Summary: Something strange has been happening to ten-year-old Clark, and he’s pretty sure his parents have been keeping a secret from too. He’s heard them. Clark isn’t quite sure how to cope with all of this...until he finds the purrfect helper. A response to 2023 Kerth Challenge #3 (
https://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthr...023-activity-kerth-challenges#Post295543).
Author’s Notes: Happy Ficlet Friday! Thank you to my daughter and KSaraSara for BR’ing this for me. And thank you to KSaraSara for help with the title and summary! Hope you guys like this little piece of fluff (okay, this bright orange ball of fluff!).
Practice Makes Purrfect
By Bek The orange cat yawned, stretched, and then curled up again on Clark’s chest. Clark ran a hand over the animal’s fur as he closed his eyes and breathed a deep sigh.
“It happened again today, Finn,” Clark said quietly, and although he didn’t open his eyes, he felt the cat’s rumbling purrs grow louder. “And this time, I couldn’t stop it. It was loud and…”
Clark shook his head. Here he was, talking to a cat about his problems. He should be talking to his parents. They should probably know. But they were…part of the problem, actually.
“They worry about me, you know,” Clark murmured, stroking the cat again as it purred. “I hear them talking sometimes. There’s…something they’re not telling me, and I think it’s related to…what’s happening.”
The cat lifted his head and seemed to regard Clark as though it understood him. Clark shifted his hand from the cat’s back to scratch under its chin, and Finn closed his eyes again and tilted his head back. Clark chuckled.
“Lucky you, not a care in the world, except when that little robin lands right on the window sill outside and you can’t quite get to it,” Clark said. He closed his eyes. “I should probably…practice it. Right, buddy?”
The cat didn’t respond, and Clark rolled his eyes at himself. What had he expected, really? But he was glad when the cat didn’t leave him, and he continued petting Finn as the animal’s purrs became louder again.
“Okay, yeah. Keep it nice and loud for me. Thanks.”
His words were only half-joking, because if he were honest, he knew he needed the purring. He needed that—both the sound and the feel—to help him focus. He took a deep breath and reached out to listen. The light rain outside, which should have been barely audible, almost immediately roared to life in a cacophony of staccato notes, surprising Clark more than it should have.
And as though the cat knew what had happened, Finn kneaded his paws into Clark’s chest, giving Clark something else to keep him grounded. For a moment, he focused on the rumbling of Finn’s purring, the sound amplified to his sensitive ears. Then, he carefully extended his hearing out again, to the raindrops hitting the roof of the house. He kept both hands on the feline on his chest, the gentle vibration of Finn’s purring still his anchor. And he let his hearing focus further.
A small smile grew on his face as he heard the sound of each individual raindrop hitting the roof. It was incredible, almost as though time had slowed down enough for him to distinguish one drop from the next, despite them falling in such quick succession.
“It’s amazing buddy. I wish you could hear it too,” he whispered, his eyes still closed, one hand still lazily stroking the cat.
“What’s amazing?”
His mother’s soft voice penetrated through his concentration, jarring him, and he sat up suddenly, the orange cat leaping off him with surprise as his hands flew up to cover his ears.
“Clark?” There was a note of alarm now, and he felt her move closer to him, even as he kept his eyes screwed shut. “Clark, dear, what is it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing, Mom. It’s…”
Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked up toward her. She’d moved into his room and stood just a few feet away, concern in her eyes.
Maybe…he really should tell them. Maybe now
was the right time.
But he hesitated, unsure, and for a moment, everything around him pulsed loudly again. Clark groaned and closed his eyes, surprised by the sudden onslaught of noises.
Immediately, Finn bounded back over to him, jumped up into his lap, and settled down again, as if to tell Clark that he was here to help. Clark’s hand automatically began to stroke the cat, and he was reminded of his trick. He stilled his hand on the cat’s back, feeling the animal’s purr, and then he focused on that one sound, letting it block out everything else around him.
“Clark?” His mom’s voice was a normal quiet again, but still filled with concern. She came over, sat next to him, and draped her arm lightly over his shoulders. “Whatever it is, sweetie, you can tell me.”
She was right. It was time.
Finn lifted his head, his deep purr rumbling loudly again, and he looked up at Clark with huge amber eyes, blinking slowly as though to agree. With a weak smile, Clark nodded to the cat, and then he sighed and leaned into his mother’s embrace.
“Um…I guess, um, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. And it’s kinda hard to explain…”
The End.
