New Story Contest: To the Rescue - Makenzie M. - 07/29/19

Contest: Winners

New Story Contest: To the Rescue

Submitted by: Makenzie M., age 11, Corning, CA

Hope

The kitten shivered, her back pressed against the alley wall. Her raggedy, unbrushed fur did nothing to keep her warm from the cold, chilly New York winter.

“Help,” she meowed, using the last of her strength, “please.”

It had been two days since she’d lost her mom. And a kitten can’t go so far without its mama’s milk.

The kitten could tell that she was losing herself to the blackness. “Help,” she meowed (although it sounded more like a squeak) one last time, and finally, the kitten’s eyes closed, and she started to drift off. . . .

Suddenly, soft, warm hands picked her up and thrust a bottle of milk into her mouth. The kitten sucked slowly at first, then got used to it and sucked faster, afraid the bottle might disappear.

Is this Cat Heaven? she thought as the person wrapped a warm, oh so warm, blanket around her, holding her tight.

“It will be alright, kitty,” a young girl’s voice said. “I rescued you. You will now live a happy life with me and my mum. OK?”

Oh my gosh! This ISN'T Cat Heaven! the kitten thought, purring quietly in response.

“Now, you need a name. H’mm . . . how about Hope?” The kitten rubbed her arm. “Hope it is.” The girl hugged Hope and walked out of the alley, singing the kitten to sleep.

“And that,” I tell my two-week-old kittens, “is how I came to live with Bree and her mum. The end.”

“Mama?” my youngest kitten asks, snuggling up against me, “if I climb out of this house and go to an alley with no food or milk, with a nice girl find me?”

I laugh. “Anyone can be rescued by a kind person. All you have to do is hope.”


back to New Story Contest: To the Rescue Winners