"Good Luck Cat by Kaija" Title is over a wall of records all by the Good Luck Cats, the first visible is them as a group of 3 in 60/70's outfits in a "best of" collection but a couple albums later its just 2 older looking ladies. One of the old ladies is sitting in a comfortable looking room with guitars on one wall and a cat tree on the other, she asks a question to a young woman sitting with her, she slightly resembles the other older lady from the album, "Talia have you looked at the list I gave you?" As Talia answers she reaches down to pet a black cat, "Mossy's list? Sure, she doesn't like enclosed spaces, her favorite is tuna in goat milk but don't let her-" The old woman interrupts, "You know why I gave it to you right? I want you to take care of Mossy when I'm gone-" Talia interjects, "Aw, Miss Iris don't talk like that, you've still got plenty of-" Iris takes her turn in cutting her off, "It's going to happen eventually." Mossy the black cat hisses at Talia while Iris continues seriously, "And I know you two don't really get along but you're the only one I trust." Talia sits up in surprise and says, "Really?" "So, it's important you know the truth. I never even talked about it with your grandmother." Iris says as Mossy jumps up to sit with her purring as Iris pets her while she talks, "I'm sure she knew, but until she passed I barely thought of what would happen after I was gone... Do you believe in things that can't be explained?"
Talia looks confused at that, she questions, "Like ghosts? I guess so... Or aliens??" visions of sheet ghosts and little green men swirl around her head. Iris answers, "No... Maybe I should ask a different question... Do you know how long I've had Mossy?" She gestures to the cat on her lap, who looks kind of grumpy. "Um...No?" "Sixty-one years." "That's-'" "I know. But it's true." The background fades to black as we look into Mossy's eyes and enter a flashback to when Iris was young, "I found her when I was nineteen. It was in an abandoned house, in a room that had been closed for years." We see a Young Iris, her wavy hair is red now and her yellow shirt has a pointed collar that was in style in the 60's. She creeks open an old door that pushes a large pile of dust out of the way. "She was just skin and bones. I had figured she must have somehow snuck in and been stuck there for days..." behind the dust the door was full of scratches and claw marks, Iris isn't looking at that though, she's looking shocked at something offscreen making a "MRRRR" sound. "She was so weak she could barely move. I'll never forget how she looked."
We cut to her standing in a vet office next to some other patients waiting to be seen, Mossy is barely visible wrapped in a pink towel growling and hissing. "Though, because she was so weak, it was really easy to capture her." Then we are in Iris apartment, a very malnourished and scraggly Mossy is set up with the pink towel on Iris's mustard yellow couch, she is gently licking the spoonful of food Iris is feeding her. "The veterinarian said that despite everything her heart was still healthy, she just needed food and a safe place to rest. But even after she recovered," Fast forward to Mossy still on the same couch but no longer on the towel and looking much better, she's only a little skinny and scruffy now. She's also hissing at Iris's outstretched hand. "I didn't think she would ever warm up to me..." Iris sadly walks away as Mossy looks on, Iris pulls out her guitar and starts practicing. Mossy seems curious and walks over, Iris sees this and brightens up.
"Knowing what I know now, it wasn't much time at all...I'm glad she didn't need as much time as it could have been..." She softly plays her guitar as Mossy listens relaxed next to her leg." Suddenly the 3 band members are playing together, Iris on guitar, Talia's grandmother on drums and the unnamed man playing bass. The band seems pretty popular with fans cheering. "I always called her my good luck cat, my career took off after I found her...And after we changed our name." We see a scrap of paper with names like Crazy Colors and Hello Flower crossed off but The Good Luck Cats is being written by Talia's grandmother. "Actually. the name and logo were your grandma's idea. She had a lot of good ideas..." The three band members are sitting on the floor brainstorming with cushions and scraps of paper strewn about. "Anyway, Mossy was like one of the band, she even came out on stage a couple of times." On stage Iris is playing the guitar and singing with her eyes closed, unseen by her Mossy runs by the shocked 3rd band member.
Mossy jumps up on Iris's shoulders, the spotlight shines on them and she continues playing smiling with her friend. "I didn't think anything strange bout her for years..." Fast forward to an older Iris, she's a little stockier with some grey in her hair and her mesh sleeve outfit and choker fits in in the 90's, there's a tape recorder on the table of a booth. Mossy looks just the same. Iris sits there with Mossy on her shoulder, she asks someone off-screen, "So, any more questions?" "Just one more thing, what's your cat's name?" "Oh! I thought everyone knew, it's Mossy!" Iris grins and rubs Mossy's chin. "Oh, haha, You named her after your old cat huh?" "Huh?" Iris looks confused. "Like twenty five years ago, you took a cat onstage and shouted her name, it was Mossy too right? Unless that's one healthy old lady, Haha!" Iris looks a bit concerned and Mossy looks away. "Right, haha..." She laughs and her narration starts back up, "So I finally realized she was special. But what was I gonna do about it, tell a vet, 'hey my cat is too healthy?'" Iris is back at home taking down a guitar from its holder. "Even if they believed me they'd want to study her..." Mossy looks up at her and says, "Meow?"
Cut to Mossy eating fresh kibble in her bowl. "More likely they'd think I was a crazy cat lady...Which I guess was true." Iris sits back in her chair with her guitar, she lets out a hmmm. "I didn't know how long she would live, or how long she had already been alive..." Mossy jumps up on the head of the chair. "I wondered what kind of things she'd seen..." She looks into Mossy's enigmatic bright green eyes, "...Does she even realize she's different? Well, no matter what, she was still my little kitty." She affectionately scritches Mossy's chin, Mossy relaxes and gets around Iris's shoulders and they sit together. "For however much time either of us had."
We go back to the present day where Iris is older, stockier with more wrinkles and fully grey hair, Mossy still looks the same, and they are both in the same position, Mossy purring on Iris's shoulders while she scritches her chin. "So you see, I'm not just looking for someone to feed her for a couple of years after I'm gone," She grins weakly while Mossy looks away seeming to sulk. Talia looks shocked holding her tea as Iris ends her explanation with, "This could be a lifetime commitment. So, what do you think? Do you still agree?" Isis looks at her seriously but Talia quickly assures, "Of course!" She sheepishly rubs the back of her head and says, "I mean, sounds great to me. Hardest part of havin' my guinea pigs was sayin' goodbye...Plus sounds like she's good luck?" Mossy has moved down to Iris's lap she is definitely sulking. Talia continues, "And you know I'd do anything for you Miss Iris, even if she never gets used to me, I'll still take care of her. You don't gotta worry, I want you to relax and know everything will be taken care of... That's what you want too, right Mossy?" Mossy perks up seemingly surprised at being addressed.
Talia kneels down to be more eye-level to Mossy and says, "I don't know what your life's been like, but I know you love miss Iris. Maybe you don't wanna think about saying goodbye yet, I don't either. And it's not time yet, we're just planning for the future for now. What I mean is I'm not trying to be a replacement." She closes her eyes when Mossy looks away and weakly adds on, "And she would really like it if we got along..." Talia reaches out her hand in a handshake gesture, "Can't we be friends?" It hangs in the air for a moment but then Mossy reaches out and headbutts Talia's hand purring as Talia pets her, Talia excitedly points to her and smiles at a grinning Iris.
Iris and Talia sit on the same couch with Mossy purring in the middle, they both play soft music with Iris's old guitars. As we see small snippets of the lyrics, "If we could stay in this second a little bit longer...These dear moments pass by so quickly...But remember they arrive just the same." Mossy's memories pass on by, of her with a writer, a painter, in a field with another cat, in medieval style painting, playing with grass, as they get smaller and older there are hints she's been around so long she's seen sabretooth tigers and is painted on cave walls, who knows how old she is, but she's here right now.
