The story of the cat with ten lives.
The Stork’s Last Delivery before retiring
“I am ready to jump out. I’ve had enough of this flight.”
This kitten has already started developing a mind of its own as cats are known to do. The stork squawked.
“Not yet. Pussy cat.” And loved the rhyme. It continued.
“We’re over Siberia. If you jump out you’ll fall in lake Baikal.”
“So what?”
“You are a cat and cats don’t like water.”
The kitten was OK with that. She didn’t know about not liking water but trusted the stork. The kitten was glad about this flight and was looking for a home. She was getting a little impatient and so after waking up thought of jumping from its perch, mid-flight.
The stork kept flying and the kitten sat up in its pouch and looked around. She wasn’t afraid of the great height that they were flying at. There were clouds all around them. The kitten knew as cats do know everything, that cats are not afraid of heights. They can twist mid-air and soften their fall, steady themselves with their tail and land on their four feet. Paws.
Now they continued flying and the little kitten whose whiskers had already grown a bit looked ahead and looked below.
After a while she looked behind and saw that the stork was strong and flying with ease despite carrying her in the pouch.
“How long will we be flying?”
“Till we find a home for you.”
“What makes you think you can find a home for me?”
“You’ll know it when you see it. I have to only be sure that you don’t fall out.”
“Why did you stop me from jumping before?”
“Cos’ you would end up in lake Baikal.”
The kitten licked her paws and smiled.
“You’re of a good stock.”
“It’s my duty. I have to deliver you safe and to the right home.”
“If we had stopped at Baikal there would be fish there.”
“Are you hungry already?”
“The air is making me hungry.”
So the two stopped for a meal at a village and the stork put the kitten safely in a crook of a branch of a tall tree where it was safe.
The kitten fell asleep and the stork dived into a river and brought back three silver fish for the kitten. When the kitten woke up they both had the fish and then continued their flight.
“How many have you reached safely to their homes, so far?”
“I have been forbidden to keep count. All I know is that everyone was delivered safely to a home.”
“How did you know where to find a home?”
“I told you, I don’t know. I only have to be sure that everyone is safe till they arrive at their new home.”
“Do you like what you do?”
“It’s an honour and I like it.”
The kitten played with its tail for some time, cleaned itself and then tried to play with the stork’s beak while lying on its back.
The stork smiled and continued their flight.
They were flying for many hours now and it was beginning to get close to dusk. The wind slowed and the kitten sat up and was alert suddenly.
The stork smiled. It knew what that meant. It meant that the kitten would soon know about its home.
The stork liked this kitten. It has three colors and looked special. After all the years flying and dropping little ones to new homes, this was the first one with three colors. Black, brown and snow white. The tail was all black.
‘Kitty, you know where you are?”
“I have a sixth sense about it and I feel ready to jump.”
“Yes I know it too. You have a nice time and because you are so special I am going to give you something.”
The kitten had already known that she was special. She turned around and licked the stork’s beak for few moments. The stork smiled.
‘Now tell me what you have to give me.”
“You will be my last delivery ever…”
The kitten interrupted the stork and licked its beak again, so the stork couldn’t speak and waited till the kitten finished.
“…and because I have delivered all my packages safely, I was granted a wish.”
“What was the wish?”
“I am going to fly to the highest mountain and retire there with my flock after I deliver you. I had the wish with me all my flying years and the rule is that I could retire only when I give away the wish. So I have decided to give you the wish.”
The kitten licked the whole face of the stork and their flight was interrupted for some time since the stork could not see straight and could not fly straight.
“Do you know you have nine lives?”
“Yes!”
“I have been given what I asked for as a wish. And since it’s a wish I wanted to give away and not keep for myself, I could get what I wanted.”
“What did you ask for?”
“For one more life for a kitten. So you have ten lives now.”
So this became the only kitten in the whole world to have not nine but ten lives.
The kitten smiled and looked in front and the stork smiled and continued flying with its kitty package.
“But it’s not as simple. You have to do something special to have the tenth life”
“Something tells me that you know what it is…”
“Yes, you’re right. You have to choose a very special house to live.”
“Is that why you didn’t allow me to jump over lake Baikal?”
“You guessed it.”
“But I smelled fish and I was hungry.”
“You only had to ask me and I would pluck some for you.”
The kitten thanked the stork for taking care of her and then said she wanted to hop off.
So they both flew down in a small yard next to a house in the city and they said goodbye to each other in the backyard garden patch. The kitten rubbed its body between the stork’s legs and the stork pecked the kitten’s back softly.
That’s how we came to find Lola in our kitchen the next morning.
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