I had just celebrated my eighteenth birthday, right near the time when school would finally end. I could barely remember the night before. Tonnes of alcohol, a bit of flirting, some bad dancing and a couple of drunken discussions. Those were the things he could vaguely recall. The rest of it was a blur.
The Saturday after his birthday was spent recovering in my home, in the company of my long time friend, Jake.
Jake was a funny kind of guy, often sarcastic but with a caring heart, a touch overweight with longish black hair and faded clothes - which inevitably consisted of a worn t-shirt and blue jeans. Right now, Jake and myself were sitting bleary eyed in front of the television, on the Playstation, as always.
" He Mickey? Know what that box is?" Jake asked, pausing the game and pointing to the top of the television.
" Don’t think I’ve seen it before. Maybe someone left it here." I walked over and picked up the box, a small, solid looking wooden thing. " Think we should open it?"
" Yeah why not? It’s probably just some idiot’s shot glasses or something."
I pulled at the lid, but it would barely budge. There didn’t seem to be a lock. " Can I have some help?"
" Geez you’re an idiot." Jake said. " Give it here."
He pulled on the lid, straining, until it finally cracked open, the lid flipping right off the box and on to the floor. " Fuck me." Jake muttered.
" What?" I asked.
" Looks kinda valuable." He replied, pulling a small circular amulet out of the box. " Shit…is this real gold?" He looked closely at the thing. " Don’t know if jeweled animal paws are very good taste."
" Who left it here?" I asked. It was a fair question.
" No idea. Some drunken idiot I’d say, probably threw up in the toilet, passed out in the hall, and destroyed my wallet, you know." He winked at me. " There’s a note. I’ll take a look."
I went out into the kitchen and poured yet another glass of water. The awful hangover style dry mouth I’d had earlier was long gone, so it was possible I was drinking the water out of an actual thirst. I came back into the lounge room.
" What’s it say?" I asked.
" In a minute." Jake muttered. I stood around impatiently, waiting for him to finish reading. " Yeah, um, well, it’s kinda a bit zany." He said. " Something about putting it on your chest and turning into a cat, or a dog, or some shit like that."
" Right… Sure." I said doubtfully.
" So, if I do this." Jake started fiddling with the pendant. " The timer should go here."
" You think that’s a good idea. Somebody else probably owns it."
" Pfffft. I won’t break it. They probably won’t remember that it’s here, let alone notice it was out of the box." He looked at the pendant. " Wanna have a go at it? We’ll go with the cat’s paw."