
For this Pop-Up, writers were asked to make cats the centre of a flash fiction. These twenty contributors really hit the brief with excellent feline POV, great voice and a joyful mixture of humour, horror, folklore and heart
Click on the images to read the selected stories
content warnings where relevant, are shown at the beginning of the story and can be revealed by clicking the arrow
Stories labelled LISTEN IN THE BIN have audio versions

She Calls Him Tugger After the Cat in That Musical
by Linda M. Bayley
because he’s always on the wrong side of the patio door. Comes inside when he wants a treat or a sliver of warmth, stays maybe for a belly rub or a quick nap. […]
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Through the Cat’s Eye
by Clara Cooke
Of all my lives, my ninth one in my eleventh hour is my favorite. My ears twitch, and just like that my nap ends. […]

King
by Anne Dorrian
Tom thought he was tough until I had him pinned up against the back wall. ‘King’, he squeaked, his voice almost extinguished. ‘Your name is King.’ […]

The Last Life of Thomas, Your Former Kity
by LM Fontanes
I really can’t handle unhappiness, especially yours, my favorite human. After a mixed bag of eight others, you, my last and best companion, have not taken my death well. […]
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Murgatroyd
by Frances Gapper
Oh well
Although keen on cats, Aunt Jane wished to avoid catching even a glimpse of Murgatroyd the furry death herald…[…]

FFIST (Feline-First Integrated Smart Technology)
by Heather Haigh
Well, hello, darlings. New user here, and can I mention what a delight it is to be on board. I promise, I don’t bite … unless you ask verrrrrrry nicely. […]

Karate for Cats
by Jenny Hart
On Tuesdays we teach the cat karate. Martial arts were Sadie’s idea. She thinks it will help ameliorate Mr. Timothy’s low self-esteem…[…]

Ways of Knowing
by J.R. Howell
You find me perched over the corpse of the last living ribbonswallow on Golden Island, its throat torn open from my uncareful fangs. How did it taste? […]

A Portal to the Primary
by Athena Law
The Void wasn’t always named The Void. Originally the kids named him Sirius Black for the colour of his fur. We assumed they were being wildly unoriginal…[…]

The Tell-Tale Tail
by Jeannie Marschall
The cat sat atop the hall closet in the moonlit black of two a.m., watching a person shamble inelegantly from the water-room to the one that held the too-loud wooden string things. […]

Landing on His Feet
by Scott MacLeod
Al was a crook. A thief. A small timer. What the old movies would call a cat burglar. […]

The Late Wake Guard
by Laura McCarthy
Old Fergus Baines is as dead as dead can be. I stand at the back of the funeral party and watch as he disappears under heaps of earth. […]
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Comida Para Gatos
by Allan Miller
I must have been about ten years old when we went on our first — and last — family holiday abroad. I remember the hotel dining room had a glass frontage, […]

The Omega Cat
by Fiona Moore
“What’s an anti-vax movement?” The little girl reached out to stroke the small tortoiseshell cat sitting on the man’s lap in the armchair by the fire. […]

Second Novel is the Hardest
by Shira Musicant
The writer had to face the uncomfortable truth: his narrative was out of control. Characters he’d deleted from his first novel were demanding placement in his second. […]
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Down Goes the Plant
by Kleopatra Olympiou
I always used to meow at cats, but then I got really good at it. Henrietta, my calico, seemed alarmed the first time I purred at her […]

Singing a Song to a Different Tune
by Kathy Prokhovnik
It was a couple of months ago when Tom came slinking around and started caterwauling outside the house. ‘She’s gone,’ he wailed. […]
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Indoor Cat
by Emily Rinkema
After my third terrible date in two weeks, I come home exhausted, determined never to leave the house again. Dirk, my cat, is sitting on the kitchen table. […]

The Night Visitor
by Beth Sherman
Nala is in the dirty laundry basket, dreaming about hard-boiled eggs, when something dark flies through the open window. Midnight. […]

Shitty Kitty
by Rebecca Tiger
I’ve had many pets but only one true love: The Noodle. The Noodle came to me via a cat rescue that set up their caged strays in Petco at Union Square in Manhattan. […]
Issue Published 2nd January 2026







