Sticky’s Sanctuary
Sticky was squatting over his freshest corpse down on the tide flats, brooding for the lack of respect. The reek of engine oil on the gravel lot lined his sinuses more than the fresh blood lingering on his tongue. He had no company to congratulate him except blackberry bushes and rusting cyclone fence surrounding him on three sides.
He was gaunt despite his success of hunting down the cleverest of mice. Maybe it was because they gave him lots of good running, even though in the end they couldn’t shake him. After all, that’s why they called him “Sticky”.
3 rats, 11 birds, and damn quick mouse this month alone. And what did he have to show for it? He was still just a bum skinny cat stuck in the tide flats on clammy November night, while the rest of Tacoma was lighting it up for the Thanksgiving weekend. Sticky figured he had to be missing something that would give him a leg up in this business and start enjoying the life of the fat cats.
The gravel lot opened to Milwaukee Avenue, out to which he dragged the mouse and dropped it into one the thousands of potholes filled with muddy water, where no one would ever find it. He looked up to the elegant flickering lights on distant Pacific Avenue, where wining and dining and warmth filled the air. He nodded to himself that it was time for a change.
Get the full story of Sticky’s Sanctuary, complete with illustrations, on our Amazon store!
Copyright 2010 by Kalina Kucera. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Kali Kucera
Kali has been creating stories, plays, operas, and other imaginative experiences for over 40 years. After serving as a performer, educator, publisher, activist, and mobilizer, including founding the Tacoma Poet Laureate program, Kali emigrated to Ecuador to open a new frontier of his creative life, where he continues to write stories today. For more information, see https://papakali.com/about-papakali-2/.