"Cats" by Rhamah

            “Cats” by Rhamah is a story about a girl who works at a cat shelter, the owner of the shelter, named Cat Lady, and the two prospective buyers that come to the shelter. The main cat Rhamah focuses on in the story is a little two year old cat named Lily that was abandoned just two weeks before. The first family that comes to the shelter is taken aback by the smell, and before leaving, they almost select Lily to take home, but decide not to when they discover she only has one eye. Rhamah does a good job of characterizing the protagonist and the Cat Lady in this incident: the cat lady is so excited by the idea that a family might be coming to retrieve a cat, but the protagonist wisely determines that they would not make a good home for the pet, because they aren’t willing to put up with the difficulties of owning a cat. The main difference in the two characters, it seems, is the Cat Lady is prone to wishful thinking and dreaminess, while the protagonist is down to earth.

            The boy that comes to the shelter seems to be a genuinely caring person, but Lily repays his kindness with a vicious bite. I see several possible themes working independently in the story: the heartlessness of some people; the cruelty the cats inflict because they have been mistreated; and the inability to know who or what to trust, as we see the trusting boy attacked by the hostile cat. I’d like an ending that shows how these themes might work together and play out, and what the overarching message might be according to the author, whether there is a profound takeaway for us or whether she is just saying you can’t trust cats.

            I loved the descriptions of the cats, the shelter, the people. It was very sensual in its appeal to the visual, the olfactory, and the tactile (I could almost feel allergies coming on). I’d also like to know why the narrator is working at the shelter. Is she a volunteer? Is she doing this as some kind of punishment, or does she actually want to be there? It’s not clear enough from her character as he or she is portrayed in the story.