The black cat from Hades

George Lewis Avery

Way, far back in the Ol' Highnote woods at the end of a narrow dirt road, once stood a small cabin, where lived a man named Windell Poe. His cabin exists to this day, so folks say. Only, it stands without Mr. Poe. Where is Poe? Well, I dunno. He isn't there. At least he wasn't there the last I know. Something lives there, in that cabin in the wood. Late at night I have seen a light and shadows that dance on the sills. I have heard cries, and have seen sights with these eyes that would send you to bed with the chills. I cannot surmise what I have seen with these eyes. I have no idea what it is. But I do know in what shape and what form.
"MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

It's quite a scary sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs hold a light, and burn in the night
with a flame that will never expire
It is tall and lean, like nothing I've seen
it's ears are tattered and tore
It's coat is a'squirmin' with high-living vermin
and fleas live there by the score
It drools at the mouth, drips at the nose
and whistles in it's throat as it breathes
It has ringworm on it's tail, mange on it's knees
and claws that remain unsheathed
It truly is a fright, what resides there at night
I have seen it through a crack in the door
Arched like an egg, it extends a front leg
and plays with something on the floor

Mr. Poe was an irritable old gentleman who resided in his small cabin with a few modest possessions and his dog, Butch. He tended a small garden outside his ramshackle cabin, where he grew the bare necessities and eeked a meager living from the poor soil. Mr. Poe walked with a wooden peg, for he had lost his left leg at the knee. I do not believe the loss of his leg is what soured his personality so much as did the other malady. He had a gout in his toe. That would be the BIG TOE on his only foot. It was a painful gout that caused him much misery. He was forced to cut a hole in the end of his shoe to make room for that GREAT BIG, TENDER, HAIRY, and SWOLLEN, SORELY SORE TOE.

Poe's companion in that cabin in the wood considered himself to be the meanest and toughest dog in the range of his daily travels. Butch never once received a scrap of food from old Poe. He found it no hardship to fend for himself. You might even surmise that Old Poe and Butch didn't even like each other, they only tolerated one another.

It was routine, at the close of each day, for Ol' Poe to retire to his chair. He'd do nothing else, only stare into the embers of the fire and ponder the injustices of his misfortune. His one consolation was that things could never get worse than they already were. He seldom retired to his bed, but slept soundly in his chair while the spiders spun webs about his sleeping form. His wooden peg rested on the floor, while his right foot rested atop of a pickle keg. His GREAT BIG, TENDER, HAIRY, SWOLLEN TOE would protrude above the hole in the end of his shoe, staring back at him like a sleeping cyclops. Butch lay on a rug before the fireplace, with his head resting upon his paws. That was the way of things around the Ol' Poe cabin. Day in. Day out. Year by year.

Then, early on one chilly evening in the Autumn of the year, a visitor approached Poe's cabin door. A Hurricane was moving in from the Gulf, and the winds and rains were pounding outside the cabin. The skies rebounded with the sounds of ..... SNAP ...... CRACKLE ..... RIPPP ..... SIZZLE ....... RIPPPPP ....... STRETTTCH ....... RIPPPPP ........ KABOOM!!! ....... The trees were groaning beneath the weight of the winds, the soil looked like a swirling river of mud, and Butch lay asleep before the hearth. Moe was resting in his chair, a crisp fire crackled in the fireplace, and there came a knocking on the door .............. KNOCK .......KNOCK ......... KNOCK ...........

Moe looked at the clock. It showed 8:00 pm. It was early in the evening yet. "It's only a broken limb blown up against my door by the wind. It is only that which knocks at my door," mumbled Poe. "Nothing more." And yet the knocking resumed ...... KNOCK ....... KNOCK .......KNOCK ......... KNOCK .......

"Go away!" Shouted Poe. "I'm not letting you in." He scowled at his BIG SWOLLEN TOE. "No decent soul would be out and about on a night as nasty as this," grumbled Poe. "No good could ever come of my answering your knock. And besides, I cannot risk bruising my precious toe."

The rains pounded on the tin roof ..... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT...TAT ...... The skies resounded with ... SNAP ....... CRACKLE ......... RIPPP ............. SIZZLE ......... RIPPPPP .......... STRETTTCH ....... RIPPPPP .......... KABOOM!!! .......... The trees groaned, the winds moaned, and the knocking went on as before.....KNOCK .....KNOCK .....KNOCK .........KNOCK ........ "Blazes!" Shouted Poe. "Toe or no Toe, I'm going to WHALLOP you if you do not get away from my door. ........ KNOCK ...... KNOCK ...... KNOCK ...... resumed the intruder as before.

"AAARGH! and double AAARGH!" groaned Poe. Painfully slow, he got up to answer the door. Meanwhile Butch slept on with a snore, by the fire, on a blanket, on the floor. Moe lifted the latch. The wind opened the door...... WHOOOSH ...... WHAM!!! ...... and blowed cold rain all over the floor. Meanwhile Butch slept on with a snore, by the fire, on a blanket, on the floor. There on the door stoop, in the cold, wet, dark, blustery night stood a cat, or what looked like a cat. "MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

The cat was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire
It was tall and lean, like nothing Poe'd seen
it's ears were tattered and tore
It's coat was a'squirmin' with high-living vermin
and fleas live there by the score
It drooled at the mouth, dripped at the nose
and whistled in it's throat as it breathed
It had ringworm on it's tail, mange on it's knees
and claws that remained unsheathed
It truly was a fright, coming in from the night
pushing it's way past the door
It came straight to the peg, Poe used for a leg
and dropped a dead mouse on the floor

"Get Out!" Poe said with a shout. "No cat is allowed past my door." He leaned back on his peg, thrust forth his leg and, with his foot, kicked the cat out the door. Butch, with a snarl had sprang from his bed and now followed the cat out the door. ........GROWL ...... SCREEECH ....... MEEOW ....... BOW WOW ....... WOOF WOOF ....... ROWRRR ..... THUMP ..... RIP ..... TEAR ..... CRACKLE ..... MUNCH .... MUNCH ..... MUNCH ..... It might have delighted Poe to hear those two carry on so, had he not kicked the cat with his sorely sore toe. He was hopping around on his peg, while hugging his good leg and the tears streamed down from his eyes.

"You accursed cat. I hope Butch finishes you for that." said he, as he retired to his chair. The throbbing in his toe would not subside but he soon dozed anyhow. An hour passed, or so it seemed. The skies rumbled, the winds moaned, and the rain went ... RAT ... A ... TAT ... TAT. Poe slept.

There began a knocking at his door ... KNOCK ... KNOCK ... KNOCK ... Poe awakened. ...KNOCK ... KNOCK ... Poe looked at the clock ..... 9:00 pm. "Well. it's about time," grumbled he, while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I hope you've eaten that cat." He opened the door .......... WHOOSH ............ WHAM! ............. The rain blowed all over the floor. There was no Butch. Only the cat. "MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

The cat was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire
It was tall and lean, like nothing Poe'd seen
it's ears were tattered and tore
It's coat was a'squirmin' with high-living vermin
and fleas live there by the score
It drooled at the mouth, dripped at the nose
and whistled in it's throat as it breathed
It had ringworm on it's tail, mange on it's knees
and claws that remained unsheathed
It truly was a fright, coming in from the night
pushing it's way past the door
It came straight to the peg, Poe used for a leg
and dropped Butch's collar on the floor

"OH, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Cried Poe. He hobbled past the door. "BUTCH! ........ BUTCH! ..." He called. But no Butch came. He turned about and glared at the cat. "I will see you dead for this, you infernal beast," promised he. But the cat ignored him as it picked up it's dead mouse and retired to Butch's spot on the blanket, on the floor, by the fire. And that mouse was ripe. It must have died the week before. No matter, the cat crouched and played with his toy on the floor.

Poe retreated to his chair to think the matter over. Meanwhile the rain blowed in through the open door forming a puddle on the floor. "If I try to throw it out, it might turn me inside out," reasoned he. "If it whupped Ol' Butch ... then it can shorely whup me." Perhaps if I can wait it out, it will tire of it's sport and go out, and leave me to rebar the door." So Poe remained in his chair, with his peg on the floor, and his right foot at rest on the keg, and his throbbing toe alert in the air.

Soon, as Poe had surmised, the cat seemed to tire of it's play. "Perhaps, now it will go outside," said Poe. But no. The cat seemed enthralled by an item in the fire. To Poe's HORROR the cat, as quick as a wink, sprang from it's seat and straight into the middle of the fire. "Ahah!" Shouted Poe. "You have finished yourself." But no. The cat didn't smolder, nor cinder, nor burn. Instead it selected a live coal from the fire and returned with it to it's place as before. There on the rug, before the hearth, on the floor the cat played with it's smoldering toy.

"It is a Demon," reasoned Poe. "That is all it can be. I must destroy it before it destroys me."

Out past the open door and into the rain stumbled Poe. The rains pounded on the tin roof ..... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT...TAT ...... The skies resounded with ... SNAP ....... CRACKLE ......... RIPPP ............. SIZZLE ......... RIPPPPP .......... STRETTTCH ....... RIPPPPP .......... KABOOM!!! .......... The trees groaned, the winds moaned, and Poe returned carrying a burlap sack. Quick as a wink, perhaps slightly slower on account of his sorely sore TOE, Poe scooped the cat up into the sack. "MEEOW! ....... ROWRRR! ...... HACK!! .. COUGH! .. SNORT! ..ROWRRR ... MEEOW!"

He securely fastened the bag and carried it outside into the heavy rain. "You survived the flames from my fireplace," muttered Poe, "but Demon or no, let's see how you fare down in my well." He fastened a heavy brick to the burlap sack to ensure it would sink and ............ SPLASH! ............. dropped the cat down the well. "I am finished with you now," said Poe. "It was a sorry chore but it had to be done." He hobbled back inside, barred the door, hung his slicker to drip dry, and retired to his chair to rest. Soon he slept. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Poe awakened. The clock on the wall showed 10:00 pm. Something or someone was knocking on the cabin door......... KNOCK ... KNOCK ... KNOCK ... KNOCK ... Moe leapt to his foot, or rather his peg. His voice was shaky as he exclaimed aloud .... "I do not know who it is, but I do know who it isn't. For I have drowned that infernal cat. There is only one whom it can be .... but could it be ........." asked he. "I daren't to ask, but I must go and see." He opened the door. The rain did as before. "BUTCH! ... IS IT YOU?" asked he. But no. It was the cat. "MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

The cat was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire .....

..... It truly was a fright, coming in from the night
pushing it's way past the door
It ambled past the peg, Poe used for a leg
and returned to it's play as before

Poe stumbled backwards, tripping over the keg. But the cat paid him no mind, only interested in it's play as before. So Poe retired to his chair to consider his options some more. He touched the floor with his peg, while he rested his right leg on the pickle keg, with his throbbing toe exposed to the air. "IT IS SURELY A DEMON," thought he. "THAT IS ALL IT CAN BE. I MUST DESTROY IT BEFORE IT DESTROYS ME."

So Poe sat in his chair and he fixed the cat with a most hateful stare. The cat did not care. It resumed it's play as before. Batting and gnawing the simmering coal as it burned a hole in the rug, on the floor.

The cat had tired of the mouse. It soon tired of the coal. It was in need of a more interesting toy. It searched the room with it's unearthly eyes, until it met the gaze of Poe's pensive stare. There was a tension in the air. "DEMON!" shouted Poe. "THAT IS WHAT YOU BE." The eyes of the cat were a pale, pale yellow. "DO YOU WISH ME FOR A TOY?" asked Poe, with a cackling laugh. "I WILL NOT PLAY DEAD LIKE THE MOUSE." The eyes of the cat changed to a much brighter yellow and still Poe refused to break the stare. He returned the cat's look with his most distasteful glare. "LEAVE MY HOUSE," demanded he. "I WISH NO TROUBLE FROM THEE."

The eyes of the cat were now a pale, pale orange. "DEMON!" Shouted he. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?" "The cat's eyes were now red and flames flickered from their depths. "NO!" Stammered Poe. "I WILL NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO BE DESTROYED BY YOU," The cat was crouched, as if to spring. Flames of orange and red leapt from it's eyes and licked at the air, breaching the distance between the two. "GO AWAY! DEMON!" demanded Poe. "I'LL NOT BE A PART OF YOUR GAMES."

.......... and the cat broke the trance. Poe was stunned. He could not have looked away had he tried. The cat's eyes had had him mesmerized, but something had taken the cat's attention away from Poe. Or had it. The cat was now looking ........

.............. Oh jeepers! ............it was looking ...................

..... directly at Poe's throbbing sorely sore TOE, propped atop of the pickle keg. The clock on the wall went ....... TICK ... TOCK ...... TICK ... TOCK ........ and the minutes passed slowly by. The cat watched the TOE ........... Poe watched the cat .............. "NO! NO! YOU ACCURSED DEMON. YOU"LL NOT GET MY TOE."

The rains pounded on the tin roof ..... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT...TAT ...... The skies resounded with ... SNAP ....... CRACKLE ......... RIPPP ............. SIZZLE ......... RIPPPPP .......... STRETTTCH ....... RIPPPPP .......... KABOOM!!! .......... and the black cat sprang upon the pickle keg and made a swipe at the TOE. As quick as it was, Poe was much faster. For nobody, big or small, was allowed to touch his sorely sore toe. ................. GROWL ...... MEEOW ......... PUNCH ....... SCRATCH ............ YEEOW ............ KICK ........... PUNCH ........... JAB ....... RIPPP .......... TEAR ....... MEEOWWWWRRR .........

.... and Poe had the cat by the scruff of it's neck. "You will not burn." Said Poe. "You will not drown. You will not go. But you will, I assure you, sleep in the rain." He promptly tossed the kitty out into the storm and barred the door. "KNOCK all you wish. KNOCK all you desire. I'll not let you in. HA! HA!"

Poe smiled. Even though his toe ached miserably so. He turned about ........... ... and what did he see ...................... sitting atop of the Ol' pickle keg ..... ............. with it's eyes afire ............. with an intense desire ................ for the taste of a TOE? The clock on the wall struck at 11:00 pm ...................

"MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

It was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire .......

...... It was a fright, sitting there in the night
with the bolt latched firmly in the door
It sprang past the peg, Poe used for a leg
and went after the TOE on the floor

Fast as it was, Poe was much faster. It chased him six times around the floor. They broke all the furniture. They scattered the coals from the fire. But nobody, big or tall, was allowed to touch Poe's sorely sore TOE. But OH how that cat loved it's new game. They dodged. They ducked. They scampered too and fro. All the while the cat's eyes were aglow. "YOU DEVIL, CAT." Shouted Poe. "YOU'LL NOT GET MY TOE. IT"S MINE AND I INTEND TO KEEP IT SO." He sprang to the door. He lifted the latch. He sprang out into the storm, pulling the door closed behind him. "I WILL BEAT YOU YET, YOU DEVIL CAT" Boasted he. "YOU CAN KEEP MY CABIN. BUT YOU CANNOT HAVE ME. I WILL LEAVE, FOR I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE."

The skies rumbled, the winds moaned, the rains fell, and the windshield wipers on Ol' Poe's pickup truck were singing ...... TICKETY ... TOCK ... TICKETY ... TOCK ...
Poe was fifty miles down the road and the old truck was bouncing and speeding along a rainslick dirt road. "I RECKON I GOT AWAY FROM THAT HELLBOUND CAT," said he. "THAT WAS THE LAST IT'LL EVER SEE OF ME. I'LL NOT GO BACK."

Meanwhile, back in Poe's cabin, in the storm, in the wood, the door remained closed, the windows were shut, the fire continued to burn, the winds howled, and the rains pounded on the tin roof above ..... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A...TAT ......... RAT...A... TAT...TAT ...... but the cat was nowhere to be seen. The clock on the wall showed 12 Midnight .............

Poe was fifty-one miles down the road. The windshield wipers on his old pickup truck were singing ...... TICKETY ... TOCK ... TICKETY ... TOCK ... His sorely sore TOE was throbbing, but a smile played on the lips of Ol' Poe. When of a sudden what do you reckon he saw ..... and right there in the cab ..... in the seat of his truck ...... with the selfsame intent as before ...........?
"MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

It was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire .......

...... It was a fright, sitting there in the night
with it's eyes transfixed on the floor
It leapt past the peg, Poe used for a leg
and sprang at the TOE as before

The skies rumbled, the rains fell, the winds moaned, the truck sped at breakneck speed .................. and Poe SCREEEEEEEEEAMED!!! .................... Skid marks later revealed where the truck left the road .......... but no trace of it has ever been found.

************************************

"WINDELL POE?" Spoke the Devil. "I SEE YOU HAVE ARRIVED ON TIME. WE HAVE YOUR DOG CHAINED OUTSIDE OF THE GATE AND A FINE WATCHDOG HE BE."

"IS IT HELL THEN, WHERE I BE," asked Poe. And he smiled. Honest! Poe smiled. Because he knew, as bad as it had ever been, as bad as it was then, as bad as it could ever get .......... it could never get any worse for he. He looked down ........ and there on the end of his foot ......... was his great big, hairy, and swollen, sorely sore TOE.

"I AM IN GOOD SPIRITS TONIGHT," added the Devil. "DON'T YOU SEE! .......... TONIGHT ............ WHY, THIS VERY NIGHT ......................... MY CAT CAME BACK! ...................

I now quote Poe: "SAY WHAT?" exclaimed he.

"I SAID MY CAT CAME BACK."

"MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

It was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned quite bright
with a flame that would never expire .......

...... It was a fright, there in Hell's light
with the selfsame design as before
It sprang past the peg, Poe used for a leg
and went after the TOE once more

Windell Poe grabbed the Devil in his two big hands and he thrashed him, and soundly so. A legion of Demons attempted to aid their master, but Poe fought them off with his peg. "IF YOU OWN THAT CAT," he proclaimed. "THEN I HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED MY SHARE OF HELL. I AM NOW LEAVING." .............and he stormed past the gates of purgatory ............... only to turn once more and yell ............. "OH YEA, I AM TAKING MY DOG AS WELL."

To this day .... neither Butch nor Poe has been seen on Earth nor in Hell.

What became of Windell Poe? Well I dont know. He never returned to his cabin. But I was there when the cat came back ............... "MEEOW! ... HACK!! ... COUGH! ... SNORT! ... MEEOW!"

The cat was a sight, black like the night
with eyes consumed by a fire
It's orbs held a light, and burned in the night
with a flame that would never expire
It was tall and lean, like nothing I'd seen
it's ears were tattered and tore
It's coat was a'squirmin' with high-living vermin
and fleas live there by the score
It drooled at the mouth, dripped at the nose
and whistled in it's throat as it breathed
It had ringworm on it's tail, mange on it's knees
and it's claws were kept unsheathed
It truly was a fright, coming in from the night
pushing it's way past the door
It came, arched like an egg, to purr 'gainst my leg
and dropped a great big hairy TOE on the floor

................... AND I HAVEN'T BEEN BACK.

.Oegyreva
02/06/96

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