#10 China Cat (The Oatmeal)

He let them in through the gate, then picked her up to carry her across the threshold. The house went on and on. He followed a path of petals while talking to her, ‘…I built this house myself…’ then put her gently down on the bed, ‘…and designed it…’ She looked around. There were pictures of naked women on all four walls, a floor-to-ceiling window, and a huge closet. The closet door was open and stuffed with his clothes. It was messy. Actually, the whole bedroom was me

Dec 8, 20253 min read

#9 China Cat (Marriage)

facility. Her daughter put her in the cheapest one she could find, and it didn’t matter that it was located in a city that was miles away, as she wouldn’t be going to visit her anyway. Cora had money, but it didn’t matter, as there was probably no happy ending there. Carin and Colleen had moved in together long ago, so at least they had each other, and were probably living happily ever after. There wasn’t anything wrong with them anyway. They stopped all medication the d

Dec 7, 20253 min read

#8 China Cat (The Jungle Noises)

for him to be in a good mood or even come back. She grew lots using the same disposable cups. She read about it, so she made light yellow, medium yellow, really yellow yellow, and orange. She got curious. She made reds and blues out of beets and blueberries. Carole never stole anything she thought was garbage. China mixed the powders and got other colours. She picked up a stone during mandatory fresh air, scraped it on the cement foundation, then crushed it to a pow

Dec 6, 20253 min read

#7 China Cat (The Weird Night Man)

was a lot of love in their room to counter act the weird night man, and Carole stealing her plants, but there was Cora, who was talking to Carin and Colleen now, and even Carolyn dying was a type of love. Then it followed that the weird night man, and Carole stealing, were love too. They were predictable, therefore she felt loved, therefore she felt in control, even in charge sometimes. After all, she was the object of their affection. One time, one of the hall people wand

Dec 5, 20253 min read

#6 China Cat (What a Place to Die)

came twice a week, brought her candies, and talked to her snotty. Carolyn was dying; what a place to die. They gave her bags of blood and put compression stockings on her. It was expensive. China knew Carolyn was dying because she listened to the doctors that came. ‘…do you still want food...water…blood…medicine…oxygen..’ Carolyn said yes to them all. She didn’t want to die. They gave her bags of blood in the middle of the night, hooking it up, and forgetting about it,

Dec 3, 20253 min read

#5 China Cat (I’m The Manager)

that either, but she couldn’t relax. She stayed up all night. Finally, the man sneaked in and then just stared at her a long time before leaving. She didn’t know who it was. As soon as he left, Carole came in and looked at her stuff. Cora wasn’t lying. ‘…well…’ she said out loud, ‘…looking never hurt no-one…’ The trouble started when Carole went ahead and moved stuff. At first, she just touched stuff, but then she started moving it toward her side, on the sill, a quart

Dec 2, 20253 min read

#4 China Cat (Stolen Vehicle)

‘…no..no..it’s not an emergency…I don’t…hello….hello…I don’t have piece of paper…I’m in the loony … hospital…hello…hello…send…hello…I want to report a stolen vehicle…no…I can’t find a pen and paper … I’m at the same place I was before…I can’t walk…send…hello...hello…my daughter stole my car… you need to arrest her and put her in jail…hello…hello… she is my P.A…. but wait …hello … hello… I’m not gonna have her as my P.A. anymore …hello….what’s process to change your P.A….but

Dec 1, 20253 min read

#3 China Cat (Hello? hello?)

business hours…’ Cora developed the habit of talking to her every night. She knew after Carole left; the lights would go out soon. It got so Carole would leave of her own accord, going out in the hall; Cora didn’t even have to kick her out. Carole read, did word searches, or talked to other ‘hall people,’ as the light was kept on all night. China knew her whole life story, as she told it to the hall people over and over again. Either they were too polite to say anything

Nov 30, 20253 min read

#1 China Cat (Psych Patient)

Nobody believed a psych patient, so they just had to make the best of it. In some ways, the four-year-old was more mature than the adults, but in some ways she wasn’t. Carin and Colleen were in the beds, closest to the door, on either side. They knew they were friends, did everything together, and planned to live together when they got out, but what they didn’t know, was that they were lovers. During the day, they went to mandatory recreation and fresh air together, but th

Nov 29, 20253 min read

#2 China Cat (The Asylum)

They called her China Cat and it was a good name because she had at least nine lives. It could have been her long black shiny hair or slight build. Maybe it was her name, because of her perfect dark skin or her slanted eyes; who knew. She was born in the USA and it was the sixties so they still had institutions, and since she was indigenous, they were only too willing to accept her into one of them. Heaven was one of those places. They selected it because they liked the

Nov 28, 20253 min read