In response to Mistharael's challenge: "Pick any creature: natural, supernatural, fantastic, traditional, original, whatever. Write a story about it. This story can be written about the species in general, a specific member of the species, from the point of view of one of these creatures,whatever your little heart desires."
Nexie shifted restlessly on her pillow, or rather the unoccupied pillow on Lara�s bed. She tapped the side of her doglike snout with her long slender tail. Once again Nexie couldn�t sleep, despite the fact that the moon was sending its silvered light onto her golden coat. It had been weeks since Lara had first opened the book, and nothing had changed.
�Mystery meat my claw!� Nexie loudly hissed, after all Lara couldn�t hear her without opening the book, weeks behind in her studies. She glanced down at Lara, whose face was currently buried by her dark hair. Nexie sighed and pushed the hair from her mistress�s face with her tail. She then leapt down from the bed, landing gracefully on all fours. Careful not to mar the desk with her clawed feet, Nexie climbed up on the cluttered surface. Wrinkling her nose at last week�s midnight snack Nexie grasped the leather bound book in her teeth and carted it to a convenient patch of moonlight on the floor. She grasped the cord in her teeth and untied it. Nexie nosed the cover open, ignoring the star-chart inlays. Her tail flicked through the pages until the one Nexie had marked with the sapphire ribbon. Instead of the scarlet text Lara saw Nexie was treated to emerald.
�Same nonsense.� Nexie sighed and tapped the book with her tail. It quickly snapped shut and the cord re-tied itself. She grasped the book in her teeth and with much difficulty finally forced it into Lara�s book bag. �I can�t believe the best advice the book has is to keep putting the book where your person will find it.� Nexie swished her tail with an air of aggravation as she sauntered down to the kitchen.
Nexie shoved her head through the refrigerator door, blinking her crimson eyes to adjust to the darkness. Her pale nose snuffled about until it located the yummy smells of someone�s Chinese takeout. �That�ll work.� Nexie liked her chops and scurried up to the top shelf and to the back. She grasped the metal handle and had a moment of guilty pleasure when she noticed that Lara had scrawled her name on top of the box.
�Oh well.� Nexie grinned around the takeout box handle and dove back through the refrigerator door. She wolfed down the squiggly noodle dish and deposited the empty box into the kitchen garbage. Nexie yawned and sleepily crawled into the cat�s unused bed. When the sun�s rays found the bay window in the breakfast nook it made for excellent napping. Within moments Nexie was finally asleep for the night. She had already decided not to follow Lara to school, certainly no point in it. Besides she could scrounge up decent food around here.