• When he looked at me, I knew it immediately. His all-knowing eyes gazed softly into my face, relaxed and confident. The rest of his body sat on the corral fence, poised delicately and taking up the least amount of space that it possibly could. His paws close together, his tail curled onto one side of his body. The golden fur fluffed up wildly when the wind blew, sunlight daring only to touch the immortal being for fear of making him uncomfortable. His ears stood pointed slightly away from each other. A slight smile, a content one, hid the porcelain fangs beyond and gave his face an innocent, dangerous, experienced look. The acute whiskers, the barely-moving, pink nose, the gentle green eyes. This cat was beautiful and he knew it. But he wasn't full of himself. he acknowledged my curiosity and seemed to widen his smile. I could only stare in awe. Several minutes went by. The sky let loose a clap of thunder. The cat, as if he approved of me, lept off the fence and prowled into the woods. I never saw it again, but I know that I was meant to have met it, meant to know of his existence. This cat was a messenger, and, whatever his message was, he had delivered it successfully on the day that I stumbled upon him.

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