CatsCast

Author: Y.M. Resnik Narrator: Tatiana Grey Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison
This story is a CatsCast Original
Lost in Translation
by Y.M. Resnik
            The first sign of trouble came from the panda enclosure. Speak Now Zoo's headliner attraction spent most of her time munching bamboo and sleeping. Occasionally, she'd climb a tree. Never in Laura's ten-year tenure as proprietress had Mindy, the Giant Panda, actually acknowledged the onlookers who paid to speak to her through the universal translation app.
            So why was she now uttering string after string of gibberish? 
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Author: Jenny Hart Narrator: Katherine Inskip Hosts: Laura Pearlman and Katherine Inskip Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie
This story is a Cast of Wonders and CatsCast original.
The Gingerbread House
by Jenny Hart
The air has only just begun to smell of autumn as I head for Gingerbread Cottage, where I am to house sit two cats for the winter. I have packed warm clothes and antihistamines, and the emailed instructions are both simple and strange. Feed the cats and clean up after them and yourself. But don't let them out, no matter how much they ask.
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

August, 2024 Author: Carolina Valentine Narrator: Laura Pearlman Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison
This story is a CatsCast original.
The Invention of a Cat
by Carolina Valentine 
The haunting had started at 2 a.m., and my local Joann didn't open until nine. I was in the parking lot at 8:30, and while several Joann employees passed by my car on the way to the doors, I kept scrolling on my phone, feigning disinterest, instead of begging to be let in early. Even after the night I'd had, I wasn't going to be That Customer. 
            I focused my bloodshot eyes on the featured article in the Journal of Theoretical Witchcraft—something about the potency of blood moon spells—and checked once or twice on the spectral wound I'd slathered in dubious Taint-Be-Gone and expired Neosporin. Despite the mustiness of the gauze wrapping I'd found for it, the four claw-like marks probably wouldn't fester.
            In theory. Which is what I did. Theory.
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

Author: Annie Reed Narrator: Summer Brooks Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie
This story originally appeared in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine.
Queen of the Mouse Riders
 by Annie Reed
Gurgling yowls echoed off the tiled floor in Sarah's bathroom. Bounced off the ceiling, gaining strength, and intruded on what was turning out to be a very, very nice dream featuring the star of a movie she'd watched just before bed.
In the dream, the star turned his incredibly expressive eyes in Sarah's direction, smiled his best enigmatic smile, and said, "Pardon me, darling, but is that your cat?"
(In the dream he'd turned British. She happened to know he'd been born and raised in the Bronx. Dreams were just plain weird sometimes.)
"Yes," she said. "She's apparently caught a mouse."
Starlight the Cat had a battle cry like a two-note yodeler gargling mouthwash. She reserved that particular cry for whenever she caught a mouse. Or something that looked like a mouse. Or a mouse-shaped stuffed toy.
Most of the time she'd only caught one of her toys. Thank goodness. But on at least on memorable occasion she'd interrupted a visit from Sarah's mother by presenting a live mouse as the third course for their lunch date.
Sarah's mother was deathly afraid of mice.
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

February, 2024. Author: Dana Vickerson Narrator: Peter Adrian Behravesh Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison
This story [originally appeared in Zooscape.
A content note: this story deals with themes of grief and loss.
The Best Way to Procure Breakfast 
by Dana Vickerson.
If Mama doesn't get up soon, we're going to miss our chance to get off Mars.
Mama is a human, but I call her "Mama" because she says I am her baby kitty and her special boy. She is sleeping, but I am hungry.
It's a delicate art, waking up your human. If you're too eager, they'll likely get cross with you, and while Mama is a sweet and kind soul, I do not like to see her cross. If you are too gentle, though, your human is likely to continue their blissful sleep while you sit on the floor with a rumble in your belly.
So, like most mornings, I start today by walking back and forth across my human's pillow. This is less startling than just going right for patting her face. The soft rhythm of my paws around her head signals to Mama that it's time to start the process of bringing her consciousness to the here and now, where my kibble lives.
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.