Kittenella…

I once knew a small brown kitten with dull markings and particularly long whiskers. Kittenella, an American Shorthair at an animal shelter, wasn’t the prettiest of the litter. Or the bravest. Well, lets just say that she wasn’t the freshest cookie out of the oven. And her litter took advantage of it.

One ordinary day, the phone rang. All the cats strained to hear the volunteers talking.

“Hello, Who is this? Buck Billionaire? Oh my goodness! You want a kitten? You are coming here? Tomorrow? Okay!” She slammed down the phone and went running to tell the others. The whole litter stared at Kittenella. They knew she would be the one. Something must be done!

The next day in came the billionaire and his daughter, Sabrina. She had honey gold hair and an enchanting smile sure to soften anyone’s heart. All the cats were ecstatic!

A tabby cat fainted.
A Siberian cat bit a hole in her catnip mouse.
A Siamese cat hit her head on the door.

But what was this? A smelly kitten covered in kitty litter? You see, the rest of her litter had seen to it that Kittenella would not be chosen. They executed a sneak attack with the worst thing they could find. The litter box, of course!

They waited until the head was about to come to the cage with Sabrina to take the kitties out of the cage. The cats then all shoved her into the food bowl to ensure she wouldn’t be chosen!!

Kittenella watched as they were scooped away to cuddle with Sabrina and she thought about how she would love to meet her and all of this together made her cry. As a ripe tear trickled down her smelly body the strangest thing happened. The whole cage began to glitter like a disco ball and the whole room filled with light and…!

“Hello!” a sweet and gentle voice seemed to draw Kittenella to her senses. “I’m your Furry Godmother!” A Main Coon with very watery green eyes seemed to be floating in midair! Kittenella gasped, studying the Furry Godmother’s face.

“Whoo…?” Kittenella’s eyes were as big as they could be and her fur was standing on end.

“Don’t worry, I’m here to help you. You are not the first I’ve helped.” The Furry Godmother soon noticed Kittenella was scared. “You are going to go live with the billionare, aren’t you?” Kittenella was stunned. Was someone actually being NICE to her? Was someone actually inviting her?

“My familly says no. They won’t let me.”

The Furry Godmother knew excactly where this was going. “I will take you!” She mewed cheerfully.

“Nononono. My family takes one look at me and I’m busted.”

“I will insure no one will know who you are.”

Kittenella seemed puzzled. “But I’m not even pretty, let alone fit for a mansion!” The Furry Godmother then slipped out of her collar a silver wand, glistening and shining. She waved it over Kittenella’s fur, transforming it from a thin dull covering to a thick, pure, coat. She waved it over her tail, and it immediedely became light and dainty. She waved it over her face, granting it beauty like never before seen. Last, she waved it over her paws and the upper right pad started glowing! Slowly, little by little a shining star formed on the pad, promissing light and elegant stepps and a unique sparkle in her eyes.
Kittenella stared at her reflection in the mirror.

“I’m I’m I’m…,” she squeeked.

“Beautiful,” the Furry Godmother finished for her. “There is one rule. You MUST get back before the others! Don’t forget!! Now go out there and shine!!!”

Kittenella’s paw (the one that had the star) seemed to tell her the way to the room the Billionare was in. Then, with all her bravery, she approached the billionare and Sabrina. All the cats gasped. A few seemed to admire her. A few seemed puzzled. A few were enraged. That was Dame, Sophia, and Susan, the nastiest of the litter. They didn’t know who she was, but there was one thing that they did know. She was not getting their billionare.

Dame squinted at her. Both cats knew that the way to win a human’s heart was through affection. So, that’s when it started. Kittenella rubbed against Sabrina. Dame did the same. Dame widened her eyes and mewed. Kittenella did the same. This was a battle of affection. The “battle of affection” went on for quite a while. Dame gave up first.

She stared at the mystery cat. “Who are you?” Dame hissed. Kittenella didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell her who she was!

“I’m I’m IIIIIII’m!?” the star on her paw started to glow again. She didn’t want it to be noticed. Sheepeshly, she covered it with her other paw. The star dimmed. She heard it whisper words from some other language. She tried to make out the words. She made out one. “Beautiful.” Just like the Furry Godmother had called her. “Beautiful.”

“My name is Beauty,” she meowed, a little louder than she meant it to be. All the cats in the room heard. The billionaire noticed the star on Kittenella’s paw. Sabrina scooped her up into a snuggly hug.

She wished she could stay in the hug forever, but then she heard Dame mumble to herself, “I’m leaving.”

Remembering the Furry Godmother’s words, “Remember to get back before the other cats,” she sprang from Sabrina’s arms and sprinted towards the cages. She slipped away minutes before the rest of the litter— and Dame.

Kittenella noticed that her new beauty was fading. The Furry Godmother’s magic didn’t last forever. She looked down at the paw with the star, expecting it to go away, too. No! It stayed as if it had always been there. Oh, NOOOOO! Now the others would know it was her! Dame would do dreadfull things to her! She was dead meat!! She knew she was doomed, she knew that she could only hide it for so long.

Later, the rest of the litter padded in.

“Did you enjoy the Billionaire?” Kittenella meowed through clenched teeth. The others only scowled at her.

“There was this beautiful kitten,” Dame spat. “And I think the billionare’s gonna adopt her!” Sophia added, and then cringed.

“She was a mystery. No one knows who she was!” Susan hissed in a shocked tone. (Kittenella knew that they were mewing about her and was pleased to know they thought she was beautiful.)

Kittenella fake-moped to the corner, leaving the others to make jokes. Kittenella couldn’t come and how she couldn’t see Beauty. Kittenella knew the truth.
The star on her paw seemed to sizzle. It started to boil. It singed. What was it doing that for? It HURT. Poor Kittenella didn’t know what to do! Her paw was puffing up and she didn’t know why! The rest of her litter was fast asleep.

“Hi!” The Furry Godmother yelped. Kittenella jumped. “Sabrina misses you!”

“Huuuuuuh? What do you mean?” The Furry Godmother had just appeared in Kittenella’s cage and was focusing on the water bowl.

Then, granting satisfaction to the Furry Godmother, the water seemed to glisten. In the reflection in the water, she could faintly see Sabrina talking to a volunteer on the phone.

“I want that beautiful brown one with the long whiskers and that very interesting paw.” Sabrina said to the assistant.

“I’m terribly sorry, but that kitten is not ours. We don’t even know who she was!”

Sabrina’s eyes were brimmed with tears. “I loved that kitten! Where is she?! She’s got to be yours! She was here!”

Kittenella knew what she had to do.

“Furry Godmother? Can you make me beautiful again?”

“Yes.” Again, the Furry Godmother waved her wand over Kittenella and granted her beauty. Kittenella opened the door to the cage and approached Sabrina. She thought about the Furry Godmother’s watery green eyes.

“Mew,” Kittenella cried. Only this time it was not a shy squeak. It was a strong, confident meow.

Sabrina turned and scooped Kittenella up into another snuggly hug. But then something strange happened. Kittenella’s paw started glowing and all the Furry Godmother’s magic faded away. Kittenella looked just like her plain old self.

Sabrina didn’t seem to mind. She liked Kittenella just the way she was.
So Sabrina adopted her and Dame, Susan and Sophia had to stay at the shelter for the rest of their lives. They all lived Happily Ever After.

Now I happen to hang around Bide-a-wee a lot these days. I’ll let you in on a little secret. A new cat moved in and took the place of Kittenella. It was a Main Coon with very watery green eyes!

The End