Free Casanova by Edward Medina

CASANOVA

    Casanova had a dream.
    In it the sun was rising high and bright in the sky. It felt warm and comforting against his skin and fur. He could feel his yet to be born body stretching in the new dawn light and drinking in every drop of delicious warmth and comfort.
    Then a darkness came.
    Quick and unyielding, it swallowed the comforting day and replaced it with the cold of night. A full moon pushed the sun from the sky and replaced it with a different warmth. A different energy touched his skin. A different heat consumed him and it came with a voracious hunger he had yet to know.
    In the next moment, Casanova was born.

    It was raining in New York City when this all began. There was no loud thunder or bright lightning to warn of coming events. Just seemingly endless amounts of falling rain and a couple making their way through the downpour. Without any knowledge of feline dreams and desires, Gwen and Larry Talbot made their way through the hustle and bustle of the soaked Manhattan streets to purchase a pet in the hopes of saving their marriage.
    Gwen and Larry met at a party thrown by mutual friends. Their connection was instant. Gwen was a front desk manager at the Ramada Inn in the Upstate New York town of Kingston. Larry was a groundskeeper at the University of New Paltz. They fell in love and moved in together almost immediately.
    They ended their relationship the first time over mundane mutual annoyances. They found they couldn’t function apart so they reconciled a few months later. A year after that they parted once more because of a foolish affair Larry had with a student assistant he couldn’t resist. Gwen forgave him after a while and took him back because she was hiding the guilt of an affair of her own. They decided together to get married in order to save their relationship.
    Once coupled they settled into a passive semblance of a marriage. There were no extreme highs or deep lows. They found a way to exist emotionally in the middle ground of life for fear of losing what little happiness they had. Then, on the day of their third, or fourth, anniversary, they took the train into the City. The ride down was quiet and it was only as the Big Apple loomed large in their windows did they finally hold hands.
    The walk to the East Side restaurant was less chilly by degrees, but as their second round of mimosas arrived at the table they were feeling more themselves than they had in a very long while. As they finished their eggs benedict, and the third set of mimosas came and went, a woman walked by their sidewalk table with a black cat on a pink leash.
    Then Larry said it first.
    “We should get a cat.”
    Gwen would always remember that fact.
    “And you think this is a good idea?”
    “I think it’s a great idea.”
    She remembered that fact right up to her dying day.
    “What about your allergies?”
    “I’ll take a pill.”
    “You say that nicely now.”
    “I’ll get a shot.”
    “Later there’ll be grumpiness.”
    “I promise. No grumpiness.”
    “I’ve heard that before.”
    They left the restaurant behind and a weak drizzly rain started to fall as they walked. They both knew what this was all about but neither one of them wanted to say that first. Larry wanted to start a family with Gwen. Gwen wasn’t sure she wanted to have a baby with Larry. Not yet at least. Both their affairs, and the troubles before and after, weighed heavily on her mind.
    “You think we’re not ready for a baby,” Larry dared.
    “We’re not ready for a lot of things apparently.”
    “I say that we’re at least ready for a pet.”
    “Babies and pets should not be equated.”
    The wind began to pick up.
    “It’s about responsibility to something other than ourselves.”
    “Something with fur?”
    “A dog is too much trouble.”
    “And cats are no trouble at all?”
    “Cats are independent.”
    Darkening skies opened and Gwen and Larry ducked into a doorway as the rain began to pour.
    “Can I get away with