Kat flipped through the pages of the ancient book. She wasn't usually into reading, but she did like the sights and sounds of this new library down the street. Old paper and deafening silence occasionally broken by muffled footsteps or murmurs.

The book she had chosen caught her eye because of its title: "The Cat". Her name, just spelled wrong. She'd expected a dashing protagonist named Cat, experiencing some meteoric rise to notoriety. Instead, she found... a fuzzy little anomaly.

There used to be critters like this everywhere, apparently. Before the Plague, there were cats and dogs and rats. There were ants and birds and butterflies. Now, there were only humans. Alone in the world, they had adapted. The time of the creatures was only a distant memory from stories the grandparents told.

Kat imagined a creature-filled world as a terrifying one. Vicious fangs waiting around every corner, miniscule many-legged creepers at every step. She was a bit surprised to find that this book described "cats" as complex animals, almost as multifaceted as humans. Cats were apparently curious, aloof, cuddly, skittish, clever, and silly. Incredible!

Kat wished she could meet a cat. She traced her fingers down a sketch of one within the book, almost able to feel the soft fur.