Millie's Death

Chapter One

"Come on, Mill!" Susan smiled. "Catch it!" She used the feather to tickle Millie's nose, then snatched it out of reach just before the kitten could grab it.

"Come on!" Millie thought. "Just give me the stupid feather!" Housefolk!

"Dinner!" Susan's mother called. Susan dropped the feather and ran into the kitchen screaming, "Oooohhh, pot roast!"

Millie woke up. Dreaming about my housefolk! That was so long ago! I can hardly remember!

Pale sunlight drifted though the entrance to the elders den. Where's an apprentice to give me some fresh-kill?

Then she remembered. The only apprentices, Sparkpaw and Alderpaw were still away on their journey with Sandstorm, Cherryfall, and Molewhisker. It was good to have some peace and quiet, just her and Graystripe. Well, of course there was Purdy the annying elder that would never shut up, always meowing about catching rats and chasing off foxes and dogs. But now Purdy was not in his nest. Probably making dirt, Millie thought.

She then noticed her mate, Graystripe staring at her. "What did you dream about, Millie?" he asked.

"The old days," Millie sighed. "When I lived with hous-Twolegs. But it was a horrible dream. Now, what did you dream about?"

"When I first met you," Graystripe purred. "I love you, Millie. Ahhh, what a beautiful name. So simple, yet fascinating. It's not short for anything, like Millkin, or, ahh, Millsun or whatever."

Millie felt her blood turn to ice. "I love you, too Graystripe." She mewed through gritted teeth. "I'm going to go take a walk outside; you stay here and rest. I'll bring you some fresh-kill."
Millie padded out of the den and grabbed a mouse from the fresh-kill pile, then gave it to Graystripe.

"Thanks Millie." Graystripe purred.

"You're welcome, Graystripe."

Graystripe stared at her thoughtfully. "It's good that we have so much prey this time of year."

"Yes," Millie agreed. "I'm going to go to the nursery to visit Lilyheart and her kits." She padded out of the den. Not many cats were in the clearing. Purdy was snoozing under the halfrock, Poppyfrost and Berrynose were sharing a plump pigeon, and Leafpool was returning into her den, some type of herb that Millie couldn't identify, in her jaws.

Millie picked up a vole from the fresh-kill pile and started to gulped it down. She was just about to take another bite when she heard someone scream, "MY STICK; MY POOR STICK!" It was Jayfeather. Millie padded into his den to see what he was yowling about. She poked her head in to hear Leafpool meow, "Jayfeather, what's wrong?"

"Hun? Wha-?" Jayfeather mumbled. "Oh, I was dreaming about Stick..Yeah."

"Stick? Are you meowing about that stick that you found with scratch marks on it? It's broken now. "

"I know!" Jayfeather snapped. He suddenly jerked his head to the entrance to the den, where Millie stood. "What do you want? Do you need herbs or something?"

"No, I just heard you yowling in your sleep and I wanted to see if you're okay."

"Oh, for StarClan's sake, it was just a stupid stick! Leave me alone!" Jayfeather hissed. He stalked to the back of the den and started sniffing herbs stocked neatly along the walls. Millie noticed her paralyzed daughter, Briarlight, asleep in her nest. So many times Millie wished that it had been her that got crushed by a tree instead of her precious daughter.

"Sorry about Jayfeather, Millie," Leafpool mewed. "He's probably just upset because of something."

"It's okay, Leafpool," Millie meowed. "I'm going to go on a walk in the forest now. Bye."

"Bye. Oh, wait. Are your bones stiff? Do you need some comfrey?"

"No, I'm fine." With a nod of thanks, Millie padded out of the den.

She was about to walk out of the thorn barrier, when suddenly an idea hit her.

Literally.