It was a dark and semi-windy night, perfect for a nice leisurely stroll through the empty burbscape. Those who had been out on the town had already turned in, but it was too early yet for the secret traffic of early morn to have emerged. Thus, she was the only one out and about at this temperate hour

Except

There was another presence

Unhurriedly, she crouched and reached out her hand, waiting for the cat to approach. It did, slowly, tentatively, then meowed and headbuffed her leg. A few short moments of scratching later, it meowed again and meandered off into the night

“Okay. We can sort this out. Blink once if it’s cat-related”

blink

“Blink twice if it’s cats, plural”

blink blink

“Blink thrice if it’s more than five cats”

blink blink blink

“Ye gods. So many cats!”

“What shall we do with all of them?”

“Well, you know…”

“Yes?”

“We could embrace the situation and keep them. All of them. Have all the cats”

“So many kittens”

“Yes”

“I like this plan”

“So many kittens”

“We’re gonna need a bigger bowl”

She liked fan fiction, but never had time to read any. Life insisted on other things. Not having time to read was no reason not to enjoy it, and thus, she rebelled.

The rebellion consisted of speedreading. Or, rather, reading the tags and imagining what manner of stories might emerge from them. A good set of tags could keep her imagination going for hours, even as life demanded she be somewhere else, not reading. A good set of tags are worth more than a thousand words, she’d often say.

To be sure, of all of us, she is the one who has read the most stories.