Zola thought about leaving her perch on the rafters. But then the thought crept back again of her spreading apart on the floor the way she had.... there was something terribly wrong with the floor these days. If she touched it, her entire body turned to something like jello and began to ooze all over the floor. It was an unpleasant sensation, and always difficult to pull herself together enough to leave the floor and return to the rafters. Being a cat, life on the rafters was not entirely unpleasant. She could sleep comfortably there, but finding something to eat was more of a challenge. The occasional mouse came by, but she had to be fast to catch it. she had even resorted to eating flies. Tasteless things! A bird would be wonderful to catch, but for one thing she was indoors, and for another thing, she would likely fall onto that treacherous floor if she tried to catch a bird. Zola wondered what would happen when her human, Mina, came home. She had been gone a long time, long enough for dust to gather on the furniture. Why didn't she return? Had the entire surface of the earth become something hazardous? The radio wasn't even on to keep her company, or else she might have heard something useful on the news.
"You're not cruel, John, are you?" Zola heard the familiar voice of her female human outside the house. At last, someone was coming home! But who was this "John?" She didn't recall hearing that name before.
"No, Mina, I'm not cruel. Sneaky, maybe, or deceptive, or unreliable, but never cruel. Except when it comes to cats. I hate cats."
Mina gasped. "Oh no! I have a cat in the house! You have to be nice to her, or I won't let you live with me! It's the way it is, and you better make up your mind."
"Oh, all right, I'll be nice to her then," said John, who had just admitted to being sneaky and deceptive. "Let's go inside so I can meet her."
The two humans approached the door. John strode in first, and promptly fell to the floor, where he began to spread apart like jello.
"Help me, Mina!" He called out. "What's the matter with your floor? It's tearing me apart and I can't get up!"
Mina chuckled as she watched John gradually melt away, rather like the Wicked Witch of the West, she thought.
"That's my Correct Man Detection System. You failed. You're not the correct man. It's been nice knowing you, John. I'll be mopping up your remains shortly." She stepped to the door and flipped a switch that was just inside. Zola had not noticed that switch before, and was watching all of these proceedings with great interest. Usually, a flipped switch meant a light going on or off, but neither happened this time.
Mina had cold hands as she finished mopping up the goo that had once been John's body. She was glad her detection system worked. It was an experiment, really, and John had been the guinea pig. Who could possibly live with a man who didn't like cats? It was not to be considered for a moment.
Finishing the job with a flourish, Mina began to call her cat. "Zola, where are you hiding? We have narrowly escaped a housemate who doesn't like cats. But he is gone now. Please come out! I'm sorry I was gone so long, but it takes ages to find a decent housemate. and after all those days of searching, John didn't pass the test.":
Zola allowed herself to respond with a small meow. Looking up, Mina saw how thin Zola was, and how hungry she looked.
"How long have you been up there, puss? You need to come down! I'll get your favorite canned food from the kitchen right away. Here, kitty kitty!"
But Zola wasn't going to come down and touch the floor ever again in her life.
Thanks again to @mariannewest for the freewrite prompts. The weekend freewrite is done in three 5-minute writing session, with three separate prompts. I have the prompts in italics in my story. For more details on how to participate, click here.