Catalyst 24hr Flash - The Cat & the Seagull by Jeni Curtis

The cat and the seagull 

by Jeni Curtis

There once lived, at the foot of a tree-lined mountain near the sea, a youngish woman.

“What I really need are flowers,” she said to her cat, one morning.

“What she really needs are flowers,” the cat said to the seagull on the roof.

But there were no flowers to be seen around the place.

“The best I can do are starfish,” said the seagull.

“What I really need is love,” said the woman. She had watched the girls in the nearby village. They were slim and pretty, while she was plump and plain. She listened to their laughing voices as they walked on high-heeled shoes. Those were days that were full of rain.

Jacob, who owned the motel at the edge of the village, walked along the beach. He was shy of the laughing girls, and yet he longed for love. He saw a cat and a seagull standing over a clump of starfish and seaweed. Jacob gathered them into a bucket and covered it with gladwrap.

He went quietly to the door of the youngish woman.

“I have brought these for you,” he said and uncovered the bucket.

Inside there were a dozen bright sunflowers.