FELINE ONLINE AND THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Minotaur or Monitor?
“Brad,” said Amanda as she turned to her neighbor, “I’d like to invite the children in for a moment. I will walk Emily home.”
“Ok, thanks, but just for a few minutes. Goodnight, Emily. Goodnight, Mike and Amanda.”
I am eleven-years-old! I can walk through Amanda’s garden by myself, Emily grumbled to no one in particular. She pulled her light jacket closer around her. It was soiled from the recent treasure hunt but still a comfort in the cool night breeze.
Amanda stopped at her front door and turned to the two children.
“Emily, remember the photo you showed me from the cat shelter? When the rescuers found your pet, Bes, sitting on a rooftop? A roof that looks like a pyramid?”
Emily nodded. “I have often thought about that photo, Amanda.”
Emily then turned to Mike, who stood behind her on the porch, looking up at the moon.
“And Mike, remember when I took Bes home from the shelter, she was acting so strangely? Like she was possessed?”
But Mike did not respond.
“Mike?”
Mike turned to his friends and took off his papyrus sandals.
“I must leave the desert sand outside of your beautiful home, Amanda,” he said. “My sandals are no longer needed.”
He shook his feet and brushed soil from his long white shirt and blue summer shorts.
“Emily, you are only a year younger than I. You might like to try wearing these sandals.”
Emily stared at Mike, then shrugged her shoulders.
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” she said. “I hope!”
The three friends walked into Amanda’s now familiar hall entry way. Amanda put her finger to her lips.
“I just want you both to see something, so I have witnesses,” she said.
They tiptoed through the living room, into the center hall, and peeked around the sliding doors into the dining room.
There sat Wadjet and Foo Foo, both staring at Amanda’s new computer screen from a dining room chair.
Emily had to stifle a giggle.
Amanda put her hand on Emily’s shoulder.
Hush, dear was her message as she whispered, “Watch the monitor.”
Two greenish-gold eyes were looking out from the screen as letters appeared below the cat’s face. The humans recognized the cat as Bastet, once more making her appearance.
A voice full of mews, meows and soft growls flowed from the screen along with words that were precisely and slowly pronounced.
Wadjet, Foo Foo, you have made it possible for my Ba and my Ka to be reunited. I now have the power that I had thousands of years ago. Meeooow! You and all other cats will be richly rewarded.
I am no longer in your home, I am no longer even in your country. I have much work to do here. All will become clear. I may visit you both again.
Wadjet, you have been a faithful and smart cat with the tasks I have given you. Now it is time for me to seek out other felines in my own country. They have been waiting for centuries for my return as a Goddess.
I will restore cats to their rightful place. MEOW, MEOW!
Because my early life was spent understanding a language of picture symbols, I must confess that my first moments with you were sometimes confused. Many English words sound the same, which I find odd. Some words even look exactly the same though they can have different meanings!
When I first taught you to read I referred to the Eye of Horse! Remember? I meant the Eye of Horus!
Wadjet nodded her brown head.
I now know that the word minotaur sounds like the word monitor.
This has been a problem as it has created confusion. The minotaur beetles who arrived here from Egypt with Sir David’s cargo have preserved my tomb and my treasures for your discovery. You humans have created monitors which have opened a window for my Ba to visit you. My spirit Ba has had to wander the Earth for centuries trying to find a way to send my wishes to your species. Meow!
Our minotaur beetle friends have always created mazes and caches for their larvae! But this monitor has also provided uncounted mazes for you to explore and to learn from. Monitor mazes caused you to order a bird in your early searches! This machine also holds caches of memories, not beetle larvae. I now know bugs can appear in monitors and minotaur beetles are also called bugs. Worms can be found in the desert tunnels of beetles and also within these monitors. Like you, I still have much to learn.
In any case, we have explored much together, both ancient mysteries and modern tools. Your mistress, Amanda, Emily and Mihos have been an important part of these discoveries, these truths from the past and from the present.
You and Bes need not fear Sekhmet. She has also left this country to a lair where she may be awaiting my return. Grrrr. I will watch for her attempts at mischief.
I no longer need my tomb or my mummy. All power is within me, within my body and my spirit. You will soon see.
To my human friends who are hiding in the hallway: May you have much joy and many rewards coming to you all. I am BASTET, CAT GODDESS OF UPPER AND LOWER EGYPT! PROTECTRESS OF HEARTH AND HOME, GODDESS OF THE MOON AND OF MAGIC!
BE ALWAYS KIND TO YOUR CATS AND THEY WILL EVER BE YOUR LOYAL COMPANIONS!
You will find more treasures near my tomb. Your human friends may keep them to remind them of my power and of the work you, Wadjet, Foo Foo and Bes, have done to bring me to this moment. To bring all cats to this moment as I leave to create even more glory for cats everywhere!
To my faithful feline friends forever, I will always protect you and your home. You will enjoy a life of plenty, a life of sunlight from Ra, a life of goodness from Isis, who favors you both, Bes, all cats and all human devotees of our species.
The cat eyes faded from the screen, though a loud purr continued to rumble for several seconds.
Wadjet pushed her mouse-beetle to shut down the monitor. She turned her monkey-like head to the hallway and began licking her paw, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.
Foo Foo jumped down from his seat and trotted off to the kitchen.
Wadjet followed her friend. It was way past the cats’ dinner time.
As Amanda stood still, holding onto the sliding door, nearly frozen from what she had just witnessed, she watched her pet cats head for the kitchen. Then she slowly turned to Emily and Mike.
“I know we have just heard a cat speak to us from the screen. I know this, I know it has happened before tonight, but I still cannot believe it!” she exclaimed.
“Well, Amanda,” Emily said, “We have known for months that Wadjet can read, that Bastet appeared on your monitor to teach her to read and to type. Isn’t it funny about the words for minotaur beetles and computer screens!”
“Mike, I mean Mihos, what do you think?” Amanda asked. “Is any of this virtual cat talk real or perhaps a computer prank of some kind?”
Amanda turned to look into the dark hallway for an answer.
But Mike was gone.
Amanda and Emily hurried to the front door. It was securely closed. Amanda peeked out through the sidelight. Blueish beams of moonlight shone on an empty sidewalk.
As the two friends walked out to Amanda’s front porch, Emily bent down and picked up a yellow stone, covered with sand and leaves but still glowing with a radiant light.
“What is this?” Emily asked as she examined the gold-colored object in her hand.
“Look, Emily. Mike forgot his sandals.”
Emily studied the empty street.
“I don’t think he forgot them,” she whispered.
“Emily, I will invite Professor Robert to look at this stone and the other treasures. He must hear our story. He may have something more to add to help us understand these very strange events. Your folks are welcome to join us. Now I must see you home!”
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THANK YOU to all of my new and current readers! A special thank you to my educator and student readers from around the world!
FELINE ONLINE AND THE MAZE OF THE MINOTAUR continues with Chapter SIXTEEN: scheduled for Friday, June 13.
DON’T MISS THIS EXCITING FINAL CHAPTER TO SEE HOW BASTET WILL USE HER POWERS TO RESTORE CATS TO THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE AMONG HUMANS!
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CREDITS: Cover Illustrations for above titles: Tamara Clark
Book chapter illustrations: Tamara Clark and Rosetta Clark-Smith
Cat on rooftop: no date, anonymous: Unsplash.com
Photo of sliding Victorian doors: Elyse Cregar
Photo of papyrus sandals: public domain: Commons.wikimedia.org
Photo of Libyan Tektite: Geolina163: Commons.wikimedia.org
Bastet: illustration by Tamara Clark