The Black Cat and the Little Girl by Carole Rae

****As you may or may not know, I am taking a creative writing class this summer (along with two other classes), so I feel that I want to share what I write in class. This first paper is a Creative Nonfiction short story.*****

There was once a little girl who had hair like Goldilocks and bright brown eyes that shimmered like stars in the night sky. With each day her golden hair turned darker and darker. Her mother, who had hair the color of bark, would sob and sob over this. She would exclaim, “My Goldilocks keeps growing! Her hair is looking like my hair!” Why was the mother so upset about this? Well, the little girl's golden hair resembled the mother's mother's once flowing hair. Now that the mother's mother had passed, the mother had little to remember her by. The mother also secretly sobbed, because the little girl was not like her at all. The little girl rather play alone and was reserved. She spoke little, but when she did speak she carefully chose her words and to whom she spoke to. It was not that she was a rude little girl, but she had had her heart broken by the man she loved: her father.

After the mother left the father due to his unfaithfulness and his horrid temper, the little girl stopped talking and clung to the mother's leg as they ventured cross country to a colder land that the little girl was not use to. They arrived at a little yellow house who belonged to Grandfather, the father of the mother. Grandfather brought the two in with no questions at all. He offered many a cookie and treat to the little girl, who only muttered a “thank you” to his deeds. Grandfather never forced her to speak or do anything she did not want to do, for he understood and was quite the quiet one himself. It took no time at all, though, for the little girl to finally break the ice over her heart and love Grandfather. Alongside this, her adventurous side was reborn and she had no choice but to roam the halls of the little yellow house.

The house smelled of many years of memories. Old and dusty items were scattered throughout the house. Some of these old and dusty items seemed to be older then the little girl, perhaps even older then Grandfather! Every room held a new mystery that enchanted the little girl. She played everywhere and tried to play with everything, but the mother would intervene and carefully place the item back and say, “One must be careful, sweetie, because this is old and will break if handled too roughly.” The little girl didn't quite understand, but she listened to her mother's words and never touched those items again.

The little girl loved the little yellow house. She loved every room and every item with all her heart! There was one place, though, that was her favorite and she did the majority of her playing and dreaming there. This was the most unlikely of places for a little girl, but the little girl loved the coolness and solitude of it. What is this place? Nowhere, but the gray basement on a little black cot set up just for her. Grandfather and the mother were rather confused as to why the little girl liked the basement the most, but they didn't ask questions and set up her black cot there. This basement was a spacious basement, but the walls and shelves were filled with more old things that amazed the little girl. There was a pantry tucked away next to the white laundry and dryer. There was a small shower and a toilet on the other side, which baffled the little girl, because she never seen a toilet in a basement before. Next to that was an old, overfilled tool bench that the little girl never, ever touched for it was Grandfather's tool bench. Near her black cot was a bed as huge as a car! It was pushed up against the adjoining wall from the cot. The little girl, again, was amazed and confused as to why a bed was in the basement. Beds belonged in bedrooms, didn't they?

“Perhaps,”She whispered to herself, “It was put there for me to play on!” She ran to the bed and began jumping on it. It was not as good as a trampoline, but it was still fun and softer on her feet! After a few hoots and sadly attempted back-flips, the mother came flying down the stairs and grabbed the little girl off the bed and set her down on the cool floor. She glared and yelled, “You know better! Beds are not made for jumping! They are made for SLEEPING! This bed is for guests, not for you to be jumping on.”

With a sniff and some tears, the little girl apologized, “I'm sorry.”

“Good.” With that, the mother patted her head and went back upstairs.

The little girl flopped back onto the black cot with a pout and wiped away the remaining tears on her face. She contemplated going up to her room, but she was currently mad at her mother, so she decided to stay sitting on the black cot surrounded by her dolls. As she went to slip on the new dress for her doll, a noise by the bed froze her.

Meow

The little girl squinted her eyes looking for the sound. She was too scared to actually get up and go to the bed and investigate.

Meow

The sound was getting louder!

Meow

Suddenly the thing making the noise slid out from underneath the bed. It was a black cat with bright green eyes! However, the black cat was not completely black, but a large white mark circled the cats neck. It liked like a pearl necklace that her mother had given her that had belonged to the mother's mother. The little girl squealed with excitement! She called for the cat to come closer. The black cat at first refused, but soon sauntered over to the little girl. The little girl patted the cot and told it to come up and play with her, but the black cat just cocked its head to the side and slid under the cot and laid down there.

The little girl was a little upset that the cat didn't want to play with her, but she was never one to force an animal to do anything it didn't want to do, so she then went on playing with her dolls. It seemed like no time passed at all when her mother called downstairs, “Sweetie, dinner is ready! Wash your hands!”

The little girl, who was starved at this point, jumped off the cot and crouched to look under the cot, “Mr. Kitty, it is time for dinner! Maybe momma can give you some.” But as she looked under the cot, she could not see the black cat. An eyebrow raised and she whispered, “That's weird...I didn't see you leave kitty.” With a shrug, she skipped away to wash her hands.

Later that night, the mother tucked the little girl into bed and kissed her forehead, “Good night my angel.” The mother cooed. She went and turned on the little girl's night light and left the room. The little girl smiled as she stared up at the green glowing stars that Grandfather stuck on the ceiling for her. With a little yawn, she closed her eyes.

Meow.

She jumped up to a sitting position. The cat was back! She called softly,“Come here kitty! Where are you kitty? Did you get dinner?”

Meow.

“Come lay on the bed with me, kitty.” The little girl pleaded.

The black cat slid out of the closet that was opened just a crack. The cat came to the foot of the bed and looked up at the girl with a look of curiosity. It seemed that the cat was tempted to lay on the bed with the little girl, but instead it slid under the bed and laid there. With a pout the little girl demanded, “Why won't you play with me, kitty?” She jumped out of bed. Flicking on the light and she ran back to the bed. Crouching by the foot of the bed, she lifted the blanket and looked under for the cat. Again...the black cat had disappeared! She was rather confused.

Quickly, she slid on her bunny slippers and ran out of the room. Her mother would know what was going on! The little girl hunted down her mother until she found her sitting at the dinner table playing with paper and looking rather serious about it. Not caring that her mother was busy, she demanded, “Mom! Why does Grandfather's cat not want to play with me?”

“What?” The mother asked without looking up.

“There is a black cat with white around its neck! It refuses to play with me! Tell Grandpa I want to play with it!”

The mother put down her papers with a wide-eyed expression, “Grandfather does not have a cat, sweetie. You must be imagining it.”

“NO! No, I'm not! I promise! It was downstairs by my cot and then it was in my room! It keeps disappearing!”

The mother chewed her lip and thought a moment. She went to say something, but instead stood up and began ushering the little girl towards the bedroom, “Come, come. There is no black cat. You must have been dreaming. Back to bed with you.”

“But momma!” The little girl whined

“No...time for bed.” She replied sternly. Again, she tucked the little girl in and flicked off the lights.

The little girl was not happy to be ignored and put back to bed. She again jumped out of the bed and went to the door. Before she could swing it open, she heard Grandfather's voice and her mother's voice. She peaked through the creak and they were in Grandfather's room which was across the way from the little girl's room. Sitting down, she decided to listen to their conversation like a bad little girl.

“Dad, she seen that black cat!” The mother hissed.

“Impossible! That cat died five years ago. I buried it myself. It must be a stray or her imagination” He responded with annoyance.

“ No, Dad. She does not lie and you know that. She said the cat was black with white around the neck. It came to her by the black cot from the bed and it was in her room.”

There was a momentary silence.

“Dad?”

“It died under that bed a few days after your mother passed five years ago. I buried it myself.”

Again...silence.

“Maybe she did see it...maybe it's a ghost.” The mother whispered.

Grandfather shrugged and replied, “It's possible. Don't tell her though...she'll get scared.”

The little girl, hearing enough, slipped back into bed. A ghost? A ghost cat? She didn't quite understand what that meant. How does one become dead and become a ghost? She knew Casper was a ghost and he was friendly. The little girl hoped that the black cat was friendly like Casper. With a sigh, she concluded that the black cat had to be friendly, it hadn't done anything to hurt her yet. After some more thinking and convincing herself the ghost cat was harmless, she fell fast asleep.

Meow.

The black cat appeared again and jumped on the bed and laid next to the little girl.