CATS (not the musical)

NOTE: CATS (not the musical), the short story which was a Finalist in the Writer's Digest 79th Annual Writing Competition, has since been expanded to a short novel entitled CATS: the number of the beast, which is also included in its entirety in the collection Rolling The Bones: 12 Tales of Life, Death, Loss, & Redemption. The original CATS (not the musical) is no longer available for purchase.
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Sixteen cats this morning.
He counted them; sixteen for sure.
The old man sat on the side of his bed, shaking his head in amazement as the cats lounged all around his bedroom, looking at him. Their tails silently flicked the air, as if orchestrating the morning birdsong that drifted in from the woods outside.
It was early spring, and this week was warmer than usual, so last night he'd slept with the window open. Looking up at it now, he saw the bent, rusty screen was still in place, wedged crooked in the paint-flaked window frame.
He wondered how the hell they kept getting in at night...
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Thus begins Eastwood's fun and creepy story CATS (not the musical)…love 'em or hate 'em, you'll never look at cats the same way again--especially when they are quietly looking back at you...