Коралина / Coraline

Astounding! was followed by a theatrical and then triumph!!!

It was a sunny, cold day, exactly like the one sheКјd left.

There was a polite noise from behind her.

She turned around. Standing on the wall next to her was a large black cat, identical to the large black cat sheКјd seen in the grounds at home.

“Good afternoon,” said the cat.

Its voice sounded like the voice at the back of CoralineКјs head, the voice she thought words in, but a manКјs voice, not a girlКјs.

“Hello,” said Coraline.

The cat shook its head. “No,” it said. “Iʼm not the other anything. Iʼm me.” It tipped its head to one side; green eyes glinted. “You people are spread all over the place. Cats, on the other hand, keep ourselves together. If you see what I mean.”

“I suppose. But if youʼre the same cat I saw at home, how can you talk?”

Cats donКјt have shoulders, not like people do. But the cat shrugged, in one smooth movement that started at the tip of its tail and ended in a raised movement of its whiskers.

“Cats donʼt talk at home.”

“No?” said the cat.

“No,” said Coraline.

The cat leaped smoothly from the wall to the grass near CoralineКјs feet. It stared up at her.

“Well, youʼre the expert on these things,” said the cat dryly. “After all, what would I know? Iʼm only a cat.”

It began to walk away, head and tail held high and proud.

“Come back,” said Coraline. “Please. Iʼm sorry. I really am.”

The cat stopped walking, sat down, and began to wash itself thoughtfully, apparently unaware of CoralineКјs existence.

“We . . . we could be friends, you know,” said Coraline.

“We could be rare specimens of an exotic breed of African dancing elephants,” said the cat. “But weʼre not. At least,” it added cattily, after darting a brief look at Coraline, “Iʼm not.”

Coraline sighed.

“Please.

The cat yawned slowly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. “Cats donʼt have names,” it said.

“No?” said Coraline.

“No,” said the cat. “Now, you people have names. Thatʼs because you donʼt know who you are. We know who we are, so we donʼt need names.”

There was something irritatingly self-centered about the cat, Coraline decided.