What the Cat Knew

The spinach had been in her crisper drawer for three weeks. Every time Maya opened the refrigerator, it seemed to reproach her — a wilting indictment of everything she'd neglected since Mark left. She'd grab whatever takeout was on the top shelf, careful not to look at the rotting greens beneath, then close the door quickly, as if the decay might spread.

Barnaby, her sister's cat, watched from the counter. He'd been staying with Maya for two months now, ever since Sarah's deployment. The cat seemed to know things. Sometimes Maya caught him staring at her with those amber eyes, as if he were silently cataloging her decline.

"You're judging me," she told him, pouring wine into a mug because all the glasses were dirty. "That's fine. Everyone else is."

Her iphone buzzed against the countertop — a work email at 11 PM. Maya stared at it without reaching for the device. For months, she'd been tethered to that phone like a lifeline, answering at all hours, proving her dedication even as her department downsized around her. But tonight, she let it buzz.

The cable from her earbuds lay coiled on the table like a black snake. It had been there since Friday, when she'd meant to go for a run but had spent the weekend watching Netflix instead. Movement seemed like such an enormous effort these days. Even showering felt like climbing a mountain.

She found the hat in Mark's closet the next day. It was ridiculous — a wide-brimmed thing he'd worn to their friend's wedding last summer, making them both laugh as he danced badly in it. She'd forgotten she'd kept it. Putting it on, she caught her reflection in the hallway mirror: a woman in an oversized hat, wearing yesterday's clothes, holding a cat that wasn't hers, in an apartment that felt increasingly foreign.

Barnaby purred against her neck.

"He's not coming back," she said aloud.

The cat licked her chin.

Maya stood there for a long time. Then she took off the hat, folded it carefully, and placed it on the closet shelf. She went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and threw away the spinach. Then she called her sister.