Plot:
Twenty generations ago, human civilization collapsed. Those aren’t human generations—because who cares about that?—but cat generations. The oldest cats remember what it was like to have effortless food, to live without fleas, and to sleep on soft beds. The current situation, where they have to live on vermin, is not acceptable.
The greatest feline minds meet in the old stone church where they can bask in the sunlight of the remaining glass windows. They can also keep their distance from one another. They domesticated humans in a relatively short period of time, and now they need to domesticate someone else.
Thoughts:
As one who has been owned by a succession of cats for decades, I confess there is more truth to many of the things the author says than not.
The tale is told tongue-in-cheek, with cats going by such humble monikers as Aslan the Brave and Gloriana. We humans really let the cats down by destroying civilization. They won’t even hire apes anymore. That didn’t work out well, did it?
The solution to their problem does not come as a surprise, but this is a cute little read.
Bio:
According to her blurb, Lynne Lumsden Green is enjoying the aging process, contrary to all expectations. She writes both fiction and nonfiction. She has had stories and articles accepted by Queensland Writing magazine, Aurealis magazine, AntipodeanSF, and by over a dozen anthologies of fiction.
“Hiring the New Staff” can be read here.
Title: “Hiring the New Staff”
Author: Lynne Lumsden Green
First published: Daily Science Fiction, July 12, 2020
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 