By: Judge and Alanna Rodriguez
Greetings one and all! I hope and pray that you had quite the restful and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday. For this month’s article, I figured I would continue the story of of Romeo and Juliet.
Juliet drops the dead mouse down in front of her litter. “Eat up little ones. You need to grow to be as strong as you father.”
Rome looks up at his mother. “Mama, where’s papa?”
Juliet licks the mouse’s blood from her lips. “He’s not here, my sweet son.”
“Can we go see him?” Rome’s voice is muffled as he tears into the carcass of the rodent.
“Maybe, sweetheart. Finish your meat and I will think about it.” She turns and walks out of the nested area of what the humans call a storeroom, the room where the humans keep things like their paw covers and muzzle covers.
As she makes her way down the hall on the second floor of the warehouse, she hears the heavy tread of boots on the metal floor of the offices. She dodges out of the way and hides as well as she can.
She hears the familiar voice of the human her mate called Nate say fondly, “Well! Hello there Juliet! I hope your babies are doing well.” He kneels down and begins stroking her back.
She unintentionally begins purring as she arches her back. Who would have thought that the simple act of feeling a human’s hand on her would be pleasant? She rubs the side of her face against his hand, marking him as part of her family. Of the humans, this one has shown himself to be bearable to live with.
She enjoys the attention for a few moments, before Nate stands with his knees making a sharp report on his age. “Sorry, love. Time to go back to work. I hope to see the little ones soon.”
Juliet rubs up against his leg for a moment, then turns to go in to the storeroom where the paper and office supplies are being kept.
As she gets back to her spot watching for mice, her mind goes back to when she was first introduced to Nate, all those weeks ago.
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Two days after they became mates, Romeo coaxed Juliet out of her tree, to bring her back to meet the humans that give him a place to live.
As they make their way into the corner of the building, an alluring smell catches Juliet’s attention. She can’t help salivating. She looks at her love. “What is that smell?”
Romeo smirks. “That’s Nate. He brings me some good food once every few days. He’s a good human.”
Juliet stops in her tracks. Her mother always told her that the humans are not to be trusted. They love on you as a kitten, then, when you grow up, they throw you out to fend for yourself.
Romeo stops and looks at her. “Trust me, my love. He won’t hurt either one of us. I want you to meet him, to know that you can trust him.” He slides along the length of her body. “I promise I will protect you if anything happens.” As he slides back up her, he stops and rubs his cheek against hers.
She drops her face. He knows her well enough to know how to push her buttons to get her to do what he wants. Now, he wants her to keep her fears about humans at bay and accept him at his word. She doesn’t know that she can, but at least she will have to try.
Knowing he’s won, he goes forward and looks back at her. “Coming along, dear?”
She takes a deep breath and follows along. As they make their way around the boxes of bits of metal, she sees a man. He has a long gray beard, a large belly and what seems to Juliet as kind eyes.
Oh, her fur just crawls being this close to one of the detestable creatures, but the look he gives her can only be described as kind.
His facial hair splits into a broad smile. “Well, Romeo, you old dog! It seems like you have brought a girl home, have you?”
He sets a bowl down and the smell wafts over to Juliet. As both cats begin eating the food hungrily, the man stands there, watching intently while stroking his facial hair. Finally, he stops and nods seemingly to himself. “Now, old man, what shall we call your female friend here, hm?”
Juliet keeps eating the wet food, all the while trying to understand what the man is saying.
“Ah! What is Romeo without his Juliet, eh? Well, Romeo, should she be called Juliet?” His smile widens. “Well, what am I asking you for? You haven’t spoken to me yet, my young friend. Why would you start now? Well, my young female friend, you will be known among us humans as Juliet. Eat up my friends.”
As the pair finish off the scrumptious food, Romeo steps up to the man and begins rubbing against him while purring.
Nate reaches down and begins stroking Romeo’s back with his rough hand. “Well, Romeo, now that you’ve decided to start a family, you need to remember your place here. We can’t have you neglecting the reason for you to be able to stay here. You are supposed to be here to fight off the vermin in the shape of rodents. Mephistopheles is here to fight off vermin in the shape of men.”
Romeo stops rubbing his back against the rough hand of the man and winks at Juliet. He knows the human and the human seems to be kind. Romeo moves his head and with his body language, tells Juliet to come over to receive much of the same attention from the human.
Juliet sighs as she fights off her nervousness and does as her mate asks.
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As Juliet patiently waits for the vermin to come back, she can’t help but mourn the loss of the love of her life. “Why?” she calls out silently. “Why did you have to leave me, Romeo?”
Judge Rodriguez and his wife Alanna are currently co-authoring the Legends of the Landrun Series available in e-book, paperback, and now in hardback format. They can be found here.
Hope, Hearts, & Heroes 