A Feline Life

It was raining. The sky was grey and gloomy.

A dog was running through the deserted street, hurrying to get home to reach his shelter from the cruel weather. As he was passing by a corner of a ruined wall, where a lot of unused boxes had been thrown away by some irresponsible people who never wanted to go several steps further, where the trash should be put, he thought he heard something. He stopped.

One of the damp boxes was moving. The dog tried to peek what was inside and he saw a skinny kitten was calling for help. The poor creature had been dumped by her previous master, no doubt.

"Please. I am hungry and it is very cold here. I am freezing," said the kitten.

The dog looked at her, seemed to think. Then he turned around and continued his way home, this time even running faster.

The kitten was very disappointed. She felt hopeless. She dragged her weak body into the damp box and tried to get some sleep. She hoped that by doing that she could swallow her desperate hunger.

She was lost and almost couldn't remember why she was left alone. Her four siblings had been there earlier today as well. Had someone taken them away when she had been falling asleep far inside the box?

Several minutes later, she heard someone was calling her.

"Wake up! Come out, now. I bring my master. She will bring you home with us."

It was the dog.

The kitten looked up and saw him bringing a little girl. Obviously, she was his master.

"Oh, look at this poor kitten. Don't you worry.I'll take you home with us. You must have a bowl of warm milk and a blanket," said the girl.

The kitten looked gratefully at the dog.

"Thank you. I thought you were abandoning me, too, just like the others," said the kitten to him.

"Oh, no," said the dog. " I was only afraid of you for you were so little, weak, and fragile. If I tried to touch you, perhaps I would only hurt you. I had to run home and fetched my master."

The kitten had a new home now. It was cozy and warm and there was always enough food for her.

The girl gave her a lovely name: Kitty.

Beside the dog, whose name was Doggy, another pet in the house was a yellow-feathered canary named Birdy.

Every morning, Birdy would sing to greet the sun and this usually made Doggy and Kitty wake up. After breakfast, Doggy would play together with Kitty in the backyard. However, Birdy couldn't join them as she lived in a wooden cage.

Doggy loved the stars very much. Every night, when it didn't rain, he would go to the backyard and examined those sparkling diamonds.

"They are so beautiful and so many, Kitty," he said. "Thousands golden jewels, shining on a black background. They twinkle their eyes all the time and never feel tired, faithfully keep taking their courses."

At the time, a star was falling.

"Look, Doggy!" said Kitty. "A falling star."

In no time, it had disappeared again.

Doggy said,"A great poet* once said: Goe and catche a falling starre."

Kitty thought and said,"So why didn't you go after that one? Why were you just standing here?"

"The meaning of the poetry is that you must go and catch your dreams. A star is a symbol of a dream. It is hanged in high by the Creator, and it seems like we can never catch one. But one time it will be falling, and getting nearer to this earth where we be. And on that second, we must use all of our power to possess the fallen star. "

"So, Doggy, which star do you wish to be falling?" asked Kitty, still looked up at the sky.She didn't get what he meant.

"I don't want any of them to be falling.I like them where they are now, in their glory. Do you see the brightest one over there?"

Yes, it was in the east.

"It is my favourite, Kitty, and not for once I want it to be falling. She has to be there forever, to follow her course. By keeping in her place, I can admire her beauty everytime I want and so can anyone else in this world."

"You are right, Doggy. I am ashamed of myself for being too selfish," said Kitty.

"It's all right, Kitty. You are only too young and still have a lot to learn."

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*John Donne