Owl, the Station Cat, the Human and the Fox

11.11pm. Darkness: A good time to hunt. The owl watches and waits in
the tree, its senses are sharp, its intention is clear. The station cat
pauses in its nocturnal wandering to shelter under the warmth of a
parked car and stares from the blackness, through the fence to the
platform.

11.12pm. The familiar rumble of an approaching train - the slowing
rhythmic thump over sleepers tells the world it's stopping. The final
thump - a burst of hydraulic breath as double doors slide open and
humans spill forth, senses thoroughly dulled. Except for one who
lurches forward and still bent double, vomits a perfect circle onto the
platform, its crystalline wake drifting slowly on the air. His
companions drag him away around houses into the low lit town. Taxis
pick-up others. The scene clears. Lower level sensations return.

11.15pm. Darkness: A good time to hunt. The owl spots a mouse and
swoops, catching it first time. A good kill.

11.16pm. A sound from the other side of the station of a single human
running on his two feet. The station cat spots him arriving under the
bright human lights disappearing as he runs down the steps to the
subway to cross under the tracks. The human runs up the other set of
concrete steps and turns on to the nearside platform. Senses sharper
than the other humans, he spots and avoids the 14" platform pizza which
still steams in the cool October air.

The human looks at the digital board above the platform - next train at
23:48. He has just over half an hour to wait, and seeks distraction.
The adjacent pub is no longer serving and is at chucking out time. He
wanders to the wild end of the platform where the track backs onto
allotments. He has seen foxes here before on a night like here before
and wants to again.

Stragglers from the pub arrive on the other platform, the sound of the
wooden door shutting behind them still spinning in their heads. They
speak much louder than normal humans. The owl, the station cat and the
human hear them but none can understand them. A train pulls into the
platform and takes them away.

Having finished its meal, the owl lets out a cry. The human hears it,
"Well at least I heard something". The station cat senses its moment as
the human moves back into view. Crossing the car park from under the
car, at a pace, it slides under the railings to the waiting human.
Meowing, purring and marking the human, the station cat and its prize
pause to hear the owl again. The human crouches to stroke and the
station cat jumps onto a perfect length of flat thigh, digging in
hunter's claws through cream coloured denim.

Time passes, the human starts to wonder how long he can remain balanced
with the station cat on his thigh.

11.42pm. The human's train will be coming soon, he rises, pulling
resistant talons forward from his trousers. The station cat runs off
under the railings but is soon called back for the company. No longer
able to lie like a sphinx station cat investigates the smells of the
platform: moss, cigarette butts, old chewing gum.

11.46pm. The station cat starts to groom. The human looks to the wild
end of the other platform - a fox is wandering down. It stops, looks at
the station cat and then the human. The human stares back then looks to
the station cat, which is too preoccupied to notice the fox.

11.47pm. The rumble of a train. The fox retreats, as does the station
cat to its car park hideout. The percussive beat slows to a stop. The
hydraulic shot of breath. The human gets on. The train pulls away and
the beat picks up as it fades.

11.49pm. Darkness: A good time to hunt.