The heavy ceramic angel sitting high on the shelf above the sliding glass door was perfect for what Sham, the ethereal, had in mind. That fat, orange cat had to die. Its death was the only way he could become a real ghost.
Late morning sun shining through the glass door warmed the tiled floor. That cursed cat, Cadmus, loved nothing more than to lay there to sleep.
Sham positioned the angel in just the right spot. At this distance from the floor, the force of the falling figurine should kill the cat easily. Then Cadmus could sleep forever.
Bwaahaahaahaa!
With that cat out of the way, Sham could get about doing what he was here to do—scare people. That’s all he needed, just one little scare. That shouldn’t be too hard. Maybe it wouldn’t be… this time…
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Jason Lairamore is a writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror who lives in Oklahoma with his beautiful wife and their three monstrously marvelous children. He is a 2024 Jim Baen Memorial Award finalist and a 2023 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award finalist. He has won Writer of the Future honors with sixteen honorable mentions, one silver honorable mention, and a semi-finalist placement. His work is both featured and forthcoming in over 100 publications to include Neo-Opsis, New Myths, Stupefying Stories, and Third Flatiron publications, to name a few.
Jason has been a contributor to Stupefying Stories since… time immemorial. His most recent story in our virtual pages was, “They Try to Kill Me.” We believe “This Cat Must Die!” was the first story of his we published, but we’re not absolutely certain of that. In any case, Jason has gone on to quite a remarkable writing career since he first showed up in our inbox in 2012, and we’re proud to have helped him along, in our own little way. If you enjoyed this story, you should check out his other publications.
That’s not a suggestion, tenderfoot.
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