Home with the Mountain Pride
GLACIER, an odd-eye white kitten, woke up to find herself lying down on a bed of moss in a darkened cave.
“Strange, wasn’t I just stuck in a snowstorm?” she thought to herself.
Looking around the cave, she thought again. “I can smell many cats around here. Where am I?”
“Hello there, little kitten,” a kind voice startled Glacier.
She whipped up her head to her side to find a majestic Turkish Van looking at her.
“Who are you? Where am I? Where is my mother?” the kitten asked, quivering in fright.
The majestic she-cat shook her head. “No need to be afraid, little one,” she meowed.
“I am Thrush, and you are in the camp of Mountain Pride. Your mother, I am afraid, did not survive the snowstorm.” Glacier’s tail drooped sadly. Thrush gazed into Glacier’s sorrowful face and said, “It’s alright, little one. You will live among the feline community in Mountain Pride now. We will take very good care of you.”
Glacier looked at her, confused.
“We are a group of cats who live in the mountains. The pride has been very worried about you since you arrived. I must share the good news. Follow me,” Thrush explained.
The she-cat stood up and padded towards the cave exit. Glacier scrambled after her. They padded across a clearing filled with cats.
“Wow! So many cats!” Glacier thought to herself.
The duo reached a ledge in one of the walls and stopped. Thrush jumped and landed on top of the ledge.
Glacier clawed at the rocks and stumbled clumsily against the majestic she-cat.
“Pride members!” Thrush’s yowl sounded through the clearing. “You are needed under the sight of the Great Cliff.” In just a few seconds, a clowder of cats gathered under the ledge.
“I bring good news. The kitten of the loner Icicle is alive!”
The cats under the ledge yowled their sighs of relief.
“Introduce yourself, little one,” Thrush nudged Glacier with her muzzle.
Glacier was nervous. The vast number of cats below her made her dizzy.
Her voice trembled as she meowed, “My name is Glacier. It’s nice to meet you.”
“As she is still too young to be trained into a proper Pride cat, one of our queens will have to take care of her.
“Herb,” says Thrush, fixing her gaze onto a sleek tortoiseshell she-cat, “Do you have milk to spare? Will you take up the duty of caring for her ?”
Herb nodded, saying, “It will be my pleasure, Thrush.”
Dipping her head to the cats below her, she yowled, “I advise all of you to welcome Glacier and make her feel at home.”
As the clowder of cats surrounded her to give their words of welcome, Glacier felt that she had achieved something she had yearned for; and if her mother were there she would’ve been so happy.
She was home. – By Aisyah Humaira Abu Bakar, 12
Aisyah Humaira, 12, wins the Creative Writing prize for the month of July. She walks away with Middle School From Hero To Zero by James Patterson (RM44.90) and The Nerdiest, Wimpiest, Dorkiest I Funny Ever by James Patterson (RM59.90), courtesy of MPH Distributors.
Write away!
We welcome original contributions (of not more than 600 words) from children aged 12 and below. The topic can be anything you fancy. Please include your full name, age, gender, address and phone number. E-mail your stories to star2@ thestar.com.my.
We have Maslinda Md Nor’s Puteri Gunung Ledang, Tun Teja and Hang Li Po (worth RM50.70) for the writer who sends in the best contribution for August. Prizes are sponsored by MPH Distributors.