chicken breast from the fridge that I had not seasoned the night prior. I place it on my cast iron grill plate and begin to cook it. Obi sneezed violently behind me as I lift the cooked chicken into the blender to create a half assed cat food. I pour the mixture into a tiny saucer and spin around. I make a step forward toward the freezer in an attempt to cool the meal and lose my footing. Spilling the well prepared concoction all over myself, I gaze down at my foot and notice the biggest pile of snot I've ever seen. I just slipped on cat secretions! I take a deep breath as Obi meanders over to politely clean me up as if I am a food dish. As he licks away at my improvised snack, I notice his collar resembles that of the unique lock on the box we found. I remove the medallion and place it into the fixture. It snaps open! Much to my surprise I find a bundle wrapped in plastic. I lift it up fearing that I had just stumbled upon a secret cocaine stash. I set the brick on the table and look in the bottom of the box. I see a card resembling a cat covered in glitter. I Open the card and two small pages fall from it. I reach for them noticing a familiarity about them. A very faded font with some indistinguishable text reads "if you're reading this, I am no longer" the next few words fell victim to the hands of time. The second page read "they" with the rest of the text lost to a very familiar substance. The same one I slipped on. I disregarded the pages but placed them back inside the card despite the second page’s unique crust. Something about the glittery cat shaped card told me to keep them. I placed it on top of my dresser. I make my way back to the bundle fearing what might appear once I open it. I start to unravel the bundle. Uneasy, I pull the first layer away exposing the unmistakable smell of money. I tore away the rest of the plastic, exposing perfectly banded one hundred dollar bills. exactly twenty thousand dollars worth. I momentarily lost my breath unsure of whether it was because of the cash I had just discovered or the fact I was so out of shape that lifting twenty thousand dollars was a new workout for me. It’s most likely the latter of the two. I had little time to take in what I had just discovered. There was a knock at the door. I moved swiftly to hide what I had found. I made my way to the door. I peered through the slot to witness an abomination. A sight that could only be described, as the lower jowl of a turkey - a giblet possibly. But as it sloshed around, the jaw line opened up and revealed a tongue that poked through a gaping void of four teeth. Horrified I turned around to Obi, only to see him scurrying away. A second round of knocking occurred. I opened the door to an unknown figure stroking his facial hair. Each stroke produced an ungodly amount of dander. You would almost swear it was snowing. "Can I help you?" I asked. “My name is special agent Mikleo from the the FBI national security branch.". I had little time to react. I was further caught off guard by the pungent smell permeating from Mikleo's mouth. "Have you seen any unusual animals in the area recently?" “No!”, I replied, failing to acknowledge the recent entity at my door. "Are you sure?" he asked. Fighting the urge to mutter "except you", I kept my opinion to myself. Annoyed Mikleo stroked his chin creating a windstorm of dander. He pointed at the shell of the box which remained on my porch. "What's this? asked Mikleo. "A box" I replied. Annoyed Mikleo turned around and retreated to his car. Taking the box with him like it was a evidence at a crime scene. I was taken by surprise by this interaction. I had a cat, money that wasn't mine, and national security at my door. Mikleo peeled off leaving a trail of snowflakes from his beard. I turned around to Obi emerging from the shadows. The feeling that I am harboring a fugitive took over. My heart was racing uncontrollably. I feel like he sensed my discomfort. At that exact moment Obi turned his belly up to me. I reached down to admire him. The admiration would be short lived. I could see Mikleo making his way back toward my front door with a look of determination spread across his face. At that moment I knew we were in trouble. The door nearly caved in at at force of the knocking. Obi's eye sporadically shot in yet another unnatural direction. He took cover behind the door. I swung it open and before I could say a word Mikleo forced his way inside demanding to inspect my home. As soon as he stepped inside Obi waited for his opening and ran outside. I feared I would never see him again and wanted to chase him. I made the decision to stay with Mikleo as Obi clearly wanted nothing to do with him. Mikleo made his way into my kitchen only to slip on a certain substance I forgot to clean up. Luckily I have a knack for quick thinking and apologized to Mikleo for spilling pasta earlier. After performing a quick search of my residence, he left but not before making it clear that he was unfinished here. He made his way out while flicking his tongue between his missing teeth. I knew I had one objective. I needed to find Obi. (To be continued)
