Wednesday Briefs - Trouble Comes in Threes #1.3

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Welcome to the Wednesday Briefers flash group. The short stories have a maximum of a 1000 word count plus links at the bottom to the other flashers. The prompts for this week are:"Swear on our friendship." or "My mama always said some things are better left unsaid." or "Stop beating around the bush." or "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." or "The nice thing about standards is, there are so many to choose from." or use: pillow, wood, dishclothor feature a tornado in your storyor use: straw, knife, candle or have a character sneeze repeatedly.or "How do you mend a broken heart" or "Can things get any worse?"
Trouble Comes in Threes 1.3I ate at the kitchen table, my uninvited houseguest not far from me. Our meal passed quickly and silently. Guess he wasn’t the only one hungry. While I cleaned up, he prowled the kitchen, sniffing every corner. I smirked at the occasional sneeze. I wasn’t what anyone would call a great housekeeper. He followed me back to the living area and made himself right at home. I sat on the hearth, stoking the fire. I didn’t know much about cats, but he was a pretty kitty. I’d never seen eyes quite that color, much less seen one as big as him. He reminded me of those hybrids that were crossed with big cats… like a Savannah. But minus the spots. “So…”He lifted his head and stared at me.“I guess if you’re going to stay here, we need to do something about the bathroom situation. I don’t suppose you happen to know how to use the commode?”I got a lazy flip of his tail as an answer. And damn, did he have a long tail.“I guess not. I suppose that was too much to hope for. But we have to do something about a litter box for the night. Any suggestion, Tiger?”I received a yawn in reply. Good Lord, those were some extremely pointed teeth he had. Suddenly I was having childhood flashbacks to Little Red Riding Hood. Stupid, damn story had given me nightmares the first time Mom read it to me. “Meerow,” Tiger answered.Why in God’s name I’d taken to calling him Tiger I couldn’t say. He certainly didn’t have the coloration of a tiger. In fact, he was black as night. And I wasn’t keeping him. No way. I’d put him up for a few nights, and then he had to go. Which brought me back to the litter box situation. I didn’t have the money to waste on a box and a bag of litter, so it was time to get creative. “Okay, I think I have a large box around here, somewhere. I can use that.” I stood. I was pretty sure the box was in the shed. Out back. In the snow. In the cold. Damn. “Guess I can shred some newspaper and put that in the box. Kind of like potty training a puppy, right?” I was actually impressed with my idea. “Me-wow.” Seems like I was the only one. That sounded like derision, plain and simple. “Hey now, the alternative is me introducing you to the commode. There’s water in that, you know. And I’m not the most graceful thing around. Want to give that a whirl, buddy?” The cat rose—an elegant move of power and strength… and I took a step back before I caught myself. Flustered, I stomped to the door, grabbing my coat before bracing for the great outdoors. The damn thing eyed me as if I was fresh meat and he hadn’t eaten in a month of Sundays. I actually took a step back. What the fuck was that about? I was like a hundred times bigger than him. But, for just a second, there had been a prick of something at the base of my neck. Was I scared of a cat? Intimidated? Jesus, wouldn’t that would get my man card revoked in a hurry. Me, scared of a damn cat.So what if the thing looked like it could jump over my head, and had really pointy teeth.I threw open the door. Shit on a stick, had it gotten colder out here? And here my dumb ass was out in it. I hurried to the shed and found the box. It should work for the short time the cat would need it. I doubled-timed it back to the house, box clutched in my frozen hands. Fuck, buying gloves just moved to the top of the list of things to get from the store. [image error] I paused on the landing to stomp the snow off my shoes and yanked open the door. The sooner I got my ass back where the heat was, the better. I was in such a rush I nearly tripped over the white streak that flew pass me.“What the...?”There, next to the black cat, sat a completely white one. The color was probably why I didn’t see it in the first place. “Mrrrw!”I threw the box on the table. “I’m shutting the damn door already, just give me a—” Holy fuck, whatwas I doing? “Oh no. No, no, no. No way! I’m not putting up two of you. Just no! One was bad enough, but two?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “No.”Snow drifted in from the open door as the stare-off continued.  The newcomer was slightly smaller than the black cat. They sat there, side by side. The black one stared at me like I was nuts for standing there with the damn door wide open. Then the white cat turned sad eyes—damn, it had the same weird blue eyes—up at me and made the most pitiful, heartbreaking meow I’ve ever heard from any creature. “Shit.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Scrubbed my hands over my face. Huffed out a breath. Leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. Counted to twenty… None of it helped. That piteous sound had ripped me in two. I looked back at the two cats sitting there. It was awfully cold outside. “Jesus, I’m the biggest wuss walking. Fine! You can stay too. God.” I stopped beating around the bush and shut the door.The black cat strolled over to my pantry and jumped to the middle shelf. Moments later, a can of tuna fell on the floor. The black cat jumped down, looked at the white cat, then nosed the food toward me.“Seriously?” I shook my head. Well hell, it appeared the white cat was hungry. And I had two cats now. (I added the pic's again.) TBC.

 Nephylim  Jon KeysJC WallaceChris T. KatLily Sawyer LM BrownRaine O’TierneyRob ColtonCia NordwellVictoria AdamsMichael MandrakeAndrew Q. GordonLily VeldenRenee StevensElyzabeth VaLey Tali SpencerJulie Lynn Hayes