Zak began. "I hope everyone has had enough to eat."
They all nodded or groaned agreement. Some of the cats actually looked as if they had eaten enough for a month.
"What will be this year's story?" said Nurley, a young tabby cat. "We can't wait Uncle Zak."
"Once upon a time, " Zak said, "There lived a powerful cat named O'Puma. He was the most powerful cat in all the world. He was elected Chief Cat by all the cats in Cat Nation that believed he would bring positive change to the country. As soon as he was elected he started to make those changes he had promised. After a year in office as as Christmas was past, as the nation was experiencing its coldest winter on record, Chief O'Puma the nation's cats had started talking about the Chief's first year as the leader of all catdom."
"Is this a true story? "Asked Justin Cat "Not really." said Zak. Some parts might seem true, but they were mostly made up. Whoever heard of a Puma running the country anyhow? You know that cats are too intellegent to leave the details up to a Puma and its minions. Anyhow....
Even the chief had to reflect on the his first year. So many cats were still out of work, but he had done great things in passing laws to help is fellow felines. He has distributed more wealth in one year than any cat ever had. Chief O'Puma was proud of the agenda he promised. One evening as he was relaxing he was thinking about how great a cat he was and about how everyone loved and admired him. Content, he drifted off to sleep.
It was not long after he had gone to sleep that the Chief woke from his slumber with a start. There was a heavy sound coming from within his room. "CLOP" "CLOP" "CLOP" As he sat up in bed Chief O'Puma could see the source of the sound. A gray apparition stood before him its body wrapped in explosives. At first O'Puma stared at the apparition and was slow to react. Then, as he realized that the apparition looked like an alleged terrorist, he recoiled from the spector.
Then he realized that he knew the apparition. It was William Catares. It was his friend, the cat terrorist that had done a bombing at the New York Cat Delegation 40 years ago. He was a teacher now. He had never had to even go to jail for his activities. Yes, the American Cat system of justice was the best in the world. "
"Why did he not go to jail?" Asked, Jill. She was one of the more curious of Zak's neices.
"The judge let him go free becauses the cat that arresed him accidently stepped on his tail while removing the body bomb he wore." said Zak.
Jill looked confused. "You mean that this cat was willing to blow up a bunch of other cats and the judge let him go because his toe was hurt?"
"Yep." said Zak. Pretty weird huh? The audience just nodded. Zak continued. "The judge said that Catares civit right were violated."
"It hurts.... It hurts." howled William Catares, the bomber cat. In that wailing sound William said, "You will be visited by three apparitions tonight. Listen to them he howled. It may not be too late."
"But you are not dead." Exclaimed O'puma. "You were alive when I saw you weeks ago."
"Yes." Cried Catares, "But, then I had a heart attack and became this. I woke up with only one tow on each leg. The missing toes hurt all the time and every night this explosive belt goes off blowing me to bits. Then every night I come back together only to be blown up again. Each night feeling as if I was blown into a 1000 pieces. Listen to the ghosts, O'Puma. Listen, maybe it won't be too late. "
As Catares started to fade away a terrible sound echoed through the house as he exploded into 1000s of peices. The smell of sulfer and burnt flesh, like the smell of burning after a bomb explodes, almost overcame O'puma. A scream echoed in his ear. A whispered sound, "The ghosts, the ghosts."
"In the dream", Zak continued. "As soon as the toeless William Catares faded the Chief saw a figure standing by his four poster royal bed. The figure was a tall extremely well dressed cat. The cat had finely groomed hair on silken fur and wore an Arcati suit. There was, however, a translucent quality to the cat. Chief O'Puma reached out to touch the suit and his hand flowed completely through it. Suddenly an arrow of fear swept through the Chief. This was a ghost, he thought, a spirit. This was something outside his experience, something that he could not control or manipulate. It reminded the chief of that cat named Brown. It was real but hard to accept.
"I am the Specter of Freedom past." It said. "I am here to show you the great things this country was and could be again."
"What if I refuse to go?" said O'Puma.
"If you refuse to go, " said the specter, "You will be like your friend though the pain is in proportion to the suffering you have caused. A 1000 explosions will not be enough for you."
"I will go, though I don't believe." said O'Puma, arrogantly.
Suddenly they were in a home. It was the home of Richard Catson, one of O'Pumas old friends. Richard, his wife Erica and their three children were all sitting around the table.
"It was a great year." Richard was saying. "We have so much to be thankful for. The software business, Catsoft, we started is doing really well and we have hired 30 new people over the past year. The risk we took has really paid off. Did everyone pick a couple of cats from the Angel Tree at Church. We should be able to help 10 families this year. "
Then, the scene if front of O'Puma faded. It was now a factory floor with partial car frames moving down the assembly line. A horn sounded and the line came to a halt. Bob Lawson was speaking to another worker. It is so nice to get bonuses and overtime, they really help this time of year. I bet we will be working for Catsler for the next 100 years.
As that scene faded, O'Puma felt a cold chill washs over him. "What was that?" O'Puma asked.
"The cold winds of change. " said the spector. "All this was what has been. Your rule is about to begin. Your government is now going to manage all those lives. You already own Catsler."
"But spector, why is it so cold? " Even as O'Puma uttered this question, the Spector of Freedom Past was fading. The moments later, the Ghost of Freedom's Death appearred. This spector was horrible to look upon.
Under its hooded robe were bone thin hands and its face was long and drawn with black circles under the eyes. Chains bound its arms and legs limiting its movements.
They were now at a homeless shelter. It was an old converted firehouse. A hundred cats crowded around long tables waiting for a free meal. The city provided these meals three times a day to homeless and destitute cats. O'puma could hear the conversation. A middle aged cat was saying, "Last year we were doing well. I worked for a company called Catsoft. When the government passed this last tax, the company could not handle it, and had to close. It put 60 cats out of work. We had no where else to go."
Next they were at the sight of a bombed out crater. O'Puma could see the charred sign that had once heralded the great 100 plus story Sears Tower. Its majesty now just rubble as a result of a terror attack. "How did this happen? " Said O'Puma.
The shade pointed to commentary on a TV window not far away. "Yes," the announcer was saying. "Ever since the O'puma administration started treating these terrorist cats as common criminals they have flooded our country. The Sears Tower is the 6th attack on our shores this year. The terrorist don't fear us. Don't fear our retribution. Lets face it, we can't even use catnip or tickling on these terror cats. They will keep coming and if we catch them we will put them in country clubs. If fact, the cats responsible had just been released from the Humane Shelter at Catmo. "
Zelda interupted. "Zak, this is a depressing story. Is it going to get better or are all these cats going to sleep badly tonight?
"Zelda." Zak chided. "The parts with the ghosts are always depressing. Whoever heard of a happy ghost. (Except for Casper.) and he was too young to know the difference. You know there has to be a happy ending however."
"Ok." said Zelda. "Tell us about the last ghost."
Zak stood on all fours, jumped 6 inches in the air and landed back on the couch with a loud pop from one of couch spring. Then, he said, in a sudden and thunderous voice, "POP!!! ..... and then there appeared the Specter of America To Come."
This shade was the scariest of the ghosts, is hacked and coughed..... Its faded skin was pitted with lesions and it smelled of disease and death. "Come with me it wheezed."
In the blink of an eye they were in a hospital emergency waiting room. Its was packed with injured and ailing cats. Many lay on the floor wailing, and some had open wounds.
"Why specter are these people not seeing a doctor?" asked O'Puma.
"There are almost no doctors left since the government started running the medical treatment programs. The government wanted more of the doctors for less and less pay and most have left the profession. The few that are left in the hospitals work in these conditions."
"But these are horrible conditions. Why does someone not do something?
"Someone did something." Said the specter. "This is your doing."
Next they went through the emergency room doors. O'Puma could hear the constant wailing of a voice. Whose voice was that he wondered. Then he saw, it was his own. He was laying on a gurney in pain. The doctor was talking.
"I am sorry chief." said the doctor. We can give you pain medicine, but you are 80 years old now, so we can't fix your broken hip. The life value commission has said that there is not enough money for broken hips. "
But... " said O'Puma, "I was the one who passed the laws that made the value life commission. It was never meant to apply to me."
"I am sorry. " said the doctor. "We offer one other alternative. Euthanasia. With that your family will not be charged for procedure since it saves so much over continued treatment. You really must consider the greater good. You don't want to be a burden on society and your family. We can't fix your hip so you can get around. At this point your value to society is zero. The best way you can contribute is by electing to have the medicare opt out plan."
"Now." said the doctor, "Which will it be? Pain pills or Euthansia?"
At this point the doctors words reverberated in O'puma's head. "Pain pills or Euthansia, Pain pills or death, pain pills or death. " It was a horrible repeating song. All of a sudden he remembered the spirit of the Spector of America to Come.
He looked at the spector. "Must this come true?" he asked. "Am I doomed to die a horrible death by my own plan? Spare me cruel ghost, spare me.
O'puma then woke. He was on the floor of his home curled up in a ball and trembling terribly. He called out to his wife. "Come here, please come here. "
"What is it dear?" she said. "I need to make so changes, changes to the agenda, changes to the health bill, changes to get jobs going."
"Now calm down dear. "She said. "You know that the stimulus and the health bill have to be done as we have discussed. Otherwise, we will no longer control everything. We have discussed this in great detail. Our agenda must be implemented."
"But." said O'puma, "I have seen the future, and it is a horror. I am the chief, I have to stop it."
"You can't." said his wife. "The plans will be passed whether you or anyone else wants to stop them. We have already put the people in place. If you try to stop it we will remove you and send you to clean up in Chernobyl until your fur rots off. You know this is the Chicago way. The plans have gone to far to stop, we are the new progressive state, and I Michelle O'Puma am the real future of Catdom. It would be good of you to rememeber that. "
"At least," thought O'puma, "I will have my place in history."
"Michelle" he called out. "Can I at least have a cigarette?"
"Of course, dear." She said.




