Willy's Wild Atlantic Adventure

I never would have gone if it wasn’t for the cat.

Me and Charlie, we weren’t even that close. But I had this job down at the cannery. Had to work the night shift so I couldn’t keep my own pet ‘cause I just couldn’t afford to pay for a dog or a cat or whatever even if I had the time to take care of it. And then one day this guy comes in with a cage full of cats, all emaciated and half-dead looking. He says he has too many cats, needs to get rid of them quick before they kill him in his sleep or his wife divorces him or whatever. So he starts selling them off for two dollars each, which is as good as it is gonna get around here when you got a bunch of starving stray cats on your lawn searching for food you don’t want to give ‘em. So I bought one, took it home that night and started feeding it, and looking after it like you do when you have a pet after all those years of not having one.

Now Charlie, she was alright. She was a sweet cat once you got to know her. She didn’t mind a little nibble on her ear every now and again, but she wasn’t much into being around people unless they were holding her food bowl up high. We got along just fine once we got used to each other. But lately she just seemed kinda... off. You know? Like she didn’t wanna play or eat her food or anything like that. She just stared out the window a lot, pacing back and forth across the sill like she was waiting for something to happen or something. I thought maybe it was because she was about due for another litter of kittens so I decided to bring her over to my friend Tina's place where she worked at the animal shelter so she could have them there where there'd be plenty of space for them all and stuff like that.

Her name was Tina and she owned that old house just down the street from me on the corner. She'd been retired from teaching for decades now, but kept herself busy with that shelter business and with helping out at church every Sunday morning since her husband passed away a few years ago when their youngest daughter went off to college in Virginia and never came back home (I think). She had one room in the house set up as an office where she spent most afternoons writing letters to the editor complaining about how bad things were getting around here these days ever since Trump got elected president and everyone turned against each other after Hillary won instead (which wasn't totally wrong, but who's gonna listen to some old lady?) The rest of the house was packed full with cages full of animals - all sorts of dogs and cats mostly but sometimes rabbits or hamsters too - waiting for someone in town to adopt 'em so they could go live with a family who wanted pets instead of eating scraps left behind by fishermen's traps at sea (which is what most animals around here did 'cause nobody else could afford to feed 'em).

So I put Charlie down on the floor amongst all those cages and walked away, hoping Tina wouldn't notice me before anything happened back there 'cause I really hated killing kittens (and believe me, there'll be plenty being born over the next few weeks). But when I turned around again after taking one step towards the door, there she was standing right beside me with her hand on my shoulder, saying "You know Willy... sometimes things are beyond our control," while staring into my eyes real deep like she'd seen straight through my soul like some kind of fortune teller or something. That's why I knew right then and there that Charlie was gonna die no matter what I did: That woman would see it before it happened somehow no matter what happened in town afterwards. And sure enough...

I started going out fishing again a week later almost as soon as Charlie gave birth to her kittens (four little balls of fluff all mewling loudly at once). The thing is I couldn't stand being cooped up in that house any longer knowing what awaited Charlie back home (and if Tina hadn't told me she knew what fate lay ahead for Charlie then I might've been better off running away from town anyway). So instead I just took my boat down to the docks early one morning before anyone else woke up and made my way out towards open water as fast as this old boat could manage without sinking straight down into the depths below with me along with her inside 'fore we got out far enough from land that nobody would hear us screaming anymore 'fore we died together like we were meant to be doing in life anyway*

[NOTE: *This seems contradictory considering Willy's state of mind at this point is something near indifference towards death rather than eagerness.]

[NOTE: It appears Willy has begun speaking more idiomatically than normal.]

[NOTE: This comment adds further evidence towards Willy's state of mind pre-fate change.]

[NOTE: It appears Willy has begun speaking more idiomatically than normal.]

[NOTE: This comment adds further evidence towards Willy's state of mind pre-fate change.]

[NOTE: It appears Willy has begun speaking more idiomatically than normal.]

[NOTE: This comment adds further evidence towards Willy's state of mind pre-fate change.]

[NOTE: It appears Willy has begun speaking more idiomatically than normal.]

So yeah... That's when everything changed forever so let me tell you what happened next before you ask what changed exactly because honestly it was hard enough trying not to break down bawling every time Charlie looked at me like that while still trying not to feel guilty about not wanting her around anymore after all those times she wouldn't stop staring at me whenever I walked into a room so look out cause here we go!

[NOTE: Due entirely to author exhaustion.]

[NOTE: Author apologizes profusely for brevity.]