The werewolves took off at a full sprint in that direction, barking, growling and leaping over downed branches. Wracked with worry for the gray cat but feeling powerless to help him, Tabs watched the wolves go until they were too far into the forest to see them.
“Mrrrrrrowww!” the gray cat had said. Help me! Please help!
Tabs had to do something.
He stood up for the first time in what seemed like hours but was really only a few minutes. Compressed as he’d been while the werewolves were searching, he was retaining some of his body heat, but the full force of the chilly wind dug deep into the downy fur of his soft underbelly now that he was standing.
The plank Tabs had used to climb up to the windowsill, and from there up to the roof, was almost directly below him on the ground, which was covered by pine needles. Lot of good that’ll do me now, Tabs thought.
The roof was long and wide and, except for a chimney and a few air conditioning units, completely empty. Tabs wondered if there might be another way down, maybe a fence he could hop down to or a stack of boxes or something somewhere on the other side.
He scampered along the edge of the roof, looking for anything he could use to climb down.
Deep in the forest, something roared. It was deep and strong and powerful. It sounded huge!
What the heck was that!?
Then, the werewolves were howling. Tabs looked but couldn’t see anything. The wolves were howling and barking and yipping. And there was something else, too. Yelping. Something was yelping in what sounded like pain.
The gray cat?
The fierce battle raged like thunder for three seconds, and then it stopped.
After that, nothing.
A minute passed. The next sound Tabs heard was his own exhaling. He’d been holding his breath.
He shook violently now, from both terror and temperature, and breathed in fits and starts.
Tabs thought he heard something at that moment, a brief groan from somewhere off in the forest, but he listened hard for it and didn’t hear it again.
He did hear something else, though, a distant whump-whump-whumping that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and it was getting progressively louder.
“Mrow!” Tabs exclaimed. Helicopter!
To follow our story from the beginning…
Twitter 
