CatsCast 24: Queen of the Mouse Riders
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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About the Author
Annie Reed
A prolific, versatile, and award-winning writer, Annie Reed has been called a master short story writer. She’s a multiple Derringer Award nominee and has appeared in back-to-back issues of the Year’s Best Mystery volumes. She’s a frequent contributor to Pulphouse Fiction Magazine and Mystery, Crime and Mayhem and is a founding member of the Uncollected Anthology. She’s even had a story selected for inclusion in study materials for Japanese college entrance exams. Annie can be found on the web at anniereed.wordpress.com and on Facebook as annie.reed.142.
About the Narrator
Summer Brooks
Summer has been a podcaster for nearly 20 years, and a narrator for about 15 years. She’s narrated stories for Tales to Terrify, StarShipSofa, Escape Pod, and others, in addition to hosting the podcasts Slice of SciFi, The Babylon Podcast, and Writers, After Dark. She also watches way to much television.
