The Great Mysteries

In Emperor Julius’ last post, he spoke of his observations of the world beyond, as well as his contentedness in remaining a strictly indoor emperor even in the face of garrulous goings-on outside of his empire’s borders. While it’s true that the realm beyond has not held much sway over his Royal Highness, there are other areas that do tempt and summon him with their intense mystery, namely the places within his own imperial borders that he has not yet been privy to exploring: the strange, shadow-shrouded, cut-off realms known to him only as the Great Mysteries.

As you readers might already know, especially if you are familiar with cats, mysteries are not things they find acceptable–at least if the mysteries are kept from them. Cats are very fond of having their own mysteries, such as secret hiding places where hair ties and Q-tips can be squirreled away for later, but it is very much a faux pas if the humans keep mysteries from them. Cats are, after all, the rulers of the house, and it is simply not fitting to keep things from your felines. But evidently Julius’ humans are still being schooled in the ways of the world, and as such, it is left up to Emperor Julius to figure out the true nature of these Great Mysteries.

There are three Great Mysteries in his house, but out of all of these, one concerns Julius more than the rest. The other two are more minor Mysteries, ones that he can probably save for a rainy day. (He believes the humans have dubbed them “closets”.) These can wait, for the third Great Mystery is far greater than any of these. At the edge of one of his borders lies a door that he is not supposed to go through, and beyond that door lies dark, cacophonous realm of hidden activity, a place with a portal of some sort through which things like groceries come in and trash bags leave. The humans tramp in and out of it each day, bringing with them foreign smells of unknown and faraway places.

On a few rare occasions, Julius managed to make quick missions into this place, running like a furtive spy, and he found it cavernous and cold and dark, full of smells unlike anything he had ever found before. While exploring there, he also discovered a strange animal that lives alone in the dark, something completely unlike a cat or a dog or a mouse, with cold metal skin and a belly full of gasoline. Sometimes it roars with a frightening sound like that of a lion, but Dog does not seem to fear it. He is allowed to go through the door into this world, and he is quite happy to do so. (Either he is very stupid, or he is in some kind of cahoots with the great beast.)

But indeed the truth of this Great Mystery and the beast that lives within it has not been fully uncovered yet, for Julius’ trips into this strange realm have been kept quite short. His humans, clearly not wanting him to discover the true depth of the Great Mystery, quickly shoo him back over the border into his own realm again. Thankfully the beast is quiet at night and seems to sleep soundly, and, to date, it has not yet tried to make moves on Julius’ land. The humans continue to go in and out, taking the beast for its long walks.

One day, perhaps, Julius will finally uncover the truth. Until then, he will be waiting (and listening) on the other side of the door.