In the Kid's Hands
Chris(in his mind, still in his cat form, frustrated and panicked):"Oh no, not again. Why? And how the heck is this happening? What do I do now...?"
He continues squirming in the box, but the more he moves, the more the box tightens around him. He lets out a low, frustrated meow, which only makes the kid laugh as he hurries down the street, excited.
Kid's House – Moments Later
The kid runs through the neighborhood, nearly out of breath, but excitement keeps him going. He bursts through the door, box in hand, and sets it down on the floor. He kneels beside it, peeking inside with a wide grin.
Kid 1(to the cat, cheerfully):"Are you hungry? Wait, I'll feed you. Hold on, I'll get you something."
Chris, still panting, claws at the inside of the box, pushing desperately against the sides. The cardboard won't give.
He finally finds a weak spot and, with a burst of energy, rips through the box. It collapses, and Chris tumbles out onto the floor.
Chris(in his mind, trying to stay calm):"Come on, come on, think, think! I need to get out of here before—"
The kid re-enters just as Chris leaps onto a table, panic and desperation in every move.
Kid 1(laughing):"Whoa, you're fast!"
Chris arches his back, hissing, fur puffed up in a warning stance.
Chris(in his mind, momentarily triumphant):"Good. Stay scared. I've got this."
But the kid inches closer, determined.
Kid 1(nervously):"Woah, calm down! I just want to pet you!"
Chris seizes his chance. He bounds onto a chair, then the countertop, dodging the kid's hands.
Chris(thinking):"Not today, kid!"
The kid tries to trap him, but Chris, fully panicked, leaps toward the kitchen window—through it—and lands outside on the grass.
Kid 1(calling out):"Noooo, come back! I just wanted to keep you!"
Backyard – Continuous
Chris starts to breathe in relief... then freezes. He feels something behind him. Slowly, he turns.
A massive white cat stands just feet away, eyes glowing like embers. Its body is twice Chris's size. Tail flicking lazily, it stares with predatory calm.
Chris(in his mind, disbelieving):"What the...?"
His legs tremble.
Chris(in his mind, panicked):"Give me a break! Not another one!"
He bolts. Heavy paws follow—fast.
Chris(realization dawning):"Wait... I know this cat! Oh no, it's Steve!"
Steve — the white cat Chris once gave to Emma — is now chasing him like prey.
Chris sprints, dodging trees and bushes, but Steve is too fast. Chris halts and turns.
Chris(panting):"Hey, Steve... it's me!"
Steve skids to a halt, sniffs the air, briefly confused. Then, he steps forward—slow and deadly.
Chris(in his mind, panic rising):"Oh... no. This is bad. This is really bad."
Chris backs away.
Chris(in his mind, barely holding it together):"Shit... I got... fu—"
Steve lunges. Chris runs again.
Suddenly—
Emma(shouting from afar):"Steve! How long have I been calling you? What are you doing out here?"
Chris freezes. Emma approaches, smiling, picking up Steve in her arms.
Emma(softly):"There you are... I've been looking everywhere for you. What's with you, huh?"
She walks off, unaware of the chaos Chris just escaped.
Chris(in his mind, stunned):"What the hell just happened?"
Streets – Late Night
Chris, still in cat form, races through the streets.
CHRIS(in his mind, panicking):"Okay okay okay — I'm still a cat. Still. A. Cat. WHY AM I STILL A CAT?!"
He bolts, slipping on pavement.
CHRIS(half-screaming):"Streets were never this bumpy! And what's with all these smells?! Oh god… is that dead fish or someone's sock?!"
A car whooshes past. Chris jumps into a bin.
CHRIS:"Oof! Okay, nine lives? That's one down."
Scene: Outside Chris's House – Minutes Later
Chris reaches the locked front door. He scratches.
CHRIS:"Open up! It's me! Chris! Human! Just temporarily... furry!"
He tries the doorknob. His paw slips.
CHRIS(deadpan):"Right. No opposable thumbs. Love that for me."
He eyes the balcony.
CHRIS(in his mind):"Wait... the balcony! I always leave that window cracked!"
Dramatically, he backs up and launches himself—only to smack into the wall.
CHRIS(dazed):"...We don't talk about that."
One retry later, he climbs the drainpipe and makes it in.
Scene: Chris's Room – Moments Later
Chris tumbles through the window.
CHRIS:"Home sweet chaotic home."
He freezes. His real body is on the bed. Still. Peaceful.
CHRIS(wide-eyed):"...Okay. That's new. That's very new."
He stares in the mirror. A cat blinks back.
CHRIS(in his mind):"That's not me. That's… oh god. That IS me. Oh no oh no—"
He spins in circles.
CHRIS:"Nope. Nope. Dream. This is a dream. 100%. I've just eaten expired chicken."
He jumps on the bed.
CHRIS:"...You know what? Just one paw swipe."
Chaos. He gets tangled in a hoodie, flips off the chair, and crashes into the wall.
CHRIS(in his mind):"Okay. I've accepted it. I'm a cat. A weird, stressed-out cat. Maybe this is what enlightenment feels like."
CHRIS(muffled):"...I hate this timeline."
Chris is tangled in socks.
CHRIS(groaning):"This is it. This is my villain origin story."
Suddenly—
SFX: Creak...
The door opens. Light spills in.
CHRIS(freezes):"Oh no."
VOICE(cheerful):"Chris?"
SFX: Thump – Rustle
Chris dives into a laundry basket.
CHRIS(gagging):"Oh my god—this isn't laundry, this is biological warfare."
CHRIS(panicking, in his mind):"Hide! Play dead! Become furniture! Become DUST!"
SFX: Click – Light on
His little brother enters.
LITTLE BROTHER(looking around):"Chris?"
Silence.
LITTLE BROTHER(muttering):"Huh... weird."
He peers around.
LITTLE BROTHER:"...Do you want ice cream?"
No response.
CHRIS(sneezes hard):"Oh sh.t, no!"
LITTLE BROTHER(annoyed):"Okay... guess you're asleep or being a weirdo. I'm eating yours."
SFX: Door closes. Silence.
Chris rises from the basket.
CHRIS(confused):"...What just happened?"
CHRIS:"I sneezed, twice, He didn't notice?"
CHRIS(suspicious):"He's never that chill. He once interrogated me for breathing near his homework."
He climbs onto the bed.
CHRIS:"Right. Okay. New plan."
He curls into a loaf.
CHRIS:"I'll nap here. Give it an hour. Then I wake up and—boom—human again. Problem solved."
CHRIS(pauses):"And if not...?"
He stares at the mirror.
CHRIS(quickly):"No, no! It will happen. Positive thinking. Manifestation. Nap magic. Something."
He flops down.
CHRIS(softly):"...Please work."
Chris stares at the ceiling.
CHRIS:"Okay, let's recap. Matt saw me. As a cat. And he freaked out. Which means I'm not invisible."
He flops belly-up.
CHRIS:"This makes zero sense! Zero! I didn't even touch a cursed rock, or a magical hat, or wish on a falling star—what is this plot?!"
He presses a paw to his chest.
CHRIS(relieved):"...Okay. Not dead."
He glares at his sleeping face.
CHRIS *(suddenly):"...I got it."
He gasps.
CHRIS(serious):"Alien. Invasion."
He starts counting steps with his toe beans.
CHRIS:"Step one: bright light. Step two: blackout. Step three: cats.
CHRIS(muttering):"Step four: Matt saw me, but my brother didn't notice me— classic alien tech. Selective visibility! Cloaking! Brain scramblers!"
He hops onto the windowsill dramatically, tail swishing.
CHRIS(yelling at the sky):"IS THIS YOUR ENDGAME, ZORG?!"
Beat.Silence. The only response is a distant dog barking.
CHRIS(muttering):"That's probably their spy dog. Watching me. Reporting back to the mothership."
He hops onto the desk, grabs a pen in his mouth, attempting to scribble a warning.
CHRIS(around pen):"Must… contact… Matt… warn humanity."
The pen falls off the desk. Chris sighs in complete defeat.
Scene: Chris's Room – A Little Later – Window Watch
Chris, still in cat form, perches on his desk like a furry gargoyle, eyes narrowed at the night outside.
CHRIS(muttering):"Alien. Invasion. Confirmed."
His tail flicks. His ears twitch.Then — he sees it.A black shadowy figure glides past the edge of the window. Human-like... but wrong. Ominous.
CHRIS(eyes wide):"No sh— They're here. They're HERE."
He leaps off the desk in panic and flings himself behind the curtain.
CHRIS(freaking out):"Okay okay okay—calm down, Chris. Think. Hide. Blend. Play dead. Or... play cat. Same thing!"
He dives into the laundry basket, only his glowing cat eyes visible.
CHRIS(breathing hard):"This is it. First contact. And I'm in a freaking sock coffin."
Time Skip – 1 Hour Later
Chris is still in the basket. Fur frazzled. Eyes locked on the door.
CHRIS(tense, whispering):"One hour. No movement. Maybe they left..."
Creak from the hallway.
CHRIS(instantly alert):"THEY'RE STILL HERE."
He bolts from the basket to under the bed. His eyes glow in the dark.
Time Skip – 2 Hours Later
Chris is now on the bed, sitting upright like a sleep-deprived owl. Twitching eyelids. Fully alert.
CHRIS:"Can't sleep. Sleep is the enemy. They wait for weakness."
His cat eyes blink slowly. He jerks awake.
CHRIS(snapping):"No! Not today, brain. Stay sharp!"
Every creak and leaf outside makes his ears twitch.
CHRIS:"Could be drones. Could be cloaked invaders. Could be Matt sneezing. Stay ready."
His stomach growls.
CHRIS(embarrassed):"...Even my organs have betrayal in their hearts."
Beat.
CHRIS(muttering):"Two hours down. Still alive. Still fuzzy. Still cursed."
He glances at his human body.
CHRIS(softly):"...Still no change."
He lowers his head, tail swishing.
CHRIS:"But if I fall asleep… they'll get me. I know it."
His breathing slows, eyes flutter...
CHRIS(barely audible):"...Just five minutes… five… little… alien-free... minutes…"
Fade out.
Cut to Matt's House – Early Morning
BZZZZZ!Matt's phone alarm buzzes. A groggy hand slams it.
Beat.
It rings again, louder.
MATT(muffled, groaning):"Ugh... okay okay, I'm up, stop screaming..."
He sits up, hair a mess. The clock blinks 6:15 AM.
Scene: Kitchen – Moments Later
Matt stumbles into the kitchen, half-asleep. He grabs a water bottle from the fridge.His eyes catch something — a broken bowl on the floor near the corner.
Shards scattered.
He crouches, staring.
Flashback: the black cat leaping across the room the night before.
MATT(thinking aloud):"It's still strange. Especially the cat..."
He pokes a shard.
MATT:"I've seen cats climb walls. I've seen cats ride Roombas in shark costumes. But that one… it didn't move like a cat."
He stands slowly, brows furrowed.
MATT(quietly):"...It knew someone was watching it. Even when it passed out, it looked like it could feel everything."
He leans on the counter, staring blankly.
MATT(chuckling to himself):"Come on. Soul swap? That's next-level anime logic. He was probably just messing with me. Right?"
He pulls out his phone, scrolls.
MATT:"No reply…?"
Taps the screen a few times.
MATT:"...Should I check on him?"
Beat.
MATT(convincing himself):"Nah… what am I, his mom?"
Pause. He sighs.
MATT:"...Okay. I'll go. If he asks, I'll just say I came out for a walk. Yeah. Walks are normal. People take walks."
He grabs a hoodie and heads for the door.
MATT(grumbling):"If this turns out to be a prank and there's a hidden camera, I'm stuffing him in a locker."
Door closes.
Chris's House – Morning
Matt approaches, yawning. He reaches for the door—It's ajar.
MATT(surprised):"...What the—?"
He pushes it open slowly.
MATT(calling out):"Hello...? Chris? Anyone home?"
He steps in. The house is silent.
A tub of ice cream sits melting on the dining table.
MATT(frowning):"Ice cream for breakfast? Bold choice."
He heads down the hallway. Chris's room door is shut. He knocks, then opens it.
Scene: Chris's Room – Continuous
The room is dim. Chris's human body lies motionless on the bed, faint snore audible.Chris — still a cat — is curled up nearby, groggy, slowly rolling side to side.
MATT(stepping in quietly):"Chris...?"
He freezes.The black cat rolls over and clumsily sits up, blinking at him.
MATT(blinking):"...The cat?"
The cat stares at Matt. Then the bed. Then Matt again.
Its eyes go wide.
CHRIS(in cat form, panicked):"...CAT?! I'm still a CAT?!"
Chris stumbles forward in a panic, nearly falling off the bed.He turns toward his human body — still lying there, just as he left it.
Matt rushes forward, alarmed, and shakes the body gently.
MATT(concerned):"Chris? Hey — wake up, man. Chris!"
Chris's Room – Continuous
No response.
Chris the cat circles anxiously, meowing, tail twitching. He looks at Matt, then his body, then back again — frantically turning his head like a tennis match.
Then — Chris (cat) walks forward hesitantly, places one paw on Matt's hand… and the other paw gently on his own chest.
CHRIS (in cat form, whispering):"...Please get it. Come on, Matt… connect the dots..."
Matt stares, confused. Then quickly grabs Chris's wrist.
MATT (feeling for a pulse):"Still warm… breathing's normal... pulse is there..."
He exhales in relief, sitting down slowly beside the bed.
MATT (softly):"Okay… he's alive. Thank God."
Then he slowly turns… and looks at the cat.
Long beat. Silence. The cat looks back.
MATT (pointing):"...Alright. What the hell are you?"
The cat lifts its paw and casually waves. Then immediately regrets it.
CHRIS (in cat form, muttering):"…Idiot. Why would you wave?"
Matt just stares, blinking — not sure if he actually saw that.
Chris's Room – Morning
Matt stands frozen, staring at the cat.
MATT (whispers, stunned):"...Chris?"
The cat's ear twitches. It blinks slowly, then lets out a dramatic—
CHRIS (in cat form):"Meoooorrow."
MATT (stepping back):"Nope. No. Nuh-uh. This is a prank. You think I'm falling for this? Not a chance."
He storms off toward the bathroom, muttering—
MATT:"I know exactly how to wake you up."
Chris's Room – Moments Later
Matt storms back in holding a bucket full of water.
MATT (announcing):"Alright, Chris. I'm giving you five seconds. Get up, or your bed's gonna get a bath."
He starts counting, raising the bucket.
MATT:"One… two… three—"
Chris the cat panics, pacing in tight circles, meowing frantically.
CHRIS (in cat form):"Matt, stop! That's ridiculous! Don't—!"
SPLASH!
Matt throws the water… right onto Chris's human body. It soaks the bed, the sheets — everything.
But Chris the cat is safe — he dove just in time.
Matt stares at the body. No reaction.
Chris (cat) crawls out from under the table>
CHRIS (cat, sarcastic):"Great. Love that for me."
He eyes his human body — now soaked and still motionless — and glares at Matt.
CHRIS (cat, deadpan):"What were you thinking?"
Chris's House – Living Room
The front door swings open. Chris's mom enters, sees the ice cream tub, the messy floor, and the chaos.
CHRIS'S MOM (horrified):"He did it?! Oh my God!"
She starts yelling.
CHRIS'S MOM (ranting):"One day! ONE day I leave the house and this place turns into a garbage pit! Ice cream on the couch?! Sticky floors?!"
Chris's dad walks in right behind her, carrying a grocery bag.
CHRIS'S MOM (turning):"You're coming in NOW?!"
CHRIS'S DAD (sighing):"...Can we not do this right now?"
CHRIS'S MOM (snapping):"'Don't start'?! Don't start?! Look at this! Just LOOK!"
She storms off, calling out:
CHRIS'S MOM:"Chris! Where are the boys?! Chris?!"
Chris's Room – Same Time
Matt hears Chris's mom shouting. He stiffens, looks at the door in panic.
MATT (nervous):"Oh no… she's calling him. She's calling Chris."
CHRIS (cat, sarcastic):"Oh good. Mom's home. That'll fix everything."
Matt drops the bucket with a loud clatter. He kneels beside the cat, wide-eyed.
MATT (serious whisper):"Are you… really Chris?"
The cat nods once, firm and blunt. Matt stares at him, puts a hand to his head.
MATT:"This is not happening."
CHRIS'S MOM (from outside):"Chris! Get up! Don't make me come in there!"
Matt stumbles to his feet, walks to the door, and opens it just slightly — trying to act natural.
CHRIS'S MOM (shocked):"Matt?! What are you doing here?"
MATT (nervous, breathing hard):"I… I came for a walk."
CHRIS'S MOM (suspicious):"You stayed here yesterday."
MATT (panicking):"Uhh… no. No, no. Definitely not."
She stares at him, stunned. Then—
The door creaks open wider behind Matt…
Chris, back in his human body, casually steps out, soaking wet and towel-less.
CHRIS (deadpan):"Yeah. He just got here."
Both Matt and Chris's mom freeze, blinking.
CHRIS'S MOM (speechless, seeing chris up and down):"...What is this? What's going on?"
CHRIS (shrugging):"What do you mean? I just had a bath."
He glances down at his drenched school uniform.
CHRIS (awkward laugh):"...Oh. Right. Forgot the towel."
Turns to Matt, totally chill.
CHRIS:"Give me five minutes. I'll dry off and come out."
Matt slowly nods, still stunned.