The Hemingway Kittens and Other Feline Fancies and Fantasies. A. R. Morlan

broken heart. Scooter and Mittens actually were littermates; they died in 1998, when I had an outbreak of Feline Infectious Peritonitis in my household of cat-children, and fourteen of them died. I was beyond heartbroken, and cannot think of that time without crying, so…I’m forced not to think too often of those beautiful babies I lost. Which robs me of their presence in my mind’s eye, which is a double loss.

      But Scooter was beyond special, even though he only lived for about nine months—he was as I described him, super smart, beautiful, with many little toes on his furry paws. A part of me died when he did. I have had other cats after him, some as smart, others as beautiful, but he was unique, irreplaceable, and yet, what he gave to me while he was with me will never leave me; he was something more than a cat, something beyond words which exists only in the realm of pure feeling. His sister was sweet, timid, and also died too soon. Their loss is permanent for me.

      On another note, this story was something of a lifesaver for me; I found out about it from Nancy Springer, whom I’d sold the story “That Dress!” to in 1997—she sent me a note about an anthology concerning books and bookstores in 2002, which was based in nearby Minnesota, and as luck would have it, I wrote this story, had it accepted, and received the payment (which was rather large, even for a hard-cover antho) just in time to use it to pay for repairs to my boiler. The amount virtually covered the part replacement fee plus labor. So…thanks for thinking of me, Nancy!!