Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Cats in Command and Other Stories
    Cats in Command and Other Stories
    Cats in Command and Other Stories
    Ebook74 pages56 minutes

    Cats in Command and Other Stories

    By C. M. Barrett

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The author of the series, A Dragon's Guide to Destiny, which includes Big Dragons Don't Cry, Dance with Clouds, House of the Moon, and Book of Sorrows, presents a collection of short stories whose themes are satirical, occasionally serious, and never sentimental.

    Cats in Command: The situation is more serious than you may suspect.

    Villains Victorious: The villains attempt to rewrite the story.

    The Language of Stones: He decides to teach a stone how to speak. Good luck.

    Gargoyle in Love: He's not just an ugly face.

    Tarasque: After she's orphaned by murderous humans, not even a saint can convince this dragon that she's a sinner.

    Big Dragons Don't Cry, Chapter 1: A royal cat, looking for a suitable mate, doesn't expect to fall in love with a feisty alley cat.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherC. M. Barrett
    Release dateDec 9, 2011
    ISBN9781466149434
    Cats in Command and Other Stories
    Author

    C. M. Barrett

    On my mother's side of the family, I come from a line of storytellers. My grandmother's stories ranged from my grandfather's arrest for draft resistance in England during World War I, the uncertainty of life during the Troubles in Ireland, to the day she decided to leave her marriage (but didn't). My mother's stories described a rural childhood that to a child of a suburb of little boxes seemed idyllic. Both of them encouraged me to read and provided me with books to feed a growing habit. When I was seven or eight, I discovered mythology, and the gods and goddesses in those tales were as real to me as the dragons and cats in my own stories are now. Thanks to my early training in fantasy, I like to hang out with dragons. Accepting the bizarre directions my imagination takes has allowed me to conjure up Zen cats, cougars, gossip-vending hawks, and other critters. Currently I live in upstate New York on a wooded piece of land not unlike some of the terrain in Big Dragons Don't Cry. Since 2000 I've belonged to the online writers' group, Artistic License, subtitled Shameless Blameless Hussies. They've read all my books, but don't blame them if you find errors, because they're shameless. I also paint, and the art on my book cover is one of my watercolors.

    Read more from C. M. Barrett

    Related to Cats in Command and Other Stories

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Otterly Wonderful

      May 25, 2022

      Otterly Wonderful
      5 min read

    • Article

      AN EXCERPT FROM The First Line of Dante’s ‘Inferno’

      Dec 1, 2020

      Early forties, tall, self-possessed. Hiking in the woods in search of her missing sister. A young park ranger, late twenties. Pretty. Slim. Strong. The play is formatted like prose; however, it is intended for performance. If actors simply perform th

      15 min read

    • Article

      The Ladies Book Club

      Apr 10, 2024

      “Our brains are shaped with the capability to care deeply but also to kill. This deep ambivalence is potentially problematic. A society filled with people who are inherently very compassionate and very violent might prove unstable.”1 1Emile Bruneau,

      25 min read

    • Article

      A WING AND a prayer

      Sep 28, 2021

      A raven saved my life Cate McMurray, 47, from West Midlands I ’d always known I was different. As a small child, I used to see and hear people who weren’t there. One day, I was playing hide ‘n’ seek with my two sisters, and tucked myself away in a cu

      4 min read

    • Article

      Judges

      Mar 10, 2024

      The doctors assured me the shrapnel in my leg would do no further harm if they “let sleeping dogs lie,” or at least less harm than trying to take it out would cause. “Hey,” I asked them. “What if it decides to cut its way out all on its own?” My grea

      12 min read

    • Article

      Nothing To Fear

      Jan 26, 2021

      Nothing To Fear
      8 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2022

      First prize 10 and under Tang Li, age 9 Palmetto Bay, FL My name is Anisa. I was in Hawaii on vacation. I enjoyed sipping refreshing drinks, overlooking the turquoise ocean, and dancing with others, before I overheard that the priceless Fire Ring wa

      10 min read

    • Article

      Intelligent Creatures

      Jul 6, 2023

      Intelligent Creatures
      19 min read

    • Article

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Final Truth

      Jan 21, 2020

      The Final Truth
      5 min read

    • Article

      Quantum Physics for Mothers

      Dec 15, 2020

      Quantum Physics for Mothers
      10 min read

    • Article

      Pleasure Palace

      Sep 1, 2022

      Pleasure Palace
      15 min read

    • Article

      John Jeremiah Sullivan

      Mar 9, 2021

      John Jeremiah Sullivan
      27 min read

    • Article

      A Kind of Deep Companionship: The Millions Interviews Jo Ann Beard

      Jun 3, 2021

      When you’re slogging through your day, imagining what else is to come, and you remember that the minute all else is done you can sink down into your book like warm water, and be absorbed while you’re absorbing, is priceless, as they say in capitalism

      6 min read

    • Article

      When Life Bites

      Sep 14, 2020

      When Life Bites
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ashes to Ashes

      Mar 16, 2023

      Ashes to Ashes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ashes to Ashes

      Mar 16, 2023

      Ashes to Ashes
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      Dark Tales

      Dec 2, 2021

      Dark Tales
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Cats in Command and Other Stories

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Cats in Command and Other Stories - C. M. Barrett

      Cats in Command

      And Other Stories

      By

      C. M. Barrett

      Slavery, Freedom, or Death?

      Read your free copy of

      The Snake Charmer’s Daughter, a novella.

      Prequel to A Dragon’s Guide to Destiny.

      When a foreign nation conquers her land, Zena, an apprentice snake charmer and mind master, becomes a slave in the Emperor’s harem. A dedicated sadist runs the harem, and the Emperor is a temperamental drug addict.

      Determined to escape, she resists those who urge her to start a slave revolt. Heroes have short lives and violent deaths. Soon, though, she learns the power of friendship and love and can no longer turn her back on the suffering of others. As life in the harem becomes increasingly perilous, Zena wonders if leading a rebellion is the only way she can survive.

      Sign up for the author’s monthly newsletter

      to receive your free copy.

      Click here to get started.

      http://dl.bookfunnel.com/ox0rn5lrhk

      s in Command

      And Other Stories

      By C. M. Barrett

      Copyright © 2013 by C. M. Barrett

      Smashwords Edition

      Cover design by Joleene Naylor

      From a photograph by C. M. Barrett

      Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied, and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form.

      Table of Contents

      Cats in Command

      Villains Victorious

      Gargoyle in Love

      The Language of Stones

      Tarasque

      The Dragon Who Didn’t Fly

      Cats in Command

      The cat's yowl jolted me out of a deep sleep. Too groggy to wonder how it had gotten into my bedroom, I stumbled out of bed and shooed it toward the front door.

      Big yellow moon eyes glowing in the dark, the cat stared at me, flicked its tail, and trotted down the hall.

      Glad it was as eager to leave as I was to evict it, I opened the door. A fierce wind pulled it out of my hand. One second later the suction of a cosmic vacuum cleaner caught me in its swirl, and I was pulled down one of those tunnels reported by people who had near-death experiences, except that I didn't see the light. I saw prison bars, and, once I got oriented, I realized I was behind them.

      The cat had disappeared.

      *

      I tested the cage's lock and rattled the bars.

      Footsteps padded to the front of the adjoining cage. Hello? a man said.

      I was already in shock from a bad case of disbelief. Now I plunged into paralysis.

      Ralph? I whispered. We hadn't spoken since he'd taken the last of his belongings from the house a year ago.

      Elaine?

      Yes. What's going on?

      I've been expecting this. If they grabbed me, they were bound to get you, too.

      Who?

      The cats, of course. Didn't one come for you?

      A big black cat with yellow eyes.

      Yeah, he's the main people catcher.

      He paused, and I heard the faint scratch of claws against a concrete floor.

      Be careful, Ralph said. Talk to you later.

      A large gray cat came into view, wearing an unfamiliar-looking electronic device. I'm Sheba, here for your intake interview.

      I don't want to be taken in. I want to be returned to my warm bed, and I want to sleep.

      I'm sure you do. She flicked one of the bars, and a section of the door lifted to make a cat-sized opening. She slunk through it.

      I'll interview you in your sleeping quarters. Follow me.

      Her growl gave me no choice. I followed her to the back of the cage, which contained a curtained shower and toilet, a sink, and a bed. The mattress wasn't too bad.

      Now then, the cat said, tapping the device. I'll tell you why you're here. You've been imprisoned for going catless for too long.

      "What? I might be awake, but this was still a nightmare. I demand to speak to my lawyer. I demand to call Amnesty International and the ACLU and—"

      Forget it. You're under our jurisdiction now—and no Miranda rights, either. Zip your lips and listen to the charges against you. A year after your last cat left your home, you were approached for adoption by two feral cats and one kitten. You refused in every instance, so we had to take matters into our own paws.

      I remembered those cats. I'd even fed each of them for a few days. Was their idea of gratitude to turn me in to the Feline Bureau of Investigation?

      "My ex-husband took my—I mean our—last cat

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1