365 Days.

I walk down the stairs,
picking Ghostie up as he gets under my feet.

“Were you just trying to trip me?”
I coo,
kissing the top of Ghostie’s head.
Ghostie gives a cute meow.

Ghostie is just two months old,
grey with faded stripes,
tiny ears and big eyes,
and a cute pink tongue he always cleans himself with.

Ghostie was my present.
The previous neighbors next door had a cat that gave a little of four.
The neighbors had to move,
and couldn’t take the kittens with them.
They gave three out,
but nobody chose Ghostie.
He was too quiet.

I liked him.
I walked to their house everyday,
and played with him.

And they,
seeing how attached I got to Ghostie,
and how much Ghostie loved me,
gave me the kitten as a present before they left.

At first dad didn’t agree,
claiming the kitten will waste my time from studying.
But then my condition worsened,
and he shut up about it.

I walk into the kitchen,
look around before setting Ghostie down and opening the fridge.
I pull out the milk,
pull out a bowl,
cornflakes,
then eat the cereal.

It’s Saturday,
some seven in the morning,
and already the house is empty except for me,
Ghostie,
and Magnus,
our amazing butler who prowls around,
and scares the hell out of everyone with his sudden appearances.

He’s just like a ghost,
our Magnus.
You can never see him,
but all the work is done.
You leave your room for a minute in the morning,
come back,
and your bed is done,
curtains are open,
everything nice and neat,
and your clothes already on the bed and ready to be put on.

And you never even heard the butler walk in and out.
Never saw him.

Yet you’ll always know he’s there.
You can tell if he’s nearby,
because his ‘Gres Cabaret Pour Homme’ perfume always lingers behind.
So if you suddenly smell jasmine,
you can tell he’s somewhere near.

It’s exactly what I can smell right now.
With a smile,
I stand up,
and leave the dining room to go hide behind a door.
This time,
I want to scare him.

A second later,
Magnus appears.
His black hair is pushed back by pins so it doesn’t get into his face,
his eyes angled up a bit at the ends,
his body slim and light,
his steps barely heard.
I sometimes wander if he was a cat in his previous life.

He makes quick neat work of putting everything away and cleaning,
then turns to leave.
But I jump out and grin.
“Magnus!”

The poor butler jumps in his spot,
freezes,
then quickly turns around,
sees who called his name,
and lowers his gaze.
“Sir,
I am sorry,
I did not know you were here.”

I grin and walk over,
tugging a bit at my blue hair.
“Why do you always prowl around so quietly?”
I ask curiously and lightly.

Magnus hesitates.
“To not disturb my masters, sir.”

I tilt my head and look at him for a second.
“Do you have a spare fifteen minutes?”

“I believe I could find some, sir.”
Magnus replies after a pause.
What he really means is,
‘I think I can give you some of my person-free time.’

“Don’t worry,
I won’t tell father.”
I assure him then flash a smile again,
hoping to convince him.

Magnus looks like he wishes to be elsewhere.
“Yes, sir.
What would you like me to do?”

I take him by the hand and lead him to my room,
glancing over my shoulder to see Magnus look uncertain and uneasy.
He always did that,
when he was seen and whatever.

I pull him into my room and close the door behind us,
then lead him to stand by on the balcony,
facing him towards me and his back to the lake behind him.

Then I take my pencil,
a new canvas,
set it up and start to sketch his portrait.

Within fifteen minutes I’m done sketching,
and within those fifteen minutes I had gotten to know Magnus better.

He has a beauty spot beside the end of his right brow,
his lips are rather small but his mouth isn’t.
His nose is perfect, not too big, short, small or long.
and the outline of his jaw is straight,
giving him a rather hawk like appearance if he narrows his eyes.

Things I had never quite noticed before.
I quickly jot down what colors he has on him at that moment,
then let him go.
He breezes out of my room quickly,
and a second later,
I rush out to ask him something,
but not surprisingly,
Magnus has already vanished.