Clove & Moose: Moose Moment 2

Clove and Moose is a serial fiction story. If you want to get caught up on what came before, click one of the buttons below.

Previously, on Clove & Moose: After the mysterious Cataclysm dried up the earth and its magic, Clove and her cat Moose travelled to find and repair pools of corrupted magic left behind. She's picked up three companions: Marissa, Jasper, and his trusty horse Miss Delilah.

Moose was bored. They’d been staying at the same house for a week now and he’d already sniffed all the best smells and enjoyed all the sunniest places to sit. There were no mice to chase and no toys to play with and he wanted to be back outside.

Moose used to like his warm, cozy house. But he’d gotten used to having new things to smell everyday, and new people to meet, and new places to curl up. 

What’s worse, the humans had all gone to bed, so there wasn’t even anyone to give him head scritches to distract from his troubles.

He had no choice but to wake them up. 

The first room was where Jasper slept. Moose walked around his bed and meowed as loudly as he could.

“Moose nooooo,” he grumbled. “Go bug your mom.”

Moose jumped up and pawed at his face, but Jasper retreated under the covers and refused to pet him. Useless human.

Moose moved on to the next room. Marissa. She would give him pets; she always did. He walked around her bed and meowed as loudly as he could.

“Moosey!” Marissa squeaked and grabbed at him. She pulled him onto the bed and under the covers. He yowled in her face and swatted at her hand.

Moose was not to be contained. He would have his freedom, no matter the price. 

“Rude boy,” Marissa said. 

The last room was Clove’s. Moose walked around her bed and meowed as loudly as he could.

“Come on up, Moose Goose.”

He jumped up and pawed at her face until she started to pet him. “Hey boy.”

She found the itchy spot behind his ear and he leaned into her touch. As she moved onto the other ear, he curled up beside her and started to purr.

He was still bored, but at least he was loved.

Thank you for reading! We'll come back to the main story of Clove & Moose soon enough, but I've been publishing a monthly fiction newsletter for five years straight and I need a little break. These shorter Moose Moments will be coming to your inbox instead for the next few months.

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Katie Conrad is a speculative fiction writer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can find her on bluesky and instagram.