By: LM Fontanes.

I trained my cyber cat to purr upon touch and now, even when I simply stretch my fingers outward, it starts to rumble. I trained my cyber cat to rub its feline replica face against my suited leg as soon as I emerge from the lunar lander and meow if I spend more than five minutes scrolling through old vids of me and Charlie. I trained my cyber cat to replicate my darling Charlie in most of the obvious ways, but I couldn’t train my own heart to forget that beloved whiskered creature on the sheltering planet I left behind.

© 2025. LM Fontanes

LM Fontanes comes from a family of educators and first responders in working class Philadelphia. Words in/upcoming: Roi Fainéant, Frazzled Lit, Silly Goose Press, JAKE, 34 Orchard, Flash Fiction Festival Anthology, The Willowherb Review, and other venues.

Posted November 5, 2025.