Willy, the Cat

Harmless To Harmful

"Mother, you should see it! It's amazing!" I exclaim as I crawl under the couch to my mom, Snow.

"Feh, wonder what it is this time..."

"No, really! It feels even better than the sofa and curtains!"

"I'm sure it does," she rolled her eyes.

Mother wasn't a fan of the humans. Yes, she has lived with them most of her life, but after the smallest human dropped some kind of heavy tool on her, she has kept her distance.

One of the only times that she goes out from underneath the cramped couch is when the humans pour food in our bowls, or to simply use the litter box.

"Mom, it really is! The humans call it a 'scratching post' or something, and it's awesome!"
I twitched my ear, "They don't even mind when we scratch it!"

"Yeah yeah...whatever. If they have a problem with me scratching their furniture, then I don't want to use any strange new objects they get."

"But-"

"Enough!" She hissed, "You shouldn't even be near them in the first place. All they do is bicker and yell and screech at  us when we do what normal cats do."
She licked her paw, "They're even worse than Brownie."

Brownie is the dog of the humans next to our humans. She howls at night and barks in the mornings.
A very energetic dog, that's for sure. Especially when she was a pup.

"I find the humans quite interesting, Ma," I replied.

"Well don't get too adventurous," she scowled, "You know what the humans say, 'Curiosity kills the cat.' I betcha they only created that to make fun of us."

"Or maybe because they admire us?"

"Oh, don't be such a fool, Willy."

She turned away from me and sat her body on the carpet. I quickly scampered out of there.

I never understood how Mother spent everyday under that sofa. You have to lean over from touching the top of the couch, which hurt my neck.
Also, it's pretty boring down there.

How does she entertain herself? Rolling the dust balls? Taking several naps?

I shook my head just thinking about it.
I'd go crazy!

I took a giant leap onto the kitchen table and stared out the window. I rarely went outside except when I'd visit Brownie for a few minutes, but boy did I love it.

The bright and beautiful colors everywhere, the sights to see and places to explore. It was a whole other world out there!
I would adventure for an entire day in that paradise, but only if I knew how to.

What do I mean by that? Well, I've heard that to live in the big world, you have to know how to survive.

There's no food to eat from humans, no soft beds to sleep on, everything's created using your claws.
Besides, mother would tear me to shreds if I left her, or even told her my desire to live out there.

I gazed at the wonderful outside only for a few seconds before getting shooed off the table by one of the biggest humans in the house.

"Alright! Alright! I'm going!" I hissed before jumping and fleeing to the living room.

I didn't mind being scowled at every once in a while. You get used to it.

I rested on one of the sofas before being lifted up and cuddled.

"Kitty!" The human stroked me behind the ears. It's impressive how intelligent humans can be, like, knowing just the places to massage me.

I purred with delight.

As night fell, I flopped on my small bed. The humans were kind to give this to me. Mother had one of her own too, but of course, she doesn't use it anymore.

During the night, I caught a scent.
I lifted my head up rapidly and sniffed the air.

Something wasn't right.

I took a deep inhale and wheezed. What was that stench?

I jumped as I heard a human scream.

"What's happening?!" I wailed and quickly ran to Snow.

"Mother! Mother!" When I crawled under the couch, I could see she was already awake and alert.

"What is it, mom?"

"That scent..." She sniffed, "it's fire!"