[Critique Group 1] DeAnna"s December 2020 submission

[Deanna Noriega]

Scarlet Ribbons for Her Hair

The real story

By DeAnna Quietwater Noriega

 

Many years ago, I was just a kitten living my first life. I was born in
summer. My mother resided in an alley behind a dumpster. There were three of
us in the family. My brother was an orange tiger striped tabby and my mother
a midnight black child of the streets. I took after her with the addition of
a white tuxedo vest and white forepaws. 

 

Late that fall, as the nights were growing cold, mother told me it was time
for me to move out on my own. I had learned to hunt and didn't need her milk
to survive. I was hard pressed to keep body and soul together. All of the
best locales were owned by larger unfriendly cats. I wandered further each
day, becoming weaker with hunger. 

 

I had been sheltering in some bushes next to the rickety steps of a small
rundown house, near the edge of town, when a young girl with hair as black
as my coat and large blue eyes came down those steps. She looked in my
direction. Even though I was crouched and kept very still she spotted me.
Her face broke into a smile so sunny that it made me feel warm all over. Her
voice was soft and gentle.

 

                "You look cold and hungry KitKat. Come here and I will find
you something to eat. Mama has gone to work, and then she will go to night
school, so you can come in for a while and get warm."

The girl found me a small bowl and filled it with some leftover beef stew.
She placed a cup with a missing handle full of cool water beside the bowl
and after I had cleaned the bowl completely, she placed a small pillow on
the sill of a sunny window to make me comfortable for a nap. Then she
gathered her books and hurried off to school. Late in the afternoon, she
returned and heated the rest of the stew and mixed some biscuit dough.
Although Becca was only about ten years old, she knew how to prepare simple
things. Her mother Ivy came home briefly to share this plain fare before
rushing off to night school. 

Becca lifted the pan of golden brown biscuits from the oven and Ivy ladled
the stew into bowls. I was lying quietly on my cushion in the window. Ivy
sat down to eat and Becca lifted me and brought me over to place me in her
mother's lap.

 

"Look mama, see how thin she is? I am calling her KitKat, like the candy bar
because she is so sweet. I know we don't have the money for Christmas
presents, but if we keep her, she can be our present to each other. Ivy
looked into Becca's pleading eyes. Her work worn hand stroked my soft fur.
That is how I joined Becca and her mother, becoming a part of their family. 

 

Time flew by and a year later, Christmas was again approaching. There was no
money for pretty packages for them. Taking me in meant some sacrifices in an
already tight budget. If they had not added me to their family, I probably
would have had a short hungry first life. 

I did my best to help where I could, catching mice, curling up on Becca's
feet to keep them warm while she did homework at the kitchen table. I waited
up for Ivy, and sang a cheerful chirrup to welcome her home each night. I
kept Becca company while her mother rushed from job to school with only a
half hour break to snatch dinner from cans heated on the stove by Becca. I
played silly games to make them smile. I followed Ivy when she came from her
night school classes to peek in to check on Becca. That was when we heard
the end of her bedtime prayer. 

 

"And for me, some scarlet ribbons, scarlet ribbons for my hair." When Ivy
had tiptoed back to the kitchen, I sat on her lap while she tried to get
quiet in her heart so she could sleep. Later, when I made my rounds to be
sure my people were sleeping, I found Becca breathing softly tucked snugly
in her bed. Ivy wasn't doing as well. Her pillow was damp with tears. I
curled against her side and purred her to sleep. 

 

I 

knew that Becca's request was impossible. There was no way Ivy could get
those ribbons. I slipped out the cat door and hurried across town. Only
Tasha, queen of cats might be able to help. What price would she accept? 

 

I crept into the old barn where she held court on Christmas Eve. Hundreds of
cats gathered there to sing her praises. I waited until the time of
supplications came. I stepped up and made my request for scarlet ribbons for
Becca's hair. 

 

Tasha's green eyes glared down at me. "

What will you give for those ribbons?" she growled. 

 

 

I was the least of her court, a small black cat born in an alley of no
exotic breeding or importance. I had only one thing I could give. 

 

"Oh great queen, I offer one of my nine lives. May you live one life beyond
your allotted number and I one less." 

 

The trade was made and her minions were sent out to search the town for
lengths of scarlet ribbon. Velvet bows disappeared from wrapped gifts
beneath Christmas trees. Satin ribbons were taken from door wreaths. Sewing
rooms were searched for ribbons left from holiday dressmaking. 

 

 

Nearing the end of my 8th life I have no regrets. The look of amazement on
Ivy's face and the trusting joy on Becca's when she woke to find her prayer
had been answered was worth the sacrifice. 

 

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