A Cat's Tale (The Secret Desires of Hotaru Nyanko)

Six: トーナメント (Tournament)

Courtney and I sat in the bleachers, and I continue to sip my cola from the red cup. Mrs. Penn was away for a while and she had the library closed, so I took the chance to watch our sports events. While we cheered and shouted, Calvin, squeezed himself in through the crowd holding a box of pizza. He quickly handed out a piece to us and I hungrily took a bite.

"Go, Max!" Courtney shouted at the running tracks, where her boyfriend ran the 100-meter sprint. I look up to stare at everyone watching and I saw a glimpse of Dave.

He looked very handsome with a slight beard growing out from his upper lip. He then stood up and shouted in the distance, supporting his friend from the team. As he sat down, he reached out for a bottle of water the water guy and turned his gaze in my direction.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

He must have seen me. I pretended not to care and gobbled my pizza, which is a good way to distract him. I looked on his way again. He disappeared. The game lasted for at least two hours because of the different tournaments that took place. There was one last game, and I am excited to finish it. After an hour of watching, Courtney stood up and signaled Max to come with her, since he already finished the game and sat there wiping his sweat with a towel. I could hear them talking from behind me.

"He stepped on my foot!" "I was two lapses ahead!" Max exclaimed. "Well, if you practiced a little harder, maybe you had won, right?" Courtney hissed at him.

Their fights went on and on until all I could hear is their shouts. Everything exploded in my ears, the crowd noises; people screaming, shouting in anger or laughing, the sound of footsteps running, the sportscasters talking, and the sound of babies crying from mothers who are breastfeeding while caught up in the game. I tried to cover my ears as hard as possible. For a moment, the crowd noises suddenly blurred out like I'm in some kind of a movie. I felt a sudden rush of fear too and I could feel my blood boiling like hot water. I tried to shout as loud as possible. "Courtney!" "Calvin!" I scream their names. But they didn't respond. I open my eyes to see and then I looked around. Everyone disappeared.

A perplexed surprise awoke inside of me. I was so afraid that the dead may be grumbling about being troubled when I heard a faint whisper sweep through the trees. I waited for what felt like a very long time in quiet. With the sound that disturbed the eerie silence, I can figure out the owl's hooting far away from where I am. I took another look at the field. What's happening? Where are they? I stared at the bleachers hoping for someone to come at me. A black cat with huge red eyes peeks out from the benches across from me. He meowed once or twice to indicate caution before leaping to the top of a metal shed and landing heavily on the ground.

 "Here, Hotaru." "Here."

 I let out a tiny little scream, horrified by a voice that I heard. I was frozen in shock. Help! I shouted, but no one answered. Hello? Is anybody here? All I could hear is my girly voice echoing around each corner. The silence of my surroundings felt so loud, louder than real noises. I stared down at my buttoned-up uniform which consists of a white shirt and a lousy blue skirt. Tears ran down my face, for what could be worse than my nightmares and the strange things that have been happening to me in the past few days? Just then, something pushed me hard.

"Ouch!" Like a large slap, it slammed my back, which led me spiraling down the stairs.

I have never felt so hurt physically, like a deep-rooted pain waiting to be unleashed.

"Help me," I cried so much, wincing from the strain, feeling the ache all over my body.

My agony turned into a deep sleep- something that I accidentally did to go through the pain. I wasn't sure where I was when I woke up. I'm still on the running tracks, and everything is still. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and look around. I braced myself for the tingling sensation all over my body. Then I realized; it was the cool, gloomy dawn, and there was an enveloping stillness of calm and peace in the deep immense repose and silence of the woods. Nature was not disturbed by a single leaf or sound. The grass and leaves were illuminated by beaded dew drops. Now far away in the woods a bird called, another responded, and soon the hammering of a woodpecker could be heard in the distance. As time went on, the morning's cool, drab gray became whiter, more sounds began to be heard and life began to show itself. I experienced the wonder of nature. I sprung to my feet and hurried to the woods, for I don't want to go back to something that pushed me. For a moment I am lost and temporarily bewildered by the exhilarating spirit this nature's magic has that I forgot I have school to attend to and I need to go home. All I could think about was the pajama party invitation Courtney is talking to me about before the game; before it all. Everything seemed to be shady. The pitch-black darkness took over, and the perfect somber was occasionally broken by a distant thunder from time to time.

 “Here, Hotaru. Here.”

 There was once a girl who was hypnotized by the voices that she heard in the woods and even though she knew that nobody could hear it as much as she could; she did not care. She was captivated by the overwhelming and fascinating excitement of it all, and she became bound to her mystery and made the secret to herself.