No one had visited the park in a long time. It was mostly known for its spray-paint graffiti on the small play structures and how it smelled like chicken feed. But it was the only place near Aisha's new house, so it would have to do. 
 
"Your new neighborhood sucks," Cilena muttered, weakly swaying on the swing, her legs lazily dangling off the edge, her feet dragging across the playground bark. They were both too old for the swings, but they stayed anyway. "I don't get why you didn't stay." 
 
Cilena's family had visited Aisha's, congratulating them on their new house. What was supposed to be a fun and happy celebration for the parents turned into a depressing and emotional day for both of the girls. The parents were inside the new house, five minutes away by walk, drinking tea and discussing politics.   
 
The two were cousins, and you could tell. They had the same thick lashes, doe-like dark chocolate eyes, and bow-shaped lips. They had the same laughing habit where they would throw back their heads and clap their hands violently. They had the same appetite for disliking movie theater popcorn. They had the same reputation for stealing naan from the tables at the family gatherings. 
 
A silence hung in the air. The only sounds were the cool winds blowing on their faces, a sign that summer was slowly fading away. The sun began to set, casting an orange-golden hue on their faces. Both their eyes sparkled with the sunlight setting on them, their original dark brown tone now a glowing caramel. Their half-drunken Sprite cans were on the base of the swing, warm from the exposure to the weather. 
 
"I'll try to convince my parents to move back. There's no way I'm staying." Aisha kicked the floor out of frustration. She hopped off the swing, causing Cilena to do the same. The two walked until they reached the foot of the graffiti-covered slide, covered with Sharpie marker drawings and colored spray paint messes.  
 
Cilena looked up, gesturing to look behind Aisha. As Aisha turned, her eyes met with the ones of a stray cat. The feline had blue eyes and a dark pelt that blended in prettily with the road pavement. It blinked and tilted its head, as if trying to rack its small brain if they were normal residents of this neighborhood.  
 
"At least there's one good thing about here. Mom said there were a bunch of strays on the street," Aisha whispered, careful not to scare the stray away. "She kinda looks like Kiki." The mention of the resemblance between Cilena's cat and the stray piqued the interest of her cousin. 
 
"You can't even pet it, though," Cilena said remorsefully, her head hanging low as her eyes were still fixated on the cat, as if entranced by it. "You might get rabies." 
 
The two could've passed the time by playing on the play structures, but the monkey bars were so obviously built for younger children that both the girls were taller than them. Still, Cilena hung her legs on one of the bars, dangling upside down three feet off the ground. 
 
Cilena glanced over back at where the cat sat, who had gone away at this point. "Have you met any of the other neighborhood kids?" 
 
"There's three. One boy and two girls. One of the girls is homeschooled and won't stop talking about horses and the other two kids are twins. The girl plays every single sport that this city has to offer and the boy reads Marvel comics and articles about aerospace." Aisha complained, clearly not happy with the set of kids on her block. If she still lived next to Cilena, she wouldn't have had this problem.  
 
Their conversations were normally filled with ab-growing laughter sessions, but an unnatural feeling of negativity hung over this interaction. They were both sad and had no effort to try to make a new inside joke. 
 
Before they could answer, they heard a small, muffled mewl coming from the side of them. The cat had made another appearance. Its head tilted slightly as it held something shiny in its muzzle. As they both looked more closely–thanks to their bad eyesight–Aisha furrowed her brows. 
 
"Hey, that's mine," Aisha leaned forward, trying to grab back the plush Hello Kitty keychain Cilena gifted her today, as part of their parting gift. How the cat had gotten it, she had no idea. The cat leaned back as a result, wanting to keep it. "Come on, give it," Aisha said soothingly, not trying to scare the animal away. 
 
Cilena swiped at the keychain, and the cat started to retreat, padding away with the keychain still in its mouth. The duo noticed that it was surprisingly fast, as they went across the whole chicken-feed smelling park trying to grab Aisha's keychain back. It ducked and dodged every attempted capture and seize, and the lack of sunlight made its small shape incredibly hard to see.  
 
"Hey! Come back!" Aisha shouted out in the air, as if the cat could even understand. Their weak eyes barely made out the silhouette of the moving shape in the dark, padding across the road and onto the house across the street from the park. They both sprinted, not even stopping to check both ways as they travelled across the road's hard pavement. The cat seemed to teasingly wait for them on the sidewalk, patiently waving its tail around. 
 
As they came in contact with the cat, it quickly leapt across the front yard of the mysterious house. Trampling across the owner's squash and cucumber garden, dodging the creepy-looking chubby garden gnomes and flamingo statues. Cilena and Aisha both got caught up in the mess, knocking over the occasional garden gnome. 
 
The two were in the process of chasing it across the small stone steps and into the dried-up Home Depot fountain when an elderly woman turned on the patio lights, stepping out onto the porch, with a horrified look on her face. 
 
"Sugarplum!" She screeched. Aisha quickly stopped what she was doing, looking at the small and stout figure illuminated by the sudden lights. The sounds of the home's interior also spilled out into the evening, with a soap opera in another language playing faintly. The black cat dropped the keychain from its mouth and pounced into the old lady's arms.  
 
"Er–I'm sorry...ma'am. Is he...uh–is he yours?" Cilena spoke, spilling over her words. The old lady looked pretty intimidating, with her thick brows furrowed. She wore what seemed to be a floral nightgown and pearl earrings, with permed, short white hair. Her glasses were thick and made her eyes look unnaturally large. 
 
"No, he isn't. Just a stray I occasionally feed once in a while." The old lady's voice, like an untuned harp, softened as the cat rubbed against her frail arms. "He loves strangers. And also making trouble." 
 
"We're terribly sorry ma'am. We really are. We didn't mean to–" Aisha started, but was interrupted with a sharp tut of the lady's lips. 
 
"Oh, hush. I know it isn't your fault. He comes here and digs up my squash for me. Tries to be helpful, but of course, they aren't ripe, so he just ruins my garden. Instead of playing with yarn balls he likes to dig himself up in dirt and muck, like a dog. Quite a peculiar kitty." The old lady looked at the two girls, who were exhausted from the chase for the keychain. "You two girls can head home now. It's getting dark soon." 
 
The two said sorry once more and started to head back home, the previous golden hue being painted a darker shade by the second. 
 
"Sugarplum. Is that his name?" Aisha recalled from earlier, just on the outside sidewalk of the old woman's house. 
 
"Nope. Doesn't have a name. Just a stray. Has no home, but is everyone's home itself." The old woman's words confused Aisha, so she just nodded and smiled. 
 
Their walk home was filled with laughter, a sweet sound in the dark setting, and both agreed not to tell their parents about this. Later on in the evening, the two decided to watch a movie, falling asleep at 1 A.M., just when the parents had decided to say goodbye for the day. 
 
The two had said bye to each other unknowingly, but the cat had stayed.