Yellowfang is flung from the time machine and slams against a wall. Wikipedia gracefully floats out behind her, holding back a laugh at her friend.
Yellowfang: *glares up at her.* Shut up...
Wikipedia: *innocently.* What... I didn't do anything!
Yellowfang: *brushes off her pelt.* So, where are we today, great and powerful Wikipedia?
Wikipedia: *sniffs.* Thank you for respecting my true name... we are in Amherst, Massachusettes on December 17th, 1830.
Yellowfang: This is not helpful at all.
Wikipedia: Baby Emily Dickinson was born seven days ago. *sighs as if Yellowfang is a failure.*
Yellowfang: That was a rather specific action there... *glares warily at Wikipedia.*
Fourth Wall: How cruel of you :c
Wikipedia: MOVING on... Emily Dickinson will go on to be an amazing poet who strayed away from poetry customs at her time and stuff. Yeah, she's pretty important.
Yellowfang: *ears perk up.* Poetry? Did you say poetry?
Wikipedia: ...yes.
Yellowfang: I love poetry!
Blood is red,
Your fur is blue.
You're kind of crazy.
But I am too.
Wikipedia: Thanks for that. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to go admire baby Emily Dickinson and appreciate history rather than trying to create poetry.
Wikipedia floats through the door and to the bedroom of the house, where a baby lays in a cradle. Strangely, the mother is absent.
Wikipedia: *settles on the edge of the cradle.* Hi there, Miss Dickinson. You are a very influential poet, you know.
Emily: *cooes softly at the kitty.*
Wikipedia: Oh, you want me to sing you a poem? *sounds surprised.*
Yellowfang: *pads into the room.* Oh hi Wikipedia!
Emily: *starts sobbing loudly.*
As if she's been stabbed in the gut, Yellowfang stumbles.
Wikipedia: *sighs.* Great, you upset her... just when I was going to sing her some poetry!
Yellowfang: *gets up slowly.* Sorr-eeeee.
Wikipedia: You better be sorry... and you better hope the time machine comes over here soon.
Loud footsteps are audible from down the hall. Wikipedia leaps off Emily's cradle and pushes Yellowfang beneath the bed. They crouch there, Wikipedia having trouble staying on the ground, and wait.
Edward Dickinson: *picks up baby Emily and starts rocking her back and forth. She slowly quiets.*
Wikipedia: *sniffs.*
Yellowfang: *whispers.* Are you crying?
Wikipedia: *sniffs again and hisses quietly.* No, I'm not crying!
Yellowfang: You're crying.
Wikipedia: Shut up.
An explosion of blue light illuminates the room for a brief second, and Yellowfang and Wikipedia are sucked out from underneath the bed, hovering midair behind Edward Dickinson. Baby Emily looks curiously over her father's shoulder.
The cats are sucked away, and Emily starts crying again.
By Rio ⛈
YOU ARE READING
A Ballad of Yellowfang and History
FanfictionWhen Yellowfang discovers a time machine, there's only one thing she can do: Jump into it and hope for the best. Unfortunately for the time periods she visits, the time machine has a certain knack to sending cats into the most important battles and...
