Alex.J.Cobalt

City Life – Evan would sit on his sofa in the evening, and listen to the city outside go by (Genre – General, Rating – PG)

Evan liked the hour or so before he went to sleep, when he could just lie on the sofa and play some music in the background.

There wasn’t much on TV, and recently Evan had found that he preferred to listen to whatever shuffle his iPod produced.

The streetlights outside glowed slightly around the pulled curtains, barely lighting the room. He could hear the bustle of the cars outside, the occasional horn of the aggravated driver, and the roar of a bike’s engine as it flew down the road faster than the speed limit.

During the day the city was full of life, but at night that life took on a new meaning, a gentle thrum of existence that soaked into the very walls of the buildings around it. It was why, even in this small cramped apartment that had more problems than he cared to count, Evan wouldn’t ever want to live outside this thrum of life.

Muffin meowed quietly from the corner of the room, from the top of her perch. She had been a stray that Evan had stumbled upon on a late night home from work, all matted fur and shivering with the winter cold. Evan’s sister had said that it had been simply ridiculous for Evan to just take a stray off the street, but he couldn’t have just left Muffin on the roadside, to whatever dangers that lay out here.

The vet had estimated that Muffin was about two years old now. She had been a real hit amongst Evan’s friends, who he hadn’t pegged as animal people, each of whom would fight to try and get to pet the cat first. It was a silly sight, Evan thought, to see four rugby players banter over who got to pet the small tortoiseshell cat, but a nice silly sight.

Muffin stretched out on top of her perch, eyeing Evan across from across the room.

“Here girl,” Evan called.

Muffin leapt down from her perch, leaping gracefully across the floor to join Evan on the sofa. She snuggled against his chest, her favourite spot, before falling asleep once more.

“Lazy cat,” Evan muttered, petting her gently on top of her head. She wouldn’t like it when Evan made the sofa into the bed, but for now she would sleep soundly next to him.

Evan shut his eyes and listened to the new song that started playing.

This is what life is for, he thought.