Hello Pritty!

The adventures of Pritty the Kitty

19/08/2013

Pritty the Kitty loved her place on the video recorder and under the TV. It was warm and cosy there and, from time to time, she liked to feel little electrical shocks that made her sleepy. She lived with old nice Mrs. Gatherspoon in a small cottage and that is all she knew, for she had not been out of that cottage in years. Pritty had decided that she was quite fond of her little accommodation.

One summer day she observed a small group of humans talking vividly in the living room, so she retreated behind the TV set. Unfortunately, she could not understand human speech, so she was very surprised to find out that, when the group had left the room, Pritty was left alone at home.

The cat meowed and cried and called for Mrs. Gatherspoon and loudly required food, but she felt no human steps in the house. She rolled over the video recorder and fell on the fluffy carpet, which smelled of cheese, so she dipped her tongue into its hair, only to immediately spit fine wool threads. Pritty was not amused.

She moved to the kitchen, where she got distracted by rays of light dancing on the floor. The figures of light jumped around and even stopped on her face. Pritty jumped at them in her thoughts. It was hard for a cat with a considerate weight and very short legs to throw her body in the air and look good at the same time.

The small kitchen window above the fridge seemed to be open. The curious cat steered her hairy body with difficulty on a stool, then on a little wall shelf to jump on the fridge. If she stretched her nose, she could already smell the country summer air. Pritty pushed a thick recipe book to the wall with her huge round head and stepped on it.

The sight that was revealed before her was breathtaking. There was a gigantic garden with beautiful flowers in every possible colour and groups of tiny butterflies playing above them. Pritty felt both excited and terrified.
If I jump, she thought, I might never find the way back to my lair. If I don’t jump, I may never see Mrs. Gatherspoon again.

It is fine to feel a little fear before taking action, but what you do not know about Pritty the Kitty is that she was very courageous, because her heart was big and passionate. When she loved someone or something, the cat remained loyal to them till the end of her days. Thus, the need to find Mrs. Gatherspoon was bigger than her angst. So, after counting one-two-three, Pritty jumped out of the kitchen window!

She fell softly on all fours on a flowerbed. She had not known that cats fall on their feet, even when these are short. Pritty was feeling great among those aromatic flowers after her heroic act, when suddenly, a heavy thing shoved her, throwing the furry cat headfirst into the grass. She heard a loud laughter and looked around. Three wiry kitties of three different colours had surrounded her and were talking very fast.

Look at her, cried the red cat.
She’s huge! Laughed the grey cat.
Funny face, mused the black cat, touching Pritty’s nose with his paw.

Pritty was confused. Till then, she had been a couch potato, reducing her social life to eating with Mrs. Gatherspoon or watching the neighbour’s dog from the living-room window. Now there were three cats jumping around her like they had springs instead of legs. They were whistling, laughing and jabbering, till she caught the red one in mid-air by the ear and shouted stop. The kitties froze, surprised by the firm voice of the ball of fur.

I’m looking for Mrs. Gatherspoon, spoke her loyal cat. Has any of you seen her? She is a human being that smells of butterfly dust.
The grey kitty laughed hysterically.
Don’t worry, spoke the black one, the word ‘butterfly’ cracks her up. No, we don’t know the two-legged monster. We hate two-legged monsters, especially the small ones.
Oh, no, Mrs. Gatherspoon is not a monster! Objected Pritty. She is warm, gives me good food and lets me play with all sorts of funny soft things.
All of our gang have been treated badly by the monsters, said the red kitty, which was the tallest and the wiriest of the three, but we’ll try to help you.

They then told Pritty their stories, while leading her out of the garden. They had all suffered and did not want to be near humans again, but Pritty explained that not all humans were like that. Suddenly, the group had to stop in front of a low stone wall and the three kitties jumped easily on top of it. Pritty looked quizzically.
Come on, friend, jump! Cried the cats at the same time. They could not believe that there were cats, which were not able to jump on a low wall. They laughed.
Is there a door? Asked the house cat.
Yes, if you walk to your left, said the grey cat, but it’s not open!

Pritty walked for what she thought was an eternity and reached a dark door that smelled of metal. She noticed a door handle, raised her front paws and hung loose on it. Due to her weight, the handle sank slowly until the door clicked open. Pritty made space with her large head and slid elegantly through the door crack. When she entered what looked like a small, untended garden, she encountered the three cats, staring at her with mouths wide open.

How did you do that? They cried at the same time.
Little trick I learned from Mrs. Gatherspoon, said proud Pritty. Where are we?
Well, said red kitty, when you mentioned the butterfly dust smell…She was interrupted by the hysterical laughter of her friend, the grey cat. When you described the smell, we were reminded of this place, which is full of humans that have that aroma that is quite different to the little monsters’ smell. Look!

How true! The garden was full of people that smelled like Mrs. Gatherspoon. Some were walking slowly, while some others were sitting on chairs with wheels. Pritty had seen chairs and wheels before, but never a wheelchair. The house was a home for elderly people. Pritty’s sharp eyes carefully scanned the place. There she was! Mrs. Gatherspoon, sitting on a small bench! The cat felt that Mrs. Gatherspoon was sad. She ran towards the old lady, scaring her when she jumped on her lap.

Mrs. Gatherspoon could not believe her eyes. She cried and stroked the cat and called her name many times. Pritty knew when her name was called and she even understood a few words like ‘food’ and ‘sleep’. Mrs. Gatherspoon said ‘food’, which made Pritty happier than ever. Others who smelled like Mrs. Gatherspoon came by and touched her soft fur. They all seemed very glad to be there with Pritty the Kitty. She turned around to thank her companions, but saw that they had left and were probably already on their next quest.

(To someone who has perfectly preserved her inner child. Happy birthday, darling!)

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