Serena Salieri
Currently, I am an unpublished writer though, recently, one of my short stories was accepted for publication in the new magazine Demontia for its January 2001 issue. I grew up in Southern California and am currently living in BC Canada with my new husband, my son, a Shih-Tzu puppy and new kitten found abandonned in front of our house.
Oh, how I love the night. How I adore the warmth of silky darkness as I slip through the shadows, seeing what only I and others of my kind can see in their obscure depths. I slink, unseen and unheard on my velvet feet, seeking...something...
Ah yes, the prey. That’s what I seek. I relish the hunt, savor stalking those unwary creatures, smaller and less agile than I. That’s part of my game, the hunt. I toy with prey before it even knows I am there.
Prey isn’t aware of my presence until I am upon it. Silently, I pounce, claws ripping and tearing at warm and tender flesh, drawing precious blood. Oh, pleasure in hearing prey’s agonized squeals, revelling in the torment of a slow death. I play with prey as it wriggles beneath me, using all of its meager strength in a futile and frantic effort at escape. It is ecstasy to be a hunter and to have a toy in prey.
But as dawn draws near, prey grows boring. With one deft twist, I snap prey’s neck, leaving bloody impressions of sharp teeth as a warning to would be prey. Casually, I saunter off, licking my chops almost delicately, cleansing them of prey’s lifeblood. Prey has become cold carcass. I have no interest in carcass and leave it behind for the scavengers.
I return home as the sun rises and my family welcomes me with love and affection, unconcerned as to what my night’s activities might have been. They make much of me, my family does, and they serve me gourmet food on clean plates. When I’m sated on good food and kind touches, I nap. Already, I’m dreaming of what tonight might hold, of darkness, of the hunt, of tormenting prey and creating carcass.
Ah...It’s good to be a cat.
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