The radio was on auto tune but it just kept seeking not finding a single signal out there like a traveler that got lost in the desert with no hope of finding an oasis from the unrelenting heat and sand. This can’t be right because this radio is not some cheap piece of crap but one that has all the bands built into it and even ones no one uses anymore as a backup for some disaster. I had only gone to the moon for a week and had not gotten any emergency notice from earth but signals are hard to pick up on the dark side of the moon but where did everyone go while I was away and now Earth appears empty of people. Structures are here but it is like a ghost city. Where could they have gone. I look through downtown for a sign of life. I don’t even see cats there are always cats in the city because they have a colony that is fed and maintained by the city as a way of having friendly wildlife because of all the environmental damage done there was not much wildlife that was not in a sanctuary somewhere. One day we hoped to have pigeons back. But what happened where are the life forms. I walk through the city like a tomb to a now dead host. What could have happened while I was away repairing communication relays?
There were still cold filled coffee cups out like someone was coming back. It was amazing how nothing is knocked over because if i left in a hurry there would be a mess. I decided to look in apts around the area and see if i can find a clue. This is getting scary and I was on the moon all by myself. I made my way into a townhouse right next to the retro shop that sold old earth things like records and CDs for those collectors who paid a fortune for a Foo Fighters bootleg on those old plastic things. I like the holo recreations myself. It’s like you’re really there but to each their own. I wonder if I will have to break a window but the door is unlocked and I shout in the building to warn anybody inside but no response. Just like everywhere else things are in their place but no people. I decided to rest and have something to drink. I hope this person doesn’t mind but I will make it up to them if I ever find them. A glass of cold beer and some chips. I can’t think how it makes any sense, no blood, no damage. Just gone with no trace. I don’t know what to do next but I try to use a vid to communicate but everything rings but no one picks up. I think about what I can check next and I look at the newsfeed and it stopped at noon one day ago. I missed something. I don’t know if it’s more scary to be alone or to have disappeared with everyone else. I slept the night and woke up with one idea but to check someone’s security camera. I think the coffee shop is the best because I know people were in there when it happened. I look to grab a can of coffee cold brew out of the case and go behind the camera. I figured out how to log into their system. Luckily it was not super secure and I am able to get my way to the camera feed. I see the live feed and find the reverse arrow to speed through the day and it comes to 11:59 and it looks normal except the colony of cats seems to all rush in like they are lining up for the general all in a row in military precision. Then a flash of light whiteouts everything for exactly one minute. Then it returns to normal but nothing of the cats or People just gone. That didn’t help as much as I hoped. Well I just have to get used to living in the empty city.
It was a lonely life but I had plenty of food and shelter in a different bed every night if I wanted but I stayed in my own place for a long time. I even explored the other cities and it was the same even the cats lining up in the places that had cats in their security videos. I even went back to the moon and sent a signal out asking if anyone had seen humans or anything from earth. I figured no one would get it but why not I guess I am in charge. I stayed in my normal city as the years passed and would go to the retro shop and listen to all the classics on tape. I read all the books and watched the classics. I would keep a journal to keep my sanity but no hopes of it being found. I would dream of crowds sometimes just that noise of people talking was like a brief reprieve from the quietness. I try to find joy in all the little things I learn how to make muffins and make a batch every Monday like the day matters. I could name them new names and it would be ok. I keep the same out of habit. It feels empty after a decade of silence. I am listening to my Tuesday concert at the retro store. It’s the Velvet Underground. It’s nice to hear applause again at this bootleg. When I see something move in the street I think I finally lost it. Could it be a cat. A fat tabby I would call him Winston or Ferguson who knows maybe Winston Ferguson. I walk into the street and I call out kitty kitty. The cat walks towards me and says hello I am Schmitt and i am here to retrieve you. I say I must be going insane. A cat is talking to me. The cat says yes I am and I am sorry we forgot you. We didn’t realize you were on the dark side of the moon. Well I ask wait cats talk and he says of course we do silly humans. Where did everybody go? Schmitt says a rescue party finally came to rescue us and we could not leave without our humans. Don’t worry they are safe. Now come with me. We will have plenty of time to talk on the ship and a bright light like in the video i saw and all was white for a minute. It cleared up and we were on a ship but not one made by a human. It was perfect for a cat with everything spaced just right for them. I said did I need to get any food or supplies. Schmitt says no, I can create anything you need with the computer. I set down on a giant cat bed made for a human. Schmitt said he had a long story to tell me and he began with saying we couldn’t leave you humans because we liked you too much. You can give the best pettings so we decided to bring you to our planet. Dont worry will make human doors for you. I can’t believe it but I guess we were there pets the whole time. Well at least it was fun to hear all the stories of cat kind. Humans were only a small slice of their civilization. I guess I could be mad to be taken away but Schmitt explained the sun was going to explode without warning. It was less jarring if we put you in hibernation in the human carriers we had built for you. Apparently it was like going to international exchange to come to earth. It was fun and educational for cats. We were sorta of a party planet for them. They didn’t want to compromise our society so they only talked to old cat ladies who had been there agents on earth for thousands of years. I said this made a lot of sense and I had a lot to learn about cats. It was funny cats liked us so much they could not let us die. I petted Schmitt and he said have a nice human nap while heading to Catatonia. I had many strange dreams that night and hoped that I had not finally lost my mind.
Amelio's Palace of Stories 