Random Short Stories

Bonds Undone [🪽]

In the heart of a bustling twolegplace, where towering buildings cast long shadows and the scent of fried food wafted through the narrow alleyways, there lived a kittypet named Mallow.

Mallow was a kittypet with his heart swollen with pride for his life of luxury, his soft fur groomed to a shimmering shine and his belly full from the endless feasts his Twolegs provided.

But Mallow harboured a secret, one that rippled quietly beneath his charming exterior: he was indifferent to his own daughter, a speckled feline named Charlotte, in favour of his new stepdaughter—Cornflower.

Charlotte had been everything that was special in Mallow's eyes—intelligent, playful, and loyal. But since Cornflower had arrived, Mallow's attention had shifted, his heart having been snagged by the sparkling beauty and charm of his stepdaughter.

Cornflower, with her long, fluffier fur and enchanting green eyes, sensed her new father's affection and savoured it, turning it into a weapon against Charlotte, who she saw as a rival rather than a sister.

And Mallow, enchanted by his new family's charms, turned a blind eye to the way his stepdaughter trampled over all his own blood daughter's achievements as if she were stepping on a brittle twig.

As time passed, a rift formed in the small household. While Charlotte was sweet-natured and gentle-hearted, Cornflower exuded an air of superiority that the others found hard to resist.

She quickly learned to play the part of the golden child—overachieving in everything from polite grooming sessions to charm in front of their twoleg family.

Mallow, blissfully unaware of the harm he was doing, lavished praise on his stepdaughter for her antics, blissfully ignoring his true daughter's quiet suffering.

Unbeknownst to Mallow, Cornflower thrived on the thrill of competition. She devised ways to belittle Charlotte subtly, all while casting herself as the beloved golden maiden who could do no wrong.

At first, it was subtle—Cornflower would claim praise for a day of behaving well, twisting the story until it seemed she had been the sweetest and cuddliest little angel out there.

Then, it escalated; she would challenge Charlotte to races along the corridor of the flats, using every opportunity to ensure her victory became a loud proclamation among their parents.

"Charlotte is slow, but I can catch the wind!" she would boast, her voice ringing through the clearing, while Mallow and his new mate Cozy laughed, unfazed by the bitterness creeping into Charlotte's cracking heart.

If Charlotte earned a warm cuddle from Mallow, Cornflower was quick to pounce, snuggling up beside him, purring loudly, and loudly demanding for her turn for affection.

If Charlotte caught a shiny mouse, Cornflower would flaunt her own catch, a measly lizard, insisting it was the greater prize as it was 'much harder to catch' than a mouse.

"Why can't you be more like Cornflower?" he often murmured, without a hint of malice, only the pure oblivion of a father too caught up in the allure of one daughter's mischief to notice the tears of the other.

The speckled she-cat would sit quietly and stare at her paws, biting back her hurt. She loved her father and craved his approval; it twisted the knife deeper when he laid guilt upon her heart. She tried to shine, but Cornflower's cruel, mocking laughter rang like bells in her ears, drowning her spark.

Charlotte persevered despite the ridicule; she was determined to prove herself, believing her father's love would return once he saw her strength. But with every passing day, the distance between them only widened.