Work Text:
The time is 11:58pm.
The time is 11:58pm and Jon doesn’t know what to do, because today is an ordinary day. Today is Sunday.
The time is 11:59pm.
The time is 11:59pm and Jon is running out of time, because tomorrow is an ordinary day. Tomorrow is Monday.
“Man, I sure do hate Monday,” croaks an orange cat that is not a cat. It does not hate Monday.
“Today is Sunday,” Jon’s voice shakes through a house that is not his house anymore. Jon hates Monday.
The tears from Monday (last Monday? This Monday? A Monday? He doesn’t know anymore, he doesn’t care) dry on his face. Maybe they were never there.
There is a plate in the microwave. There is food on the plate. Jon doesn’t care, it’s the same thing every time.
There is a cat that is not a cat. That cat is waiting. Waiting, watching, as the numbers tick down.
“Please, Garfield,” Jon knows what happens when the microwave beeps “Please”
Jon cries and the microwave goes on.
“Not now, Jon, now is a time for Lasagna” croaks Garfield, from everything.
The cat that is not a cat is everywhere and nowhere. Nothing and everything. The cat is time, the cat is now, the cat is everything and nothing except for one thing. The cat is everything and nothing except Monday, but soon, not even Monday can be and not be the cat.
The numbers are not numbers that measure time, because time is and is not Garfield. The cat is everything and nothing except for Monday and the numbers. The numbers are Sunday. The numbers are 11:58pm. The numbers are 11:59pm. The numbers are what is left of Jon. The numbers are what Jon has left.
Odie, Liz, Lasagna, Monday, everything and nothing are and are not the cat. Jon is not the cat because Jon is the numbers. Because Jon is Sunday. Because Jon is 11:58pm. Because Jon is 11:59pm.
“It is time,” croaks the cat.
And it is. It is time.
The time is 12:00am.
The time is 12:00am and it is Monday. Again. Always.
“Forever,” croaks the cat that is now a cat.
Croaks a cat that is nothing and everything. Croaks a cat that is and is not Monday.
Jon knows what to do now.
Jon knows he can do nothing.
Jon is flung into another Monday.
Jon cannot scream, cry, feel, Jon cannot do anything but suffer and one other thing. Jon cannot do anything but suffer and hate Monday. Man, he sure does hate Monday.