{"sf1_id":736294,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Caught in Mid-Stream","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1945,"posted_at":"2014-07-28T02:31:00.000Z","tags":["Age Difference","Beauty","Cat","Feline","First Time","M/F","Panther","SummerAdventures","Youth","age","nobility","summer"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/736294-caught-in-mid-stream","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/736294","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=736294\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#11 of Miscellany\n\nI thought this might take longer to write than it did.","content":"                When\nyou get older, you ponder things you didn't care about in your youth. When the\nhormones run high, and your muscles are eager for exercise, you have very few\nthings that occupy your mind. If you're male, you think with your genitals. And\nif you're female, well, you think with the same organs. I'm not complaining,\nnor am I bitter. I had my time, and it was a glorious one. That was many, many  years ago.                Now,\nevery day, I would wade to a large flat rock in the middle of the river and\nfish. Not the overly complicated way of using a pole, some string and a bent\npiece of sharp wire. No, I sat there and used my imagination. If I left my\nhairy feet in the water long enough, and especially if I didn't move around,\nthe fish would come to me. If they got too curious about the wiggling toes or\nthe undulating fur, I would clamp my feet together and pop them right out of\nthe water.                It\nwasn't a talent that everyone could appreciate. But for a tired old leopard, it\nwas the most fun he could have anymore. A broken leg that had healed poorly had\ndone me in for much of anything else. I wasn't the type to hang around the\nlocal villages and their taverns. I wasn't ancient, but I was old enough to not\nfit in well with the younger generation of cubs and youths. Old enough too that\nthe cold of winter bit into me more than it did in my youth. Summer was a\nsalvation.                I did\nhave an additional bright spot in my waning days though. It didn't happen every\nday, but from time to time I would get a visitor. Her name was Velori. She was\na snow white feline in a class all by herself. She had no spots, and yet her\neyes were green, not the red of an albino. In her face, she was pretty, but to\nbe honest, like an old cat tends to be, she wasn't the most beautiful I had\never seen. That face had belonged to my mate, may the spirits rest her soul.                But Velori\nwould suddenly pop out of the water and sit beside me, watching me patiently waiting\nfor the fish to come near. She would rarely speak, since she knew that noise\nwould frighten them away.  She hardly\nstayed long either, and when she did speak, it was usually in brief snippets.                 \"You\nmust be a very patient person to sit here for hours to catch fish. Aren't there\neasier ways?\"                \"Yes, I\nsuppose there are. But if something is easy to do, then everyone would do it.\nBesides, why should you remark on such a thing. Look to yourself!\"                She\ngiggled, but upon hearing voices along the bank, slipped into the water and\ndisappeared from sight. I smiled, thankful for the brief but enjoyable break in\nmy day. I wasn't anti-social. I was just lonely and feeling out of place; I did\nmy own thing and stayed out of everyone's way.                Since\nyou're likely wondering what I was referring to with her, it is this. When she\ncame of age, she decided to forego all suitors. No, she wasn't one of those who\npreferred her own gender. She decided she wanted to have only the best of the\nmales. She never defined what she meant as best, but she did impose a\nchallenge. Ever summer, starting at the equinox and ending three months later,\nshe promised she would give herself to any male who could catch her.                Now, it\nwas never that simple of course. There were set hours, mostly daylight, so she\ncould safely get to sleep at night. I smiled at her nerve. Like I said, she wasn't\nthe prettiest, but she was special and she knew it. So did all the males. For\nthree years running now she had eluded them, being by the end of the summer fit\nand trim and even faster than at the start.                 I never\nbothered. Like I said, I was old and tired and content with fishing as well as\nthe occasional visit by this extraordinary feminine feline. Oh, I won't say\nthat I didn't get a little rise out of it, in more ways than one, but I was\nunder no delusions as to my place in her scheme.                Her\nvisits were almost always brief, for she was constantly on the run. She found\nthe game to be exhilarating, and her wits were as sharp as any. Today was slightly\ndifferent at the outset of her visit. I had my basket half full of fish. It was\nsubmerged, held in place by a cord. I had closed my eyes when I felt a nibble\non my toes. There was no point in opening them as I could do this blind folded.\nTry as I might though, I couldn't get this persistent fish where I wanted it. The\nslippery piscian was too wily. I opened my eyelids so that I could see what\nfish could outsmart me.                It was\nlong and white and as its head came out of the water, it smiled. \"Caught ya\nsleeping on the job!\"                I\nyawned a little and grinned. \"I suppose you did. The sun is warm, the water is\ncool and I can't just help feeling relaxed.\"                She\nlooked around before darting out of the water onto my rock.  \"Yes, it is a beautiful day. You should see\nall of the fish under the water!\"                I\nlaughed. \"The only fish I care about are those I've caught, and those I haven't\ncaught. If you've seen fish, they'll be a meal some day, if I have anything to\nsay about it!\"                She was\nsqueezing the water from her fur. It was a little less white from the river\nwater, but hardly enough to dampen (sorry!) her looks.  She finished ridding herself of the excess\nand lay back in the sun.                \"Aren't\nyou feeling brave?\" I said, \"Or is it the end of summer already?\"                \"No,\nit's still summer. I think that I'll be safe here for a bit.\"                I\nchuckled. \"Safe from me anyway. Where are your pursuers?\"                She\nstretched out in the sun, her long limbs going to the four points of the\ncompass. Her tail was idly lashing to some internal rhythm.                 \"Who\nknows. After three years, the game has gotten old. Despite fresh meat added\neach year, none has the brains or the speed to match mine. Too bad they weren't\nmore like you.\"                \"Me?\nI'm not in this contest young lady.\"                \"I\nknow. I mean more like when you were my age. I know the stories. They say you\nwere the fastest and most cunning cat in the valley.\"                \"Key\nword; was.\"                She\nsmiled. \"True. Time has a way of ruining everything. They say your mate was a\nbeauty beyond compare... if I'm not being presumptuous.\"                 I\nsmiled back. \"Those were the days. And no, you're not being presumptuous. She\nwas the finest feline anywhere. I was lucky to gain her favor.\"                Velori\nhad rolled to be on her stomach. She was sitting up on her elbows. \"Sounds like\nyou two had quite the romance. I would give up this entire contest to find\nsomeone as perfect as you!\"                My\nheart beat a little faster at the flattery. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I told\nmyself. Just listen and be good. \"I'm not perfect Velori. I have a bum leg, and\nI have a touch of gray around my muzzle. Not to mention, I'm not fit enough to do\nanything useful anymore.\"                 \"That's\ntoo bad. I wish it could be some other way.\" She swung around to a sitting\nposition. She rested her paw on mine. It seemed small and delicate, reminiscent\nof my mates. I gulped a little, fighting down any thoughts I was having. I\ndidn't want to frighten her off. Then my fishing would be even more boring. But\nmy heart was quickening and my blood pressure was climbing.                 She\nsmiled at me in a way that made my heart slow to a stop. Time itself seemed to\nslow. I was feeling uncomfortable. Pleasant, yes, but uncomfortable\nnonetheless. She patted my paw and I instinctively flipped it over to grasp\nhers. I missed the simple things like that. My mate had been gone a few years\nnow, and the emptiness was constant.                She\nsmiled even larger. Her teeth gleamed in the sunlight. \"You have a strong\ngrip.\"                \"I can\nlet go if you want...\"                \"No, I\nthink I like it. Can I see how strong you are?\"                I\nwrinkled my brow. \"It's nothing like in the old days. But if you want to try it\nout, just don't whine if I hurt you.\" I gave her a squeeze until she grimaced\nand tried to pull away. It didn't work. She was stuck in my grasp.                I\nloosen up my fingers. She held onto me with an admirable grip of her own. She\nsighed and smiled.                \"Well,\nI'm glad that's over with.\"                I felt\nhurt. \"But you said you wanted to find out how...\" She put a finger to my lips.                \"I know\nwhat I said. I couldn't get loose. Therefore, I was caught in your grip. Your\ngrip... That means that I now have a mate of my own, both one of my choosing, and\none worthwhile of my time.\"                I\nchoked back a flood of emotion. \"But I can't become your mate!\"                She\npointed to the bank, where a few of the elders were watching. \"They watched you\nhold me fast. You caught me. Or am I so ugly that you wish to have nothing to\ndo with me?\"                I felt\na rise in a region that was normally dormant. \"Uh, are you sure about this?\"                She\nleaned up and kissed me. \"Oh absolutely!\"                She\nclimbed into my lap. I warned against it.    \"Uh, you probably shouldn't do that\nyou know!\"                She\nkissed me soundly. \"Shut up. Neither of us are getting any younger, and I for\none would like a taste of what you gave your first mate. For all accounts, she\nused to howl to the moon.\"                I could\nfeel the blood finding its way to a long dormant organ. What had been mere\nhints at other times was becoming a fully fledged erection. She was quick to\nnotice.                \"Now\nthat's what I'm talking about!\"                By the\ntime we were done proving our commitment to each other, the moon was out, and\nthe crowd that had gathered had broken up and gone home. The entire population\nof males shook their heads in dismay and wondered at my luck. I was so tired\nthat we slept out in the middle of the river the rest of the night. Oh, did I\nsay sleep? No, there was little sleep to be had this night.                I did\nfinally ask her why she chose me. Her answer somewhat surprised me.                \"I\nwould come and sit with you for as long as I could. Not once did you try to\ngrab me or do anything inappropriate. You're grip is still plenty strong. You\ncould have had me any number of times, but you never tried. I thought maybe you\nweren't interested, but I realized you were just being a gentleman. And that\nwas when I knew I had to have you. And as you have proven to me on my mating\nnight, you still have a lot of life left in you. I think I chose well.\"                Who was\nI to argue?"}