Kitty Love

• Allison Butcher, Grade 7D
• Short Story
• 2015

25 March 2015


KITTY LOVE
By Allison Butcher
Once there was a cute little kitten. She was a bluish tinge all over, except for her paws, face and underbelly, which were white. When the kitten was four weeks old, there was a fire in the house where she lived, and all her family. She was alone.
The kitten (who had no name) had always wanted to go outside and play with the strays. Now with their jeering voice and sneering faces, she didn't think they looked like fun anymore. The stray cats hissed and clawed at her, chasing her away.
The kitten became scared of humans. She had been kicked at, trodden on, sworn at and had next to no food. Her ribs were showing through and she was very skittish
Sometimes, if she saw anything edible that the humans had thrown out, she would creep up and take it. The only kindness she had been shown, was when a little girl crept up behind the kitten and stroked her softly on the back, before running back to her mother. When the kitten looked around, she saw that the girl had, in her hurry, dropped a half eaten chicken drumstick on the ground. After the kitten ate that, she felt more refreshed than she had ever felt since the fire.
Two days later, a group of boys found her and started to throw little rocks at her. She tried to run away, but she didn't have enough energy. The boys pelted at her for several minutes, suddenly a little girl ran into the middle of the boys, snatched her up, and ran away with her. When, at length, the girl put her down, the kitten tried to run away but the little girl stopped her by picking her up and cuddling her. Involuntarily, the kitten began purring softly. "There's a good kitty" the little girl said " my name's Steph. I am very pleased to meet you"
When the girl spoke, the kitten had stopped purring and looked hard at the girl. She remembered this girl. It was 244the girl who had stroked her and dropped her chicken drumstick! The kitten started to purr again, this time more loudly. "I am going to take you home with me" Steph said "I shall call you Snow-pea. Does that suit you?" The kitten thought about this, and then meowed once to show that it did suit her. "Alright, Snow-pea it is then".
Snow-pea couldn't walk, so Steph carried her home. When Steph opened the door and walked in, her mother pounced on her. "Where have you been? You've been gone for hours" she exclaimed. Then she stopped. "What is this?"
"This is my new pet" Steph explained.
"No it isn't!" Said her mother "I don't want that filthy thing.
"But...."
"But nothing, you can't have it and that's final." Steph burst into tears and wrenched herself away from the kitten,ran upstairs and left Snow-pea on the doorstep. The kitten was now a stray again.
But for the next ten years, a shadow crept through the shrubbery to Steph's open window, where it found scraps and pats...