Free The Next Thing I Knew (Heavenly) by John Corwin

sighed.  I climbed inside and found the keys dangling in the ignition but they wouldn't turn.  The hood wouldn't raise either.  I looked in the undercarriage and saw it was empty.
    "Grown ups don't make good machines," Robby said.  "But it looks kinda neat."
    I mussed his hair and laughed.  "How do the animals work then?  Aren't they harder to make?"
    An urgent call from Kyle interrupted Robby's response.  I answered.
    "The ships are leaving Saturn's orbit," he said.  "They're heading for Earth."

Chapter 8
     
     
    Nibbles arrived the same day the aliens left Saturn and headed for Earth.  Nibbles was a bony gray alley cat that appeared near my area of the Playground.  He liked to climb on my shoulder and nibble my earlobe so I figured Nibbles was an appropriate moniker.  As for the aliens, Kyle guessed we had a few weeks before the ships hit Earth orbit although in truth, nobody had a clue.  Nibbles at least helped keep my mind off Nick, alien death squads, and doomsday scenarios. 
    I hadn't given up on my attempts to create a swing set but had only managed a swing set that looked straight out of a dungeon torture chamber.  The day Nibbles appeared, he wandered over and rubbed against my leg as I stared at the latest mangled heap of failure.
    He was a mouthy little cat, meowing every minute or so and he liked attention.  I don't know why I thought he was an alley cat, but that was the impression his lean body gave me.  I wondered if Heavenly was boring for cats.  Aside from the one field mouse ghost I'd seen, no other rodents scurried around and most of the birds I'd seen were monstrous creatures the kids had made as playthings.  If anything, they'd snatch a cat up and eat it.  Nibbles caught sight of my mangled creation which resembled torn patches of leather swinging from dry-rotted shoestrings.  He pawed them, leaping around in a flash of gray fur, having the time of his life--or death--I suppose.  I wished I could be so easily entertained.
    As I sat there brooding over my failure to produce anything worthwhile in Heavenly, a splash of red caught the corner of my eye.  I looked and saw a feather floating lazily down, rocking back and forth toward the ground.  Nibbles looked intently at it, ran up my back, and, perched atop my head, swatted at the feather.  He leapt for it, missed.  A puff of wind pushed the feather just out of his reach.  I laughed at the intensity in his yellow eyes and watched as he ran up my deformed swing set and launched another attack at the red feather.  I looked up but didn't see any ghost birds flying through the clear sky.
    Strange .
    Entertaining though this was, my mind returned to Nick and the urge to flit to him pulled at me.  That feeling prodded me constantly and I knew this obsession had rooted itself deep.  It was an unhealthy obsession and reminded me how I'd felt when alive and pined over Chris every time I saw him throw a pass or walk past me in school with a flock of cheerleaders latched onto him.  I certainly didn't want an eternity of longing, though technically Nick would likely be dead within the next month or so.  Either Antarctic cold or aliens would get to him.
    These depressing thoughts only increased the intensity of my longing.
    "Hey, babe," Chris said.
    I yelped and Nibbles leapt straight up with a frightened hiss as Chris's words shocked me out of my pity party.  "You didn't call.  How'd you know where I was?"
    "Last several times I came to you, you were here.  Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."  He reached over and stroked Nibbles on the head.  "Who's this?"
    "Nibbles.  He's a new arrival."
    "Cool.  You making red feathers for him?"
    I glanced where he was pointing and saw several red feathers scattered on the ground.  "No.  Where'd they come from?"
    Nibbles looked up and another red feather appeared a few feet above him.
    "Great," I said.  "Even a cat can make things here and all I end up with is crap."
    Chris laughed.  "That's