Deception (Who let the catz out?)

"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."
-Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

"As long as there's a lower class, I'm in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I am of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free." Vonnegut quoting Eugene Victor Debs at a college commencement speech.

The hole appeared one day. Its appearance, while unexpected, was not particularly surprising. Holes tend to appear now and again. The Murakamian decision that one faces when coming across one of these holes is whether you ignore them or you explore them for lost cats. All of my cats were accounted for so I passed the hole and continued the journey to the end of the path.

The next day the hole was still there. It was bigger even. Either that or I ate too many donuts the night before. Both are probable. Although none of this is true. It is never true. Since I couldn't remember if any of the cats were accounted for, I decided it was time to fall in.

The hole was exactly like I pictured it to be. Very 1996. Dial-up internet. Decent New York basketball. I enjoyed spending time at Burger King. There were cats, but not the ones I was looking for. The deeper I went, the foggier the memories became. I remember something about an arcade and a friend with down syndrome. Something about a field of horses, some bees, and a cut on my knee that gushed but didn't hurt. Cats, but again, not mine. An igloo, my father, and that's it. The igloo had a hole but it sat on the roof as opposed to the floor. A rope, dangling ever so safely, seemed to call out, as safety ropes generally do in times of need. Tired and cold, I climbed through to emerge back to where I am today. Inspired, yet confused, about where I came from and where the cats have gone to.