She Loves Me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah   Before I can tell you about our dramatic, heart-wrenching homecoming, you need to understand something: She did not just stroll into my life. She fought her way back to being a cat who once loved and trusted humans, and somehow, against all odds, she chose me . For more than six months she appeared on my porch with the other gray ghosts, the feral crew Dad now treats like royalty. But unlike the others, she was not wild, not feral. She was… lo

Chapter 43 The Nomad’s Journey Ends   Life without Dewey, and now Grandpa, has caused everything inside me to shift. San Diego no longer feels like home. The city is changing so fast I can barely breathe. Jan has drifted away, and I am working two jobs just to keep food in my belly and a roof over my head. I can feel it. The time draws near, and I must close the book on this once-beautiful city and consider beginning a new chapter somewhere new. My mind is fogged with grief.

Chapter 42 He Was The Glue Dad’s words hit me like a brick.I am dazed, confused, and my heart feels as if it is been ripped from my chest. “Grandpa’s very ill,” Dad says, his voice trembling. “You need to come home.” “Home?” The word stings. “You said I could never  come home Dad. and besides, I don’t have that kind of money.” I swallowed my words as tears I did not know were hiding suddenly streamed down my cheeks. Of course I want to go. I need  to see Grandpa. He is the re

Chapter Six How A House Became A Home   Has our story reached its end? Sometimes, as I sit on the porch watching the evening sun set behind the houses before me, it feels that way. Juno is home. She is happy. And I… I am no longer alone. No matter where she is, the sound of my key in the lock brings her running. She greets me like I’m the best thing to happen to her day. I smile, she purrs, and together we have built something neither of us thought we would ever find again: a

The Shadows Have Eyes   Chapter Five The Three Little Pigs The kittens have grown. Mama Cat’s three spring babies, dark gray tabbies with identical stripes. Thay move like shadows across the porch at dawn. Not too long ago, there were just three flashes of fur, tiny things darting toward their mother’s bowl before vanishing into the hedges. Now, they arrive like clockwork, no longer the occasional guests, but a hungry trio that expects their breakfast. They are wary. Skittish

Destiny Fullfilled CHAPTER FOUR I Think She Is a Stray We are acclimating. She, to the strange wonders of indoor life; me, to the full-time responsibility of making sure my new baby girl never lacks a single thing she needs, or even vaguely wants. Honestly, I’m not sure which of us needed the other more. There have been signs. This isn’t her first rodeo. How easily she took to the litter box, as if she knew the house rules beforehand. The way she claimed a corner of the couch

Destiny Fullfilled Chapter 3 An Unsure Little Girl and Her Uncertain Daddy   After writing about these current events, I decided to do something bold. A decision that would either cement Juno’s place in my life or confirm she was destined to remain an untethered cat. I am going to bring her inside. Not just for a quick snuggle or a late-night salmon snack. A real visit, long enough to see how she handled the big leagues of indoor life: litter boxes, couches, and, of course,

Destiny Fullfilled Chapter 2 Oh My God, My Cat Is Trans   Juno’s back. He’s more loving than ever, and that tears me up inside… because now, I am about to leave him for just over a week. Dad has promised to keep feeding Mama Cat and Juno while I am gone, but let’s be honest, cats aren’t exactly known for their chill attitudes when abandoned by their humans. And these past few weeks? Juno and I have bonded hard. Porch time has become our ritual. He curls up like a fuzzy little

Destiny Fullfilled Chapter 1 Getting Used To My New Pussy   I think he showed up in April. Or maybe May. Honestly, time blurs when you spend your evenings running a feline soup kitchen. I am no stranger to stray cats and this all began with the first visit from a very light gray tabby, thin, frail and no larger than a four-month-old kitten. As a matter of fact, I thought she was a “teenager” until she introduced me to her family. Mama Cat had been making regular appearances a

Chapter 41 The Call   Dad’s email was touching. It brought me joy and hope. Maybe one day we will be able to talk again, maybe even mend the fences so carelessly trampled down. Today, however, I must protect myself. I cannot risk enduring that pain again. Life goes on in San Diego. And in Jackson, Mississippi, another life ends. Richard calls. His voice is trembling with shock and disbelief. He found Dewey lying on t

Chapter 40 The Journey Home   Home is where the heart is. We have all heard that saying a thousand times, tossed around like it is simple truth.But it took too many years to understand the true meaning behind those words. Forty years of wandering, bivouacking through life, setting up temporary flimsy tents, always on the ready to fold them away at a moment’s notice. To uproot my life, start over and once again reinvent myself. This has always been my destiny. A nomad in searc

Chapter 39 Reflections   I am back in San Diego, a city I once loved. A city I once called home. Doug is settled in Houston. Richard is safe and comfortable in his Jackson home. Today, as always, Dad and David are in Cincinnati, living, loving, and happy. Everyone seems to be exactly where they are meant to be. Except me. San Diego has changed. Not just the skyline or cost of living, as those things have indeed exploded, but in spirit. The soul of the city I once knew has fra

Chapter 38 The Stalker   The night in the bar. The ride I gave him to the hotel. The departing hug. All of it preys on my mind. I cannot shake his image. I know enough to understand that contacting him again is wrong. He has a partner, a life in Cincinnati. I’ve been around long enough to know that chasing a married man leads only to emptiness and heartbreak. Been there. Done that. So why can I not stop thinking about him? After two weeks of torment, reflection, and sheer ago

I have Earned That Right   Why am I so bitter? Why so cold? Why do I always seem like such a bitch? The short answer? Shut the hell up....

On November 20, 2023, I released my debut novel. As an unknown, self-published author, I knew the odds were stacked against me. I had no...

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Chapter 37 A Chance Meeting Right smack dab in the middle of an existential crisis, the last thing I expect, or need, is more complications and conflicting emotions. But life never works that way for me. Lately, I have been spending my days tangled in thoughts about tomorrow. Where will I be in ten years. Why it is that I can have a “good time,” but I can never make a relationship stick . Brian, a friend who lives a few doors down from Bill, hands me a bo

Chapter 36 Columbus Ohio I sit here, the blinking cursor mocking me with its relentless rhythm. I search my mind for the right words to describe my time in Columbus, Ohio, but they never come. No colorful phrases, no witty reflections, just emptiness. I leave behind a tourist’s paradise for a city that could be any other. Sure, there is an active nightlife to enjoy, and I meet some kind people, but even so, it never feels comfortable. I do not dislike

Chapter 35 On The Road Again “You are where you need to be.” A simple sentence. Generic, even cliché. But coming from Jan, the man I once believe to be my soulmate, it feels like a slap disguised as a proverb. He says it softly, without emotion, like he is offering me a note from a fortune cookie instead of severing the last thread tethering me to a dream I refuse to let die. I know what he means. I even understand it, on some cruel, rational level. But I a