Tales of the kittenbox, the kitten and the bird

[NineLivesCat]

Darting throughout the brush, a little kitten played, while above a bird sings and darts through the sky. The kitten wiggles its tiny tail and leaped up, trying to catch the bird, but in vain, the bird is too swift and too high for the kitten. Over and over they danced with each other from morning to noon, only taking breaks for catnaps. During one of such, the bird fluttered down and landed on the kitten's tummy. The kitten looked up from its nap, its big eyes full of confusion. "Do you not fear me, little bird?" the kitten asked. The bird chirped in response, "I do not, because your fur is soft, and your heart is pure."

The kitten licked its paw and rubbed it over its tiny white head, and said, "I am a dangerous cat. I could eat you, and wear your feathers on my snoot."

The bird laughed, its voice singing through the afternoon. "Your tummy is full of milk, and your claws are unstained with blood. You are still young and your innocence radiates from your fur."

The kitten reached out putting both paws on the bird's wings, "If that's so, then why do you fly up when i jump, and swoop down and laugh when i fall? You know i could eat you!"

The bird opened its beak again, and sang, "But you will not, because what you want is not the meat on my bones, but the voice in my throat, and the friendship in my heart. Everyone finds friends, even in unlikely places." Hearing this, the kitten let the bird go, and it flitted back up, the nap now over. They continued their dance until the evening, when the kitten returned to its mother.

Proudly, the kitten told about its new friend to its mother, who patted its head and gave its nose a smooch. "Now eat your meal, sweety." she said, and ushered him to the dinnertable. There, presented and still living, was the bird from earlier. "Oh mama, i cannot eat this bird!" the kitten exclaimed, "it is my friend!". The bird then responded in turned, its soft song filling the house. "Earlier, when you didn't need food, i was your friend. And now, when your mother has no more milk to give, i will extend that friendship onwards, and become your food. I will be forever in your heart, as in your stomach, so as i did not fear you in the fields, neither should you fear me in your house."

The kitten cried but still ate the bird, making sure to lick up every droplet of its sweet blood, and when it finished, it looked around at the feathers, which were quickly grabbed and carried into the wind. The kitten looked at them with the same curious eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh mama, I understand now! My friends was there so my mind could be strong, and they are there even more so my body could be strong!" It playfully danced and darted with the feathers, which soon vanished through the window into the red evening sky.

And in future, even when the bird was not there in the present, the kitten still felt the bird in its little heart, strengthening its soul for moons to come.