THE CAT WHO RAN AWAY

There was once a cat called Kitty who was quite content in his home. He had everything he could ever need; a comfortable place to sleep, food to eat whenever he was hungry and a kind old gentleman who looked after him with love.

But Kitty was very young, and very easy to convince. A neighbourhood cat, who roamed houses for food began to take a liking to Kitty and decided to teach him a few things about life as he knew it.

“You know, humans tell you they like you but most of the time they are trying to chase you away,” he purred one afternoon, after sharing Kitty’s meal.

“My master is kind,” Kitty answered.

“That’s what you think!” the neighbourhood cat drawled, licking at his black and white paws. “But with time, they will find any excuse to chase you away.”

Then one morning, the neighbourhood cat and Kitty were both perched by the back door enjoying the morning sun when the old gentleman of the house appeared. Now the old man, had not seen the neighbourhood cat before and did not know he was Kitty’s friend.

“Go away you wild cat!” he shouted, grabbing a broom that lay by the back door.

Kitty, who so far had seen only kindness from his master, watched him terrified. His friend was right, humans do chase away cats! Without a second thought, Kitty ran with his friend, out of the gate and out onto the open lane. He did not stop running till he was well away from the house.

“See I told you,” said his friend with an angry meow. “Now you are just like me, we cats belong on the street, eating what we can find.”

Believing what he said more than ever now, Kitty began to follow his friend around looking for food in whatever neighbourhood they could.

It was fun at first, sniffing out a delectable smell and finding something good to eat. Sometimes it was not so goodbarely getting by for the day and going to sleep hungry at night.

On nights like that, he could not help but wonder about his master and remembered the warm meals and the naps Kitty sometimes took on his lap.

One particularly bad week, Kitty decided to take a walk back to his old neighbourhood. He went without telling his friend just for a few hours, hoping to get a glimpse of his master.

He crept under his gate when he reached it and went to the back yard. The sun was shining in his favourite sleeping spot, so he decided to have a small nap while he could. He felt happy and free after a long time.

“Kitty! Oh Kitty you came back!” Kitty snapped up from his sleep and found himself gazing into his master’s face. There were tears in the old gentleman’s eyes as he reached out to gather Kitty in his arms.

“I missed you so much Kitty! Why did you run away? I wasn’t chasing you, I would never ever chase you, I love you so very much,” he said stroking him gently.

Kitty felt a wave of sadness overcome him. It wasn’t him his master was chasing, it was his friend! He had wasted many months wondering around hungry and tired when he always had a home.

Kitty nuzzled closer to his master and purred. Above everything else he was loved, and there was nothing else that could convince him otherwise.