Forever Night

Ashley. The cat was sitting in front of my apartment’s door, staring at me like she was staring into my soul. Her big yellow eyes traced my movement as I made my way toward the postage box to pull out a stack of letters. My shoulders slumped and I muttered a curse. “Great. More bills.” I flipped through them, hoping I’d see one from my sister, but that letter she claimed she sent has yet to arrive. Since I had made that mother of a loan to pay off the damage caused to the pharmacy, the number of mail I received had grown massively. Most of them were reminders of the down payments I had to make, which I was slipping behind with fast. When I turned, the cat was by my feet, rubbing her frail body against my legs with a purpose. She’d been camping near my door since a week ago, when I decided I didn’t have an appetite and fed her my leftover chicken. I knew she lived on the street, and it was clear she was starving. The poor thing was skin and bone. It didn’t do her any favors being as bla