It was early one Winter morning, snow flurries falling slowly onto a suburban neighborhood. Cars passed on the street slowly due to the layer of snow already formed, and all was peaceful. Street lights were the only things that lit the dark terrain, and only one household had any lights on inside, a small yellow abode that was almost unnoticeable at first glance. Everything was quiet, until a cat's scream cut through the chilled air.
In the yellow house, two people scurried around a room as their children watched from the stairway. The family's cat, a black and white tuxedo tom, was even more anxious than his owners, rushing between their legs and meowing at the top of his lungs. The initial yowl didn't come from him, however. Laying on a soft towel in the middle of the room was an auburn tabby molly. She let out another painful screech, and immediately the tomcat sped over to her, chattering at her in worry and bumping his head on hers.
"You'll make it through this, honey," the tom comforted his mate as his housefolk ushered their children upstairs, "You'll make it through this and we can have a life together here, as a family." His collar tags jingled as he moved to sit next the the red molly, and she looked at him with slitted eyes at his remark of having a life together, but another spasm of pain went through her before she could retort.
After the kids were gone, the older housefolk came over to the felines, and helped the kitting mother to deliver her offspring. However, after a while of continuous pain and no sign of kittens, the tomcat grew even more worried. He began to knead his paws on the towel, and purred loudly to comfort his mate. She was too distracted to do anything in response to his attempt at helping, and hardly even noticed his slight change in position.
After that, it all happened very suddenly.
Another pained yowl, and then a faint, almost choking-like sound. The housefolk let out a startled noise, the waves of pain stopped as the red tabby let out heaving breaths, and the single, frail kitten was taken away from the new parents swiftly, before either of them could even get a look at it.
Despite her being out of breath, the female let out yet another yowl as her only kitten was taken from her, only to be cut off by a nasty bout of coughing. The tom moved his head over hers and tried to continue purring as the coughing turned to a much quieter sound, a soft wailing. He tried to move his tail over her back for extra comfort, but the bobbed limb only twitched slightly, as if in protest. Instead, the black and white cat moved his front leg over the grieving mother's shoulders. He joined in on his mate's mourning sounds, keeping himself glued next to her side until morning light.
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Both felines were asleep by the time the housefolk returned, carrying a loudly mewling bundle of fur with them. Immediately, the molly shot her head up, ears perked and her nearly silver blue eyes trained on the kitten. Her lover was only just opening his own dark green eyes as she stood up and let out several loud meows. The housefolk set the brown bundle in front of her and stepped away, sitting down on the comfy-looking chairs located on the other side of the room.
After giving the kitten a quick sniff to ensure it was indeed hers, the new mother swiftly laid back down next to the now wide awake tuxedo tom, nudging and licking her tiny baby until it was nuzzled up to her stomach. The purring that came from the pair of felines was almost deafening.
"What do you say we name it, Sann-sweetie?" The tomcat asked his mate, although he didn't move his head from hers while speaking.
Sann's tail flicked slightly. "Her, Fig," she responded, "What do you think about Knavish?" As if she knew she was being talked about, the brown kitten let out an indignant mew through her suckling, and her parents chuckled.
Fig just nuzzled Sann's cheek, his collar jingling again. This time though, the reminder of his captivity didn't bother his collarless mate. "If you like it, I like it," the tom's purr faltered for a moment as he chuckled again, "And it seems that she likes it too."
With that, the trio of felines fell asleep again, relishing in happiness that would turn out to be only temporary.
Word Count: 767
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The Liar
General Fiction**UNFINISHED, REPUBLISHED FOR ARCHIVAL ACCESS** Living a double life is harrowing on even the toughest individuals, let alone for a kitten. Despite those concerned for her, a feline known as Knavish goes through troubles day by day, just as she's al...
