The Tea Party

                 Again, this is in response to the post: Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner:2021 Week #20--some flash fiction inspired by the picture of the week:

         The two bicycles seemed to appear out of nowhere. At first, as I approached the house, it sat empty, the yard neglected and bare and the windows dark as always, but as I passed, I saw the bikes and the lush landscaping and curtains fluttering behind the windows as if from light breezes from within. Two more steps, and I saw a black and white cat sitting in the window. 

        Mrs. Hudspeth had a black and white cat like that before she died. I know because on my morning walks it would trot out to greet me by the path and look up at me until I stopped and petted its head. I knew Mrs. Hudspeth had put it outside because her two old friends, Mrs. M______ and Mrs. R_______ were over for tea, and Mrs. R________ was allergic. 

        This cat, the one in the window, only looked at me curiously, and as I looked back, it shimmered and vanished. A trick of the light, I thought, but at that I turned, because of the sound—the squeaky, scraping sound of old bicycle gears and the light crunching of narrow tires on gravel.  I looked, and the bicycles were gone.