Once upon a time, a cat was stuck in a jail cell in the basement of a castle. He was angry and afraid and felt foolish for being caught. By chance, two boys walked by.
“Hey, hey!” called the cat. “Help! Please open the cell, the key is right there!”
The boys came to a stop, and gaped at the cat. He wasn’t your typical house cat. He was more of a “cat-like creature”. His head was rather round and large, and he stood on two feet.
“What the heck is that?!” exclaimed the blonde one. The dark haired one just shrugged. He seemed unbothered by the entire situation. It was clear from his behavior that he was the leader. He appeared collected and confident even though he was inside this dangerous world in someone’s mind.
“I think we should get going, man,” the blonde said to the leader. “They’re going to catch us if we don’t get out of here!”
The leader nodded, and they started to walk away. The cat began to panic. “W-Wait!” he shouted. He calmed himself, knowing that the only way to freedom was to trick the boys into letting him out. When he spoke again, his tone was smug. “You’re looking for the way out, right? I can show you if you let me out of here.”
The leader stopped, casually raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Yes!” the cat said eagerly. “I’d be happy to help you escape. I know my way all around this palace.”
“Hmm,” the leader said quietly. “How do we know you aren’t the enemy as well?”
“Of course I’m not! The enemy locked me up in this jail cell!”
“That’s true… although it’s also true that you’re locked up in a jail cell… “
“Huh?” asked the blonde. “Oh,
right, and it’s some cat monster, so who knows what it’ll do if we let it out. It might even try to eat us for dinner!”
The cat rolled it’s eyes. “Why on earth would I eat you for dinner? And I am
not a cat!”
The blonde began to walk away. “He totally looks like a cat, am I right? Come on man, let’s get out of here while we still can.”
“Wait! I can help. I promise you, I’m not a monster, and I’m
not going to eat you. Please, open the cell and I’ll show you the way out.”
“I’m.. not sure what I should do,” the leader admitted quietly to the blonde. “But I think setting it free is the best way to go.” The leader picked the key up and opened the lock. The door swung open, and the cat pranced out.
“Mrowhowhowhow!” said the cat. “All that’s left now is to decide how best to have you two for dinner!”
“Wait, what?!” the blonde said incredulously. “I thought it said it didn’t want to eat us? And seriously, don’t cats eat fish or something?”
“For the millionth time, I am not a cat!” said the cat.
The blonde replied loudly. “I told you it’s just some stupid cat! It can’t help us escape, and now it wants to eat us!”
“
What did you say, you stupid blonde monkey?!” the cat exclaimed angrily.
The leader stood back, quietly observing as the cat creature schooled the blonde. He seemed to have a desire to set the record straight, whether any of it made sense to the boys or not.
“I am no cat. I am a human! And I was going to help you escape, but because you’re such an
idiot, now I’m going to eat you!”
“Wait, run that by me again? You’re totally
not a human, you stupid monster cat,” said the blonde.
The cat took a deep breath, trying to calm itself before it spoke again. “I am not a cat. My name is Morgana. I am a human.”
“So wait, lemme get this straight,” the blonde said to the leader. “This cat came walking by, and you were in a cell, and..”
“No, you imbecile!” said the cat. “I am the cat!”
“Right, you’re a cat…”
“No, a human! I’m not a cat, I’m a human! And I was in the cell!”
“
Right, you were in the cell,” the blonde said, nodding his head.
“And I was put in this cell -”
“How did you get in the cell, anyway?” the blonde asked.
“What?” said the cat. “The same way anyone does.”
“Sorry, I still don’t get it, what’s the same way anyone gets in the cell?” the blonde asked innocently.
The cat walked into the cell. “Like this! I
walked in!
Now do you get it?!”
The blonde pushed the cell door shut, smiling in satisfaction as it locked. “Ohhhhh, I get it now. Well, it’s been fun, cat. Let’s go, man.” He high fived the leader who smirked as the two boys turned and walked away.
“That’ll teach that stupid cat to call me an idiot,” the blonde mumbled.
“True. We should probably go back for him, though. He did say he knew the way out,” said the leader.
“Eh, let’s let him sweat it out for awhile. I kind of wanted to check this place out a little more before we leave, anyway.”
Author’s Note:
This story is based on The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal. In the original story, a tiger is trapped in a cage, and persuades a Brahman who walks by into letting him out. The tiger promises not to eat him, and to be his servant. The Brahman asks for advice on how to handle the situation after letting the tiger out and finding out he does intend to eat the Brahman. The jackal says he can’t understand the situation, so he goes to see for himself and asks questions. The tiger becomes frustrated by the jackal’s stupidity, and demonstrates how he got in the cage by stepping into it. The jackal outsmarts the tiger by closing the cage, and no one gets eaten. The setting of my story takes place in the game Persona 5, where the main character and his brand new friend Ryuji meet the cat Morgana in a cognitive world. Morgana is trapped in a jail cell and promises to help them escape if they let him out of the cell. In the game, they let him out, and he helps as promised. Throughout the game, Morgana picks on Ryuji for his lack of intelligence, so I thought it would be fun to see Ryuji outsmart the cat for a change. Morgana often refers to Ryuji as a "stupid, blonde monkey" when he doesn't understand something. Also, Morgana prefers sushi and cat food, and would not have eaten the boys.
“The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal” from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten.
Web Source.
