Mittens Saves the World Again, For the First Time

a cozy sci-fi fable

Many of you have recently discovered me from February Poetry Adventure. And while I do dabble in poetry, most of my writing time is spent on novels and short stories. This is a short story I wrote about five years ago, inspired by a prompt request I put out on Instagram. The prompt was ‘what does my cat do while I’m at work’. And this is what materialized. I hope you enjoy it. :)

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Mittens Saves the World Again, For the First Time

by Petra Hernandez

Mittens wasn’t at all surprised when a tiny spaceship materialized on her apartment balcony. She knew about lots of things humans had no idea about. What did surprise her were the aliens themselves. They weren’t tiny cats, as she had expected. They weren’t even tiny humans, which would have been surprising, but a lot of fun to play with. Instead, the beings that emerged from the small ship were regular-sized mice. She hadn’t expected mice.

Three small, space-suited rodents walked down a miniature ramp and onto the balcony in front of her. Their silver suits, shiny helmets, and clear visors were impressive and definitely high-tech.

Mittens’ first response to the mice was to swish her tail and stare at them sideways. She did not, however, feel like chasing them. What kind of cat would chase shiny, super advanced alien lifeforms? That was a human thing to do. And that’s why dogs liked humans so much. Similar minds. Simple minds. Easily entertained.

Mittens felt no need to meow ‘hello’ to the small rodents because technically her balcony was being invaded. She also felt too lazy to meow threateningly, which she was very good at, according to the local raccoons. So, instead, she stared at them, eyes narrowed. That seemed appropriate. Besides, friendly or threatening, mice would never actually understand her meowing. They were rarely known to be bilingual, but when they were it was most often Opossum they spoke. And Mittens’ Opossum was weak at best, though she would never admit it.

The first mouse, obviously in charge, was flanked by the other two, and seemed calm. Her compatriots, however, watched Mittens with what looked like excitement. They were probably impressed by how good her fur looked today. One of the excited mice waved at Mittens and the lead mouse swatted their paw down with a stern look. The waving mouse hung their head, but still couldn’t stop openly staring at Mittens. 

The lead mouse cleared her throat and greeted Mittens. In fluent Cat! Her accent was good and her grammar correct. Mittens was mildly impressed. Not that she would ever admit it. She meowed back an aloof “Hello.”

“I’m Sergeant Grey,” the lead mouse meowed. “And we’re looking for our commander, Captain Milo. She set out on a mission, had synergistic battery trouble, and her last known coordinates place her somewhere in this area.” She looked west, toward the parking lot. “Perhaps near the Dumpsters of Death...” 

The Dumpsters of Death had been so named because — according to Mister Snuggles — Bootsie had jumped from his balcony into said dumpsters looking for a tasty morsel and never returned. There hadn’t even been a body to find when they all dove in to look for Bootsie. Although, everyone knew Mister Snuggles was all about the catnip... so there was that. Mittens blinked slowly, looking at the mouse. She wasn’t sure how Cat-speaking alien mice knew about the Dumpsters of Death, but now she was wondering if they had something to do with Bootsie’s disappearance. 

The mouse meowed again. “Captain Milo would have been wearing a suit similar to mine, but with several extra patches sewn on. And her helmet would have been black and silver. Have you seen anyone matching that description?”

Mittens thought about all the mice she’d eaten this week. And the two she’d killed just for fun. Perhaps she would have to rethink her relationship with mice. After all, the fact that they could speak Cat was several points in their favor towards intelligence. But rethinking her attitude toward Earth mice was something to think about later. Right now she was mildly entertained by these alien mice.

“No,” Mittens meowed. “I haven’t seen a space-suited mouse. But I can ask around.” She cleared her throat and meowed a quick, loud inquiry, then licked her paw while she waited for replies. A moment later a chain of different meows responded. 

Whiskers from downstairs thought she’d seen a particularly shiny mouse last night. In retrospect they could have been wearing a spacesuit, but she’d been a bit off her game because she’d just been bathed. Biscuit from two doors down said he’d heard a strange noise and seen something small and shiny fall from the sky, but had thought nothing of it at the time, and still, frankly, didn’t give much of a damn. And Pumpkin – whose person let her outside during the day – said she’d seen a small mouse talking to Spud, the alley cat, but had assumed her own eyes were fooling her since she’d had too much sun. Pumpkin was now sprawled out on the cool tile of the bathroom floor in a heroic attempt to recover from what she had self-diagnosed as catastrophic heatstroke. Her convalescing included happily shredding the shower liner that her humans had newly purchased the day before.

As Sergeant Grey typed this info into a screen on the sleeve of her suit, Mittens noticed something small and gleaming moving in the grass below. A tiny hook shot up to the balcony, securing a cable to the railing. Zipping up the cable came a small mouse in a silver spacesuit who landed smoothly on both feet. Mittens was impressed. The casual awesomeness was very cat-like.

“Captain Milo!” Sergeant Grey meowed to the newly arrived mouse. “What a relief. Glad you’re safe, ma’am. We need to get back. Immediately. The Glaborians have rallied and are attacking again. This time it looks close.”

“Understood,” Captain Milo meowed.

The fact that the two mice conversed in Cat, even when speaking to each other, impressed Mittens. It was a classy thing to do to make sure she wasn’t wondering what was being said. Yet another point for mice. Well, alien mice at least.

Captain Milo looked at Mittens. “Thank you for passing along the query about my location. I’ve been hiding out all day and then I heard you call for intel and knew to respond here, at your balcony.”

“You’re welcome?” Mittens meowed, unsure of what exactly was going on.

Captain Milo and the other three mice began to board the spaceship, but Mittens wasn’t ready for them to leave just yet. She would never admit it but this was the most interesting thing that had happened today. Or perhaps this week. Although the new box her person had ordered for her was a close second. She fit into it perfectly, once the silly clothes were taken out. Mittens meowed to Captain Milo. “How do you speak Cat so well? Is that what you speak on your planet?” As soon as Mittens uttered the question it made complete sense. Of course Cat would be the preferred language throughout the universe.

Captain Milo smiled. “We’re not from another planet,” she said. “We’re from the future. When I come from all that’s left of the world are cats and mice. Well, also cockroaches, but they swore an oath of silence four years ago. So cats and mice kind of learned to get along. You could say we’re on the same side now. I mean... then.” Captain Milo winked and stepped into the ship.

The future? “Wait,” Mittens meowed, knowing there was one more important question to ask. “What’s a Glaborian?”

Sergeant Grey looked bemused, but the two lower-ranked mice watched Mittens excitedly. The one on the left whispered loudly to the one on the right. “I never believed Sergeant Mittens when she said she was just a house cat way back here. She’s so badass now. I mean... then. You know what I mean.” The other mouse nodded.

Back here? Sergeant Mittens? They were talking about her in the future. No wonder they were impressed. Mittens had always assumed she’d only get cooler as time went on. But Sergeant? She was mildly surprised. Although she’d never admit it.

“Ensign,” Captain Milo meowed sternly. “What did I say about screwing up the plan by divulging things before they happen?”

“Sorry,” the lower-ranked mouse meowed back.

Sergeant Grey shook her head. “Noting it in the logs, ma’am” she said. Then looked at the lower ranked mouse. “Again.”

The lower-ranked mouse hung their head, but was still smiling with excitement. They got a quick, excited side-eye from their compatriot. 

“Well, you weren’t supposed to know that,” Captain Milo meowed to Mittens. “But, I guess, what’s the worst that can happen?” She gestured to the world out beyond Mittens’ cozy balcony. “It’s not like the apocalypse hasn’t already started.” The three mice behind her nodded their agreement. “See you in the future, old friend,” Captain Milo saluted crisply. She boarded the ship after the other three mice, and the door shut behind them. The ship shimmered, went fuzzy, and vanished into thin air. 

Mittens made her way to a sunny spot and lay down. She considered telling her person all about this when they got back home, but everyone knew humans were destroying the world. So perhaps it would be best to save her human from this cruel truth. Or, on second thought, she’d just tell her at three twenty this morning right when she was in the middle of a good dream. Just as a little ‘f-you’ for ending the world. And for not getting the cat food shaped like stars when she knew it was Mittens’ favorite.

Mittens lay in the sun and swatted at a leaf hanging from a house plant. Sergeant Mittens. She liked the sound of that. No, wait. What had the one mouse said? Badass Sergeant Mittens. It had a ring to it. And Captain Milo seemed interesting. Mittens could imagine them being friends. But that was all for the future. 

Now? Now was the time for naps and feather toys and fitting in boxes.

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, check out my other short stories on Substack.

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