Tale 39- The Acrobatic Kitten

 Walking through the city, the Traveler settled down by a cluster of crates, before hearing a little meow and peeking inside. There was a small kitten inside one of them, clearly having got a little lost. It was messing with a ball of yarn, the Traveler gently holding out a hand for it to sniff. As it rubbed itself against her palm, she used her other hand to pet it, the small cat letting out a content purr. Sitting down, the cat clambered onto her lap, the girl being unable to resist letting a happy smile form across her face as she cuddled it. It was a friendly little one, and eventually began to play with one of her long sleeves, getting its claw stuck inside the fabric and needing her help to detach itself. Letting out a small giggle, the Traveler then heard voices and tensed up, the kitten immediately noticing her fear and some of its hairs sticking up. But soon, it relaxed, as a boy and a girl ran around the corner, identical twins. They noticed their kitten first, the stranger second, and the cat immediately ran toward them, rubbing between their ankles and being picked up by the boy, who smiled down at it and rubbed its head affectionately. Walking toward the stranger, they offered her a hand, the Traveler accepting the help to stand and the boy offering to let her hold the kitten. Gently, she took the little creature into her arms, the girl showing her how to hold it. “Oh, do you want to hear how we got him?” she asked, the Traveler nodding, but realizing it would be impossible to listen and to hold the cat whilst standing. The three of them headed toward a green area, where the cat sat down on the Traveler’s cloak and played with yarn as she opened her book, ready to write the tale of ‘the Acrobatic Kitten.’

‘Once, there was a little kitten, who lived all alone and who had lost his family during a raging sandstorm. Despite this, he was cheerful, finding his way to a huge city and discovering various street performers. Due to having a special skill of his own, he began to attract the attention of various visitors to the city, who would watch as the kitten would backflip, do parkour, and all sorts of other amazing acrobatic tricks. Due to this, he became known as the town’s “Acrocat”, and became famous, performing daily for crowds that could amount to thousands depending on the occasion. However, after a day’s work, the cat had nowhere to go, merely being treated to a bowl of food by a young woman who lived nearby. However, this young woman had two children, twins, who found out about the kitten and began helping her to feed it. The two grew so attached that they begged their mother to let them take in the kitten, so eventually it was agreed that he no longer had to perform and could live with his new family instead. Though he no longer does his acrobatics, he prefers to play with the twins instead, and seems a hundred times happier than before.’

The Traveler felt the little kitten slide off her cloak and onto the grass, finishing her writing and deciding the illustration could come later. Gently she ran her hand over the cat’s back, when he began to mess with her sleeve again like it was a fun toy. The Traveler gave a small, happy smile, before detaching her sleeve and giving the kitten one last cuddle, waving at the twins as she departed to go and find a corner to draw all three of them.