Beautiful Danger

Once there was a sweet little Cat who lived in a house with some humans. She was white all over and so soft. Her little whiskers were so delicate and her tail so agile and smooth.

She was quick and glorious, graceful and sharp, cunning and gentle.

The house she lived in was in the mountains where it snowed all the time. The house was surrounded by lush pine trees, large boulders, winding paths and breathtaking views. She loved it there.

One day, her humans left her alone. They told her it would be a few days before they got back. They were going into town to get supplies for the long winter.

“Don’t go into the forest,” they told her. “We will leave this window open, but you could get lost out there.”

She agreed. There would be no reason for her to go anywhere. Just outside to poo or pee and then back inside to get warm.

The day after the humans left, a huge blizzard hit and almost buried the little house. Some snow even came in through the open window.

A few days went by and she expected the humans back at any moment, but they didn’t come. They didn’t come for many days.

Some of the snow had cleared, but the side of the house with the front door on it was still buried, and there was no sign of any visitors. The house was as still a chewed piece of gum sticking to the floor.

The little white cat sat at the window and stared out for hours at a time. This became her sole pastime.

One morning, there was movement in one of the pine trees. At first, the little cat thought it was just snow falling off a branch, but within the hour, she saw it again.

This was the most excitement she had seen in a week, so she stared even harder.

The movements came every once in a while, but she couldn’t make out what it was.

At one point she thought she saw the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were a mesmerizing deep green, outlined in a hypnotic dark mist.

This intrigued her and she decided to walk outside to check it out.

When she hopped off the sill onto the cold, crunchy ground, something moved quickly in the area where she had been watching earlier.

She carefully tip-toed across the yard toward the edge of the tree line. There were no sounds except for the occasional creaking of branches in the wind.

Something moved again in the trees.

The little white cat stopped in her tracks. Something was out there.

Slowly, she made out the eyes she had seen before. They were gorgeous. They attached themselves to her heart and reeled her in. Then she could make out a nose and a pair of ears, then whiskers. It was another cat. She was sure of it.

This excited her very much. She took a few steps and meowed and purred. Then took another few steps.

The other cat moved forward a few inches.

“Maybe he’s lost,” though the little white cat as she took another more confident step.

She meowed again.

The sound that came back was not a meow. It was not a purr either. It was more of a hiss and a scream, but the little white cat barely had any time to be frightened, or even think about running back into the house.

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When the humans finally returned, they found no trace of their little white cat. The window was still open and there was still some food in her bowl.

The End