Neko Neko

• Elizabeth Saill-Hayes, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2010

It’s not every day that you find an abandoned kitten lying on the streets of your local town, looking as if it was starving to death. Shan, a ten year old boy with honey-brown hair and a tanned complexion, stared down at the kitten collapsed on the walkway. Looking around, he saw that many people walked past the coal-black cat as if it was invisible. Pitying the kitten, he bent down and picked it up. Cradling it in his arms, Shan continued walking back to his family house, just a few blocks away. His family said that they wouldn’t return till five o’clock in the afternoon so Shan had the whole time to help the kitten.
Still holding the black kitten in his arms, Shan opened the door to his home with the key from his pocket and stepped inside. He flicked on the light and headed for the kitchen which was down the hallway on the left. He placed the cat down on the kitchen bench in a natural lying position then got a bowl out of the cupboard and the milk from the refrigerator. Poured a small amount of the milk into the bowl, Shan placed it in the microwave on low to let it slowly heat up to the right temperature.
Shan suddenly heard a small rustle come from behind him and he spun around to see the black kitten finally awake and trying to sit upright. Shan smiled, “You’re awake.” His voice must have surprised it as the kitten stumbled backwards and fell over. Its large black eyes stared up at Shan, glaring up at him.
The boy moved over to the bench slowly, trying not to scare the kitten again, “It’s alright. I won’t hurt you kitty.” The small ‘ding’ of the microwave told Shan that the heating of the milk was done. Shan grabbed the bowl and stuck his pointer finger in the liquid to see if it was warm enough... Yep, it was the right temperature. He moved back over to the cat and placed the bowl in front of it before slowly backing away so the cat didn’t feel threatened by him. Hesitantly moving up to the bowl, the black cat bent his head down, eyes still on Shan and lapped at the milk. Within minutes, the milk had been devoured. Shan smiled, extending his hand out to pat the kitten on the head. As soon as his hand came within centimetres of its black fur, the kitten hissed, jumped off the bench in a single bound and ran for the door which Shan had forgotten to close. The kitten was down the street and out of sight within seconds.
Shan still stood in the kitchen, hands at his side. He was overjoyed that the kitten was alright but saddened that it had run away though he felt like he had done something right and if it ever came back, there was another bowl of warm milk waiting for the kitten’s return.