Secret Santa: A Home New World

A young, black kitten was walking outside, her body contrasting with the white snow, unsure of where she was going. She was looking around, and shivered a bit, looking around. She saw a wrench in the snow, and walked over to sniff it. She didn't have much interest in the wrench, but she did notice something yellow, underneath a tree. A lemon.

The kitten walked over to the lemon, curious about it. She walked over and sniffed, then immediately reeled back and dunked her head in the snow. This thing was terrible. What foul thing this was, surely no creature would dare to eat it. The kitten looked up from the snow and hissed at the lemon, as if the lemon would actually respond. The kitten walked away, still freezing.

A ways away, the kitten found a small stream. It wasn't frozen over, and the kitten was not going to question that, because hey, water! The kitten went over to lap up some water, but brrr! She didn't like this water. It was too cold! But the kitten did notice some fish in the stream, and she was hungry. The kitten tried to swipe a fish from the stream, but she missed. She glared into the stream, as if she were angry, and tried again, but to no avail. The kitten started madly swiping at the water, leaping toward it, and falling into the stream.

“REOW!” The kitten leapt right out of the water, now all wet, and extremely cold, looking as if she were in shock. She collapsed on the ground, and started crying. “Mew.” The kitten lifted her head, weakly looking around, then laid her head back down.  “Mew.” The kitten closed her eyes. “Mew.”

“Are you OK?”

The kitten opened her eyes, and saw what looked like a teenage girl with short blonde hair. “Mew,” the kitten replied.

The girl rubbed her hand against the kitten. “You’re freezing. Do you have a home?”

The kitten looked down and shook her head, seemingly understanding the question. “Mew.”

“I’ll take you home,” the girl said, and tried to see if the kitten would let her pick her up, or if she would put up a fight. The kitten put up no fight, and just tried to walk around in a circle for a bit to get comfortable in the girl’s arms. The kitten looked up at the girl, looking content, then laid down her head and closed her eyes, as the girl walked through the snow.

Some time later—the kitten wasn’t really sure just how long—the girl put her down, inside a nice, warm house. The girl sat down in a chair near the fireplace, where three stockings hung. The kitten nervously looked around for a while, before deciding to cautiously approach the warm, nearby fireplace, where she lay down on a carpet laid in front of it.

“Are you hungry?” the girl asked, looking down at the kitten.

The kitten looked up eagerly. “Mew.”

“Very well,” the girl said. “I’ll be right back.” The girl stood up from her chair, and walked into the kitchen. The kitten followed her, but didn’t walk into the kitchen itself. The kitten looked nervous about the kitchen, and just tilted her head, looking inside. After a few minutes, the girl walked out, with some chicken on a plate. The kitten followed her back near the fireplace, where the girl set down the dish on the carpet. “Eat up!”

The kitten sniffed at the chicken, then ate it very quickly, as she had been very hungry. The kitten then looked up at the girl. “Mew.”

“Mew!” the girl exclaimed, wearing a bright smile. “Do you have a name?”

The kitten looked down, almost embarrassed. “Mew.” The kitten shook her head.

“Well, you need a name, don’t you?” the girl asked, putting a finger to her chin. “How about Arnold?”

The kitten glared at the girl, cocking an eyebrow… or whatever the eyebrow-like part of a cat is called.

“OK, you don’t like that name,” the girl said, then giggled nervously. “Maybe Steven? Noah?”

The kitten sighed as well as any cat could sigh. “Mew,” the kitten mewed with a hint of annoyance.

The girl blinked. “Oh, are you a girl?”

The kitten rolled her eyes. “Mew.”

The girl blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The girl laughed nervously for a bit. “Well, you are a pretty kitty, so royalty fits you.” The girl looked in deep thought. “Maybe Snow White?” The kitten looked down at her own black fur. “Oh, yeah, don’t want to name you ironically, and all.” The girl looked at the kitten, and then took notice of the carpet it was lying on. “Hmm… I think I’ve got the perfect name for you!”

“Mew?” the kitten asked, looking up at the girl.

“Sadira!”

“Mew?!” the kitten meowled in shock, then started shaking her head vigorously.

“OK, OK, kidding!” the girl said nervously. “I’ll call you Jasmine.”

The kitten nodded. “Mew.” The kitten then rubbed up against the girl’s leg, then lay back down.

“So you like that name, I take it?” the girl asked, smirking as she pet Jasmine’s head. “I’m Jackie.”

Jasmine looked up at Jackie’s face, then leapt into her lap… or tried to. She had some trouble trying to hang on to Jackie’s pants, and she slipped down to the floor.

“It’s OK,” Jackie said, then picked the kitten up and placed Jasmine in her lap. “You’ll get the hang of it. And probably get into a lot of trouble for it.”

Jasmine looked away in embarrassment, knowing the girl was probably right.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Jackie said. “Right now, we need to worry more about when Mom and Dad get back home. They may not like having a kitten around.”

Jasmine tilted her head. “Mew?”

“Yeah.” Jackie sighed, looking down. “They left for Christmas, so it’ll be nice to have you to spend the day with.” Jackie looked around, with a sneaky look on her face. “We’ll try to get my parents to let me keep you. I can find ways to do things like that.”

Jasmine rubbed her head against Jackie’s chest, looking content.

“Would you like me to get my violin?” Jackie asked. “I can play a couple of Christmas songs on that.”

Jasmine leapt down to the floor to let Jackie get up, then she curled down comfortably on the carpet. Jasmine was happy, to have a home, and she trusted this Jackie girl to let her stay. She was finally going to have a nice, warm home with someone who loved her.