By Kylie Lohse

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Two cats live in a bookstore cafe…. and they are complete opposites. The cats fight over who the fan favorite is when an event is held.

As you walk on Kingdom Street, you can’t miss the tall brownstone housing the best bookstore in all of New York. Mocha & Spine has a vintage, cozy, exterior that gives off safe vibes. The bookstore is painted a light sage color, with ark shelves all around. There is a light aroma of coffee and lavender, surrounded by comfy lounge chairs with small tables. As you sit in a comfy lounge chair, soft jazz music plays as you tilt your head to see a coffee stand, with the owner, Alicia, standing behind fixing cups of coffee. You turn around and see a small windowsill, and two twin cats are perched on top.

Their names are Orwell and Poe, and they were rescued by Alicia when they were kittens. Orwell is the fan favorite of the two. Not fully aware that he’s a cat and not a person, he follows customers around, looking for the opportunity to make himself cozy to purr on them. When customers walk in, Orwell beelines it to them and makes them feel at home. Poe, on the other hand, is an introverted cat. He rarely moves from his windowsill and watches customers judgmentally, thinking to himself Are you really gonna get that book? Poe is mostly ignored by the customers. Ever since the cats were rescued, Alicia has been looking for ways to give back to the community, so in celebration of the release of the cafe’s new drink, the catpucino, she will be hosting a tipping competition for the Animal Shelter the cats are from. But you will have to choose whether you want to tip Orwell or Poe.

Hearing of the competition, Orwell thought it would be a piece of cake. He already was the favorite of the two. As customers flowed in, he made sure to be extra nice, constantly purring and relaxing those around. When people would grab their coffee and sit down to read, he would hop on their laps and take a nap. Poe, however, was not in the mood to do any of that. He hated people, so he knew that the only way for him to win was by making sure Orwell didn’t win. Poe had to unleash his inner demon cat.

The first customer to arrive was Julius, one of Alicia’s best friends. He took off his coat and walked up to the cafe stand, Orwell following along. Poe still remained on the windowsill. Julius ordered himself a Catpucino and carefully walked to the cozy corner booth, sitting down slowly. Before Julius could even take out his book, Orwell was already propped on his lap. Julius, happy to have Orwell’s company, began to gently stroke his soft fur. Poe was not going to allow his brother to continue his heart-stealing antics. Poe leaped off the windowsill and moved underneath the booth with stealth, so that Julius would fail to notice. Poe took Julius sleeping with Orwell on his lap as the perfect time to strike. Poe creeped up to the top of the table, making sure he had enough room to quickly retreat to the windowsill. He carefully placed his paw on the hot mug, he didn’t want to break it, but he wanted to make sure the hot coffee spilled on Julius. With a flick of a paw, the mug slowly tipped over and the coffee flowed. Both Orwell and Poe’s feline instincts kicked in, with Orwell hopping onto the table to avoid damaging his soft fur and Poe escaping to the windowsill, all before Julius awoke. He felt the coffee dampen and heat his clothes causing him to shoot up quickly, when he woke up, Orwell was on the table, sitting next to the spilt mug. Alicia turned over from the counter and gasped at the sight of the implied mischief Orwell caused, giving him a glance as he retreated to the windowsill next to Poe. Orwell immediately knew what his brother was scheming from there on, and decided that he would stay away from humans the rest of the day. After all, he would still be the favorite no matter what. 

As the cats napped, Alicia counted up the tips, both jars had approximately $40 in each by the end of the day. She walked past the purring cats and gave them a soft pet. It seems you are both equally loved, she chided to herself. 

Process

I inspired this story based on one of my dreams of the future. I hope that one day I can open a bookstore and cafe with my best friend, and we can have two cats that are the staple of the business. Writing this helped remind me of the goodness in life, and gave me some freedom to be a silly when I normally write more serious things.