Kate And The Kitten

• Maya Van Dugteren, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2022

Kate felt as if she could run for hours. She ran on and on, losing all track of time. Tall pines were sprinkled on the once beautiful forest like sugar on a cake. The floor was choked with weeds and dead leaves. The roots of the trees were like huge, hairy arms reaching out… … Kate shook off the dark thoughts. As Kate scanned her surroundings, she saw a bright patch of ginger fur. “What?” Kate mumbled. Kate moved closer, she reached out.

Soft. So soft. The patch of fur was moving. Kate lifted the fur up…
…It was a
Kitten.

Kate gave the kitten a name…It’s name was Apple…But what would Mum say!? Kate decided she had to keep Apple a secret. Mum would never let her keep the kitten.

It was 8:00 at night. Kate was watching the TV news with her mum. Kate’s eye lids were drooping. Suddenly mum gasped! Kate’s eyes opened. She sat up.
“What’s wrong?” Kate asked.
“Nothing,” mum said. But Kate was not fooled. She knew that gasp. That gasp meant something was wrong. “Montoon have just declared war on us,” mum whispered through white lips.

As they were packing to leave, Kate placed Apple in a box and carefully snuck her into the car. Then they left. They drove for hours in traffic. And then… … …

BOOM!!! A bomb exploded in front of the car, flinging it off the road. Mum screamed! Everyone was panicking. Kate looked out of the window. The air was sharp tasting and smelt like smoke and petrol. Mum flung open Kate’s door.
“Kate, Out!” mum screamed. Kate climbed out of the car. Kate looked at the car. Its roof had been ripped off and their bags were on fire. Kate could not see Apple’s box anywhere.
“Run!” mum screamed. And Kate ran. Kate ran and ran until she found herself in a meadow. Kate found a rise and climbed it. From the rise she could see the smoldering road. She could see the crater the bomb left. She could see lifeless bodies inside the crater, blackened and burned. Kate could see……
…………….A bright patch of unmoving fur!

Kate ran towards the patch of fur. It was Apple. Kate grabbed her and ran into the forest. Once she was deep in the forest, Kate sat down and put her head in her hands and began to cry. When she looked up again, her heart started hammering. Apple was gone. Kate searched frantically. The forest was closing in on her. She sat on a rock and looked into a muddy puddle and saw…………..a pair of little paw prints leading a trail.

Kate jumped up, her heart racing and ran after the paw prints. After what seemed like hours, Kate came to a rest and sat down. After a few moments, Kate heard footsteps. She looked up and came face-to-face with…mum.

“Mum!” Kate yelled, “Apple! I thought you were dead!”
“Well, we’re not,” said mum gently. “Now come, you’ve got a lot to explain,” said mum as they walked toward the safe house.