Tuesday, October 31, 2017

A Halloween Prayer: A Short Story


"It was a dark and stormy night..."

Mews of excitement spread through the cat community room as Jinx started another of his scary ghost stories. It was the night before Halloween and ever since the animal shelter's doors had closed for the evening he'd had everyone's rapt attention with his spooky tales, each one more fur-chilling than the last.

"It was a dark and stormy night," he began again. "As the tiny black kitten crept through the graveyard there was dead silence except for the vicious growling sounds coming from behind the nearby bush..."

From the back of the room another tiny black kitten was curled up tightly in his bed, whimpering in fear. "Why don't we call it a night," beautiful tortoiseshell Fudge interrupted. "I think Pip has had enough."

"Cry baby," muttered one of the older cats. "Time to grow up," sputtered another, and a louder voice said, "Thanks for spoiling our evening, kid."

"Knock it off, guys," Fudge stepped up in defense of little Pip. "He's new here, and he's just a baby. Besides, tomorrow's the big Halloween party and adoption event here at the shelter. We all need to get some rest because lots of people are going to be coming through here to look at us. Not that any of you heathens deserve to be adopted with the way you're acting."

Properly chastised, all the cats shuffled off to their preferred sleeping spots in the various beds, cubbies and boxes spread throughout the room. Once everything was quiet except for the soft sounds of kitties snoring, Fudge trotted over to Pip and curled up around the tiny tot. "What's your story, kid?"

"My Mommy was hit by a car one afternoon when she went out to find some food for us. When she didn't come back I left my brothers and sisters to look for her and I found her broken body on the side of the road. I tried and tried to wake her up but it was no use. Finally a nice little girl saw us and brought me home, but her mom said I couldn't stay because the man in the house was allergic. That's how I ended up here."

A tear slipped from Fudge's eye. "That sure is a rough beginning for such a little guy. But you know what? Life is only going to get better from here on out. One day real soon a person is going to walk through those doors, take one look at you and know you're the kitty they've been searching for. You're going to make some lucky family so, so happy."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," Fudge softly replied as she washed Pip's small head with her rough tongue.

"Miss Fudge? Can you stay here with me tonight? I'm chilly...and still kind of scared from Jinx's stories."

"Of course I will. Let's get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Fudge waited until Pip fell asleep before whispering a short prayer. Dear God, so many kitties around the world are waiting for their forever home tonight. Some are cold and hungry out on the streets, others of us are in shelters. We're all scared and alone, and for too many there might not be much time left. Please God, please help them all find a home, especially little Pip here. He's already been through so much and he needs someone to take care of him. Please watch over us all. Amen. 

And then she drifted off to sleep.

**********************************************************

Bright and early the next morning a shelter worker arrived to start feeding everyone their breakfast and cleaning out litter boxes before opening the doors for the big party. "Are we all ready to find some forever homes today?"

Fudge was the first to wake up and gave Pip a gentle nudge. "Morning, kiddo. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Mm-hmm", Pip said with a yawn.

"Are you excited?"

"Kind of...but sorta nervous too. What if no one likes me?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Fudge said with a smile. "Stick with me and everything will be just fine."

Before long the room was filled with the excitement of Halloween: kids in costume, tables full of cookies and candies, strains of Monster Mash echoing in the background. Family after family came through the doors, some forming an instant bond with a particular cat, others requiring more time to make such an important decision. 

Pip set his sights on one little girl of about 7 or 8 dressed as a witch, accompanied by what appeared to be her grandmother. As the girl slowly made her rounds of the room Pip couldn't help but overhear as the older woman stood nearby, quietly talking with a shelter volunteer. "Michaela lost her parents over the summer in a car accident and completely shut down. Before the accident she'd been begging for a cat so I thought bringing her here today might help to begin her healing process."

"There's no therapy like purr therapy, I always say," the volunteer replied. "Take all the time you need."

As Michaela started to come closer to Fudge and Pip, the tenderhearted tortie gave her young charge a nudge. "Go to her," she whispered. Pip slowly approached the little girl and waited for her to reach out to him before turning his purr engine on high. Michaela scooped him up in her arms, inhaling his kittenish scent as Pip nuzzled his small face into her neck.

"Grandma, look! He likes me!" Michaela called over to her grandmother as she gently laid Pip down in the nearest cat bed. "Can we take this one home?"

Fudge crept over to Pip and with a lick to his cheek said, "You did good, kid." Michaela started whirling around a wand toy, giggling excitedly as Pip and Fudge swatted at it.

The older lady could barely contain her emotion as she watched her granddaughter happy about something for the first time in way too long. "Looks like he has a friend in that beautiful tortie. I think she's been taking care of the little guy for you until you got here. How do you feel about taking both of them home?"

"Can we???" Michaela screeched. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love them both already!!!"

Pip looked slyly over at Fudge, "Looks like you're stuck with me."

"I think I can live with that, kiddo." And as Pip continued to soak in the love and adoration of their new family Fudge looked up to the sky and purred a quiet thank you.

~ The End ~

29 comments:

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

What a sweet Halloween story - I loved it!

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

YAY! We were worried, but it all turned out good!

Mickey's Musings said...

We loved this story!
We love that they both got a home together :)
Happy Halloween !!
Purrs Georgia,Julie and JJ

Lone Star Cats said...

Luved it! Happy Meowloween!

Patricia T said...

Yay! That’s a Halloween story everyone can enjoy.

The Florida Furkids said...

Awww....that's a great story!

Happy Halloween!

The Florida Furkids

The Menagerie Mom said...

What a purrfect Halloween story, and with our favorite kind of happy ending. And Fudge's prayer is so touching, and it sounds a lot like the ones I'm sure many of us say for all the furbabies awaiting their forever homes. Happy Halloween, Mudpie and Melissa! We hope you get lots of treats today!

Lola The Rescued Cat said...

Mommy read this at work and needed a tissue. What a lovely story.

Azar "ACE" Attura said...

tears in my eyes!!!

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

That story is so heartfelt and beautiful!!!!! You need to write a book!!!!! Happy Halloween! catchatwithcarenandcody

Eastside Cats said...

:::wiping tears from eyes:::
Wonderful!

Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty said...

What a lovely story!

Purrs xx
Athena and Marie

Sue said...

What a beautiful story!

The Swiss Cats said...

What a touching story ! Wonderful ! Purrs

da tabbies o trout towne said...

mudpie...We gotta hand frum copee N paste heer two day …coz we canna sneek round on line… like we want… sew we R stopping bye ta say…. happee howl o ween…. N heerz ta treetz outta pumpkinz wazoo ♥♥♥

Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat said...

What's better than one cat?!? TWO!

LP said...

That's a wonderful Halloween story for efurryone! :)
Happy Halloween :)

the critters in the cottage xo

Cathy Keisha said...

What a wonderful feel-good story. TW might even have a tear in her eye. We used to know a Twitter cat named Fudge who was nothing like this Fudge, thank goodness.

catladymac said...

Lovely story ! Thank you !

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaw Great story. And what a cute kitty. big hugs

Luv ya'

Dezi and Raena

Unknown said...

That is a beautiful story! Fudge is a pretty special tortie. :)

M. K. Clinton said...

OMC! That brought tears to my eyes! Purr-fect Halloween story.

Nancy said...

Melissa and Mudpie (and Angel Truffles), I love this story! Definitely brought tears to my eyes!
Thank you for enriching my Halloween with you sweet tale!

As the World Purrs said...

Wonderful story! I pray that same prayer for all homeless cats to find homes.

Kiril Kundurazieff said...

Absolutely love this story!

pilch92 said...

That was sweet. I love a happy ending!

Kitties Blue said...

What an adorable photo and such a heartwarming story. We love happy endings. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy

The Island Cats said...

Aw, that story warmed our kitty hearts. Purrs....

Valentine said...

(tears in my eyes) What a wonderful ending to such a cute story! Sounds like that Pip & Fudge were meant to stay together & they were meant to be with the little girl & she with them! Purring... -Valentine (& Mom) of Noir Kitty Mews