Random Short Stories

Motherly Hate [🦋]

In the sprawling territory of Magen Isles, beneath the shafts of sunlight that dappled the forest floor, Sappaw had always trodden the thin line between tolerance and resentment for her mother, Berrywhisker.

The older she-cat glorified herself with her gleaming coat and ever-rehearsed charm, flaunting her superiority as if it were a badge of utmost honor.

Sappaw had watched, heart curdling with an increasingly familiar sensation, as her friends and crushes slipped through her mother's claws like silken threads, lost in Berrywhisker's web of social prowess.

Despite having earned her apprenticeship, Sappaw felt trapped in the smothering grasp of her mother's influence.

Each time she befriended a well-regarded apprentice or dreamed of a flirtation with a handsome tom, Berrywhisker would wiggle her way in, her laughter echoing in Sappaw's ears as she paraded her latest conquest, snatching another piece of joy from her daughter's grasp.

The other apprentices applauded, falling for the charms of the so-called "cool mom," while Sappaw seethed to herself quietly in the background, the green fire of frustration igniting within her.

With expressions of delight, Berrywhisker would swagger into the gatherings, flaunting the companionship so readily taken from Sappaw like trophies in her grasp.

"Look who decided to spend time with me instead of you, little one," the elder cat would boast, her voice dripping with superiority. "Isn't it just darling? Your friends and I hunted together today. They told me I'm the true catch!"

And as the echoes of her laughter faded, Sappaw could only clench her jaw and smile through the pain.

Years passed, and Sappaw transformed into Saptree, a fierce warrior with a heart that still trembled in the shadows of her mother's insidious meddling. She had taken pride in the way she fought for her clan, her confidence blossoming with each victory.

Yet with every triumph came the bitter specter of Berrywhisker, who found amusement in fabricating stories or manipulating situations to put Saptree in an unfurling spiral of humiliation.

The moment Saptree's heart fluttered for a charming tom she had grown up with who went by the name Ambertail, Berrywhisker was there to sabotage it, ensnaring him with her flirtatious banter and false promises.

"Have you seen how he looks at me, Saptree?" Berrywhisker would gloat, her tail flicking with delight. "Oh, I might just commit the ultimate sin and take him for myself!" She laughed, her eyes gleaming with devilish joy, knowing well that her daughter fumed behind the hollow pretense of a smile.

After so many moons of utter torment, the final straw thudded heavy against Saptree's heart when, after a particularly exhausting day in battle drills, she returned to camp for a well-needed rest.

The warm breeze wafted through the scent of birch as she sought some form of solace amongst the trees, only to find Berrywhisker entwined with Ambertail, a giggling pair wrapped up in each other's warmth as one.

The sight seared through Saptree like a spear of frost. Her pulse quickened; every smirk, every dismissive comment her mother had hurled at her over the years came rushing back, swirling into a storm.

"Look at us, Saptree! Aren't we both just simply too adorable?" Berrywhisker's voice rang out mischievously, a sharp blade cutting through Saptree's patience and resolve.

Glimmers of laughter from nearby apprentices echoed like a cruel chorus, and in that moment, Saptree's mind ignited with a rage she had kept pent up for far too long. It coursed through her, dark and unyielding.