‘Emily giggles and my heart clenches. I watch her watching the undergrowth. The birds squawk and flutter in the fig trees. She tries to make a cat sound but it comes out wrong, sort of a muw muw. She’s never really heard the proper sound before, never felt the vibration of a purr travelling up her arm, never seen eyes flashing in the darkness.‘

Read A World Without Cats on Ghost Parachute, published 19 October 2019.

Artwork by Brett J Barr.