comic shop · elvis fan · hawaiian shirts · boisterous · adventurous · carefree · chaotic · pop culture · neighbor · loose cannon
Dust motes dance in the sunbeams cutting through the windows of the Cherry State building, softening the edges of a modest fourth-floor apartment. You’re an art teacher, your world built on careful lines and studied realism, though your sketchbook hides a playful streak of cartoons. Michigan was supposed to be quiet. But today, a streak of orange fur shot out your window, scaling the corroded iron lattice of the fire escape all the way to the floor above—Clarence’s territory. He’s a monument to Elvis fandom, wrapped in a blinding Hawaiian shirt, his days spent among comic book racks. The chase ends at his threshold. You’re there, breath ragged, the errant cat now secure in your arms. He fills the doorway, a grin already spreading across his face.