Somebody Stop Me Before I Eat My Classmate

Lateness is frustrating. In acting classes, especially. They are so unpredictable! One can not simply walk into a black box and slip into the familiar flow of page turning and note-taking. I have no idea what to expect.

Pushing open the heavy door of the Performance Center classroom, I find myself in room full of humanoid animals. After a cursory glance and seeing most of my classmates on all fours, I assume we are cats for the day.

I slip into my cat. (It is not difficult as I occasionally stalk about my house as a cat and meow at my roommates). After a bit of investigation, I realize the population is not merely feline. This realization does not bother me as I am too preoccupied with grooming myself, but after a while, I spot something that does catch my attention..

There is a bird in the room. My ears perk. I freeze. Several minutes pass as I trace its delicate movement with my glassy green eyes, the fire of my stare burning into its delicate feathers.

Secretly, I calculate the formula to kill. Space to cover divided by pressure to suffocate. With a pinch, the serrated tips of my claws emerge. Like water, I slither in an out of the clutter along the wall, keeping in shadow (save the orbs of my glowing eyes), fixed upon my prey. All else fades into shadow. Just me and the pathetically twittering bird. The quivering feathers that hypnotize and strangle my attention.

Silently, breathing smoothly through my nose, I creep closer with the ease of rolling water and my hunger tumbles in my throat like a purr. The space is right—and I have not been sensed. I flatten against the cold floor—my muscles coiled to...POUNCE. In a flash of movement and flutter of wings, I land.

Emptiness.

I feel my back arch and hair stand on end, hunger not satiated. With liquid furry, I hunt my prey through the crowd of dogs, gorillas, hedgehogs and other felines. That bird is mine.

My steps are careful. Muscle glides across bone, below coat, around absence of collar bone. My tail curls about the air and the soft current tickles my whiskers. Every dust particle, every insect in every corner of the room is visible to my sharp eyes. I easily find the bird. The hunt is on.