Harold wasn’t prone to hallucinations. He liked things to make sense. His spices were alphabetized. He ironed his socks. He never left the house without checking the oven and the front door three times each. That’s just the kind of man Harold is.

So, when the black cat first spoke to him – really spoke to him – he assumed he’d finally snapped.

“You’re late.”

Harold blinked. “I – I’m sorry?”

The cat sat primly at the edge of the sidewalk; his tail curled like a question mark. His eyes glinted gold in the early evening haze. “Don’t apologize to me. Just follow.” And, off it went, like this was a perfectly normal Thursday activity.

Harold stood stock still for a full minute, waiting for reality to correct itself. When it didn’t, he glanced around, saw no witnesses, and mumbled, “Well, why not?”

The cat led him past his regular path to the market, then down an alley he had never noticed before. It was lined with crumbling stone walls, mossy and old, smelling faintly of lavender and… was that nutmeg?

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” replied the cat.

“Am I dreaming?”

“You don’t dream often enough to be good at it.”

Harold followed, heart thudding like an untrained drummer. He half expected to wake up face-down on the sofa, or worse, find himself on the evening news over the crawler “Local Man Follows Feline, Disappears Without a Trace.”

Instead, the alley opened into a quiet courtyard bathed in amber light. A fountain percolated in the center, and clusters of people in soft clothing murmured over steaming mugs. Wind chimes tinkled a tune Harold swore he recognized but couldn’t quite name.

“What is this place?”

The cat leapt gracefully onto a low stone wall. “This is where lost people find out they aren’t.”

“Lost?” Harold looked down at himself. Still in the same battered old cardigan and sensible shoes. Still grieving. Still tired. Still waiting for something he couldn’t name.

The cat’s gaze softened. “He said you might come.”

Harold’s breath caught. “He?”

A man appeared then. He looked just like he remembered; glasses sliding down his nose and a smile that forgave him before he even asked.

“Elliot?”

Harold hadn’t seen him in years. Not since that awkward goodbye on the porch steps, the one neither of them meant. Elliot had always said goodbye like it might not be the last time, even when it was.

And now here he was.

Same lopsided smile. Same messy curls he never remembered to brush. Same way of standing like he wasn’t sure whether to run or stay.

“Hello, love,” he said.

Harold’s voice caught somewhere between his chest and his throat. “I… I thought you moved to New Orleans.”

“I did,” Elliot smiled, “And then I moved somewhere else.”

Harold looked around the courtyard. The golden light. The fountain’s lazy music. The gentle murmur of people who weren’t quite ready for the real world. “Is this…?”

“It’s not New Orleans,” Elliot said. “But it’s not death, either, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“I wasn’t.” (He was.)

Elliot stepped closer. “I missed you.”

Harold felt the edges of his heart fray. “You left.”

“I had to,” Elliot’s voice was quiet, “You were too scared of being happy with me, I started thinking I should be scared, too.”

Harold flinched. “I know. I was.”

Silence then. Not heavy, just… honest.

The black cat sat near the fountain, washing one paw with a nonchalant grace.

Elliot nudged Harold with his shoulder. “So. What now?”

“I don’t know. I followed a cat. I didn’t exactly plan ahead.”

“Well, you’re here, that counts.”

Elliot offered his hand. Harold stared at it. And took it.

They walked the courtyard together, quietly at first. Then talking. Then laughing, like the years hadn’t hardened between them. Time, it turned out, did not heal all wounds, but it could sand the edges smooth, if you let it.

The cat, now reclining on a sun-warmed windowsill, let out a soft sigh. “Fools,” it muttered. “But sweet ones.”

It stretched, flicked its tail, and turned toward the alley.

There was always someone else to find.

And, I mustn’t neglect the obligatory shameless self-promotion. New Yesterdays is available through the following links:

Amazon, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million