Clove & Moose: Moose Moment 5

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 goose!” Clove called as she peeked into the barn. “You coming inside?”

They had arrived at another new place and there were new smells to sniff and somewhere, Moose hoped, a new bed to sleep in. But he wasn’t ready to go inside yet.

Jasper was still brushing Miss Delilah and getting her settled for the night. Moose twined between his legs as he worked.

“Yes, yes, little man, I know you’re here,” Jasper grumbled.

“Jasper doesn’t want you, boy,” Clove said again. “Why don’t you get out from underfoot?”

“Oh, he’s alright,” Jasper said. “I’ll bring him in when I’m done here.”

“You’re sure?” Clove bent down to pat Moose’s head and he lifted his face until she was scratching his chin the way he liked. “What do you think, my handsome boy?”

Moose pulled away from Clove’s scritches, delightful as they were, to lean against Jasper’s leg.

“Suit yourself. Be good, though.”

Moose continued winding around Jasper’s legs as she walked out. “You little monster,” Jasper commented as he finished up and stowed Delilah’s gear away in the wagon. “I know what you want.”

Moose meowed.

“Yes, yes, here you go, you little glutton.”

Finally, finally, Jasper gave him the treats. Moose devoured them. He meowed again. More, human, more!

Jasper obliged with three more treats, which Moose inhaled as quickly as the previous ones. But his subsequent meows made no difference. Jasper’s heart was as cold as ice.

“That’s all you get. If you gain weight your mom will have my head. Now let’s go in, okay?” Jasper untied Moose’s rope from the wagon and picked him up. “Say goodnight to Miss Delilah.”

Moose nuzzled his big friend’s head and she whickered softly in reply. 

“Good creatures. Come along, then.” 

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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Psst! If you enjoy my writing, you can check out a reprint of my story, The Protector of the Forest, on The Future Fire. This story was previously published by the now-defunct Proton Reader. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have it back in print.

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