Cadets: Short Stories

JENNIFER'S LOG: SPARKY

Loosely influenced by true stories about my dearly departed cat, Henry.

Sparky is my cat, who lives with me aboard the Enterprise. He's the bravest and most loving cat I have ever met. He's also a mischievous little kitty with a baffling mystery that my friends and I can never to resolve.

Sparky has this bad habit of sneaking off the ship and following either me or Jonathan on away missions on distant planets. Even when he's locked in my room and we have security throughout the ship. No matter what or how hard we try, he always manages to somehow sneak off the ship. I often get told to put a tracker on him or something, but I just can't be bothered. However, his bad habit of sneaking off the ship comes in handy sometimes whenever we are in a peril. If we found ourselves in trouble with cannibal natives or monsters, Sparky would jump in from nowhere and draw them away from us. Sparky was like that since he was a kitten, always unexpectedly jumping into the rescue. In fact, that was how he found me.

When I was ten years old, I got lost one day and found myself cornered in an alleyway by three vicious dogs. They growled viciously at me, showing their teeth. I was so scared I couldn't move. Then I noticed a scruffy little kitten rummaging through trash. He noticed me too. Normally some cats would go about their business and avoid dogs and strangers. But this kitten seemed to understand I was in trouble and needed help. So, he jumped in and drew the dogs away from me. I watched in amazement as this kitten outwitted these dogs that were bigger than him. One ended up falling into a dumpster, while the other two were chased away by angry people.

When it was over, that kitten came back to me. He just stood in front of me staring . I reached out to stroke him, but he slightly backed away. It was obvious to see that even though he saved me he was hesitant to trust strangers. However, slowly but surely, he allowed me to stroke him. He was very dirty. His fur was a mess, and his paws were muddy. I even got my hands dirty just by stroking him, but I didn't mind. I spent about a few minutes with this kitten, and even gave him some food. In that moment I felt I couldn't just go home and leave him. He looked only a couple of weeks old and didn't seem to have a home or a mother. It was a miracle that a kitten like him could survive this long on the streets, but I knew sooner or later his luck would run out. Summer was turning to autumn at the time and he would perish in the winter without food and shelter. So, I decided to take him home.

He was at first reluctant to let me pick him up. he even scratched me just to break away from my grip, but I firmly held on, convincing him there was nothing to fear. He eventually calmed down and allowed me to hold him. I wrapped him in my coat and took him home. Both Jonathan and Aunt Julia were surprised to find that I brought a stray kitten home, but they quickly warmed up to him, especially after I told them how he saved me from those dogs.

Sparky's first days at home were rough. Because of living on the streets, he was not used to living in a house. It was difficult training him to use a litter tray. He often did his business sometimes on the carpet, on the sofa, or on the beds. He didn't enjoy having a bath or going to the vet. Of course, we had to clean him up and give him a check-up to make sure he was healthy and didn't have any infectious diseases. However, he enjoyed having free food, a warm place to sleep, and most of all me.

In less than a few months, Sparky became apart of our family, and we've been close ever since. So close that he became overly protective of me. He started following me to school and sneaking into my classroom, despite being locked in the house. I would get into a lot of trouble with my teachers, but we all laughed it off in the end. They all enjoyed his company. When I started hanging around cute boys, Sparky would hiss them away. I would get mad at him, but in the end understood that he was only protecting me because he knew those boys were trouble. Sparky seemed more dog than cat.

When it was time for Jonathan and I to start our fifth year at the academy, I originally intended to leave Sparky at home. He clearly wasn't happy about me leaving and it would be a year before we could see each other again. However, two weeks after we departed from Earth, Jonathan and I were surprised and baffled to discover that Sparky had somehow stowed away. Since it was far too late to send him home, we decided to let him stay on the ship with us, though it was against ship regulations to have pets aboard. Since then, Sparky has grown accustom to life aboard the Enterprise, and we've considered him as a member of our crew.