The Cats of the Solar System

Chapter 23

"Why do we have to move?" Uranus whimpered a year later, his chin resting on the counter. Pouring a glass of milk for himself before he passed another to the ice giant planet kitten, Saturn answered, "You heard the Sun. Taurus will be coming back from his vacation." His mouth full of cereal, Mercury added, "And besides, we're moving to a bigger house tomorrow."

"Define bigger house," Mars chimed in, sketching away on a giant piece of paper. Raising one eyebrow, Mercury murmured, "Big enough. Why?" Setting his pencil down with a heavy sigh, the red planet cat looked up from his paper. "There's not a single house in the entire UNIVERSE that can hold our family," Mars pointed out sternly. Putting his paws up in the air defensively, Mercury grumbled, "Alright, don't get your tail in a twist."

"That's a pretty picture Mars," Earth remarked, peering over Mars' shoulder awkwardly due to the cone on her head. She was about to pat the red planet kitten on the shoulder when he quickly backed away. "Earth, no! Don't touch me when you're infested with fleas!" Mars hissed, whipping out a spray bottle threateningly. Calming down, he added, "And this isn't just some pretty picture. These are blueprints for our perfect dream house."

"You mean your idea for a perfect dream house," Mercury grumbled before stalking off.

"I think they're very nice blueprints," Venus praised Mars, walking past his seat. His cheeks blushing rosy pink, the red planet kitten was relieved his fur was red as he stammered, "It is?! I mean, yeah, it is. Um, thank you Venus, thank you." Eyeing his older brother, Uranus questioned, "What's wrong with your face?"

"Kids, you do have everything packed up for tomorrow, yes? We're leaving after lunch," the Sun reminded everyone as he entered the kitchen. Most of the children there nodded their heads. However, Earth shuffled her paws nervously and Uranus stared at the floor. Sighing softly, the Sun flicked his tail and meowed, "Alright, let's go and do that right now. I'll help you guys. Might as well check on Jupiter and Neptune while we're up there."

All of the sudden, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Dad, who was that?" Earth asked, her ears perked up. All eyes were fixed upon the front door. Who in the universe would be knocking on the door this late at night? And as if that wasn't worrisome enough, there was another sound, like someone sniffling. "Kids, stay here. I'm gonna check it out," the Sun whispered. Without another word, he silently made his way over to the door and opened it. At first, he didn't see anyone or anything. But then he looked down.

There, laying on the welcome mat covered in snow, was the tiniest planet kitten he had ever seen.