Leena's Luckiest Day

• Mariia Rieutska, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2018

Walking down the empty street, the only sound Leena could hear were of her own worn-out sneakers against the ground. She had spent too long at Alice’s house and had to hurry home, knowing how angry her mother would be if she was to come home after six.
As she finally reached her own street, something unexpected happened.
“Meow!”
The sudden sound pierced her thoughts. Was her imagination playing tricks on her?
“Meow…”
There it was again.
A cat? Leena thought.
That wasn’t right. None of her neighbours owned a cat, and stray ones were very uncommon in the area. She cautiously walked over to where the sound was coming from.
“Meow!”
It was getting louder. She found the box where the sound seemed to have been coming from, then carefully opened it. Her eyes widened in surprise.
A tiny raven black kitten stared up at her. On one of the side flaps, was a scribbled note in black marker.
“Please take him,” it said.
Leena knew her mum wasn’t going to let her keep it, but she didn’t have the guts to just leave the kitten here. What if he starved to death?!!
In the end, she took the kitten, along with the box, home.
At home, Leena managed to sneak the kitten into her room and hide him under the bed without her mum noticing.
“Now, I’m going to sneak into the kitchen and get you some food, so be quiet.” She told the kitten.
After creeping into the kitchen, she opened the fridge. It was mostly empty. She took out a can of tuna and left. She would make a great ninja.
This is too easy… glancing around, she pulled the box out from under the bed. Opening it, she found that the kitten had fallen asleep, curled up into a tiny ball in the corner of the box. As the light of the room poured into the box, he opened his lazily. Leena popped open the tin.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She froze. Her mum stood in the doorway.
“I-I was just… just…”
Leena tried to hide the box in any way possible, but it was too late. Her mum had seen inside it.
“What did I tell you about keeping animals in the house?”
“I found it outside, all alone in the cold, probably hungry… I had to do something…” Leena’s voice trailed off.
“Looking after a cat takes a lot of time and money.”
Leena nodded sadly. Tears started welling up in her eyes, but she forced them down.
“Actually, now that I think about it.” Her mum continued. “it would be pretty great to have some company around the house. If you are willing to look after it.” She smiled.
“Really?!!” the girl’s face lit up. “Thank you! I won’t disappoint you! I’ll feed him, brush him, clean him, everything, and, and…” She was exploding with excitement.
This was the luckiest day of Leena’s life.