Alphabet Soup

Neglect

Neglect

        The runt of a litter of kittens played with her brothers. They tumbled about in the alley they called home. Their mother, an orange and brown tabby, watched over them from atop a foul smelling trash can. The tiniest kitten was the only female in the entire litter. She used to have a sister too. The runt still remembered the last time she had seen her favorite playmate; the usually boisterous rascal hadn’t woken up with the rest of her family that day. The female had licked her only friend’s fur even though it had smelled like a dead rat that had been left out in the sun for too long in an effort to both wake her up and get the pesky flies off of her. The kitten’s mother and brothers left for another alley then, so the runt had to scurry after them to catch up.

        The runt still didn’t understand what had happened to her sister. All she knew was that it was a lot harder to have fun these days. Her brothers played rough; nipping at her and keeping their claws unsheathed as they tussled in hopes of teaching the weakest kitten a lesson. She never learned it. Every day she tried to play with them despite the drops of blood that always ended up dripping from one wound or another. Even the scorching burn that shot through her muscles after each bout of roughhousing couldn’t stop the persistent kitten.

        Today, she wanted to try out the stalking techniques she saw her mother use. Instead of trying to catch a mouse, her target would be one of her brothers. Their fur was bright orange; it made them stick out like a flash of lightning in the middle of the night whenever they tried to sneak up on anyone. The runt’s fur was much better camouflage in the dark and dreary alleyways. Most of it was as brown as dead leaves. The only parts of her fur that ever caused her trouble when she was trying to be sneaky were her right forepaw and her left hind paw, both of which were orange, and her snow white chin. She would have to take her time so that her fur didn’t give her away. 

        The kitten crept foreword one paw at a time. She crinkled her nose in annoyance when she accidentally stepped on a noisy candy wrapper. She glanced around quickly; checking to see if she had been spotted. Her mother had jumped to the ground to hunt deeper in the alley and her brothers were too busy wrestling each other to notice her approach. The runt was relieved. She had been working on this tactic for days: she couldn’t let one tiny slip up ruin her chance at victory. Just the thought of standing triumphantly with one of her brothers pinned beneath her was enough to make her whiskers quiver with anticipation.

        The scrawny female crept forward silently without so much as a mew of protest when she accidentally stepped on a gooey piece of rotten banana or even when she inhaled the stench of week old rat droppings. Satisfied with her position, the runt eyed her brothers. The two largest were currently entangled with each other in a hissing mass of clawing and biting. It would be dangerous to interrupt them. The smallest one was busy licking a small scratch on his shoulder. He would be an easy target; however, the runt felt too much sympathy for his situation to strike. That left the final brother, unmarked and inattentive, grooming himself luxuriously after his most recent victory. 

        The runt watched the grooming session, waiting for the ideal moment to strike. When the tom licked a paw and began cleaning behind his ears with it, she sprung. She landed firmly on the unsuspecting victim’s shoulders. He leapt into the air as if he had been electrocuted before jumping around as much as he could, desperately trying to fling off the furry menace that had lodged itself onto him. The runt sunk her claws into her brother in an effort it stay on top of him, eliciting a yowl of pain. More than used to begging for mercy herself, the female jumped off. Thinking that her defeated brother would let her get away with this win, the runt was only saved from a vicious thrashing from the livid loser by the arrival of their mother. The tabby dropped three mice at her feet before allowing her children to feast.