The Pond & The Kitten

[Altawell]

The Pond & The Kitten

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Once upon a time, there was a tiny kitten called Pepin who loved to play everywhere and all the time. He played and played and played. He just could not stop playing. One day while he was playing, he suddenly heard a noise coming from inside a wall.

"Someone is in need of help" Pepin said to himself.

So he tried to push the wall, but nothing happened.

He tried to hit the wall but he only managed to hurt his little paws.

Then he called in a quiet voice "Where are you? I must come and help you!"

There was no reply...but the noise continued.

"Please answer me, I only want to help" Pepin said and just as he finished what he was saying, the noise completely stopped.

"I hope he is all right now! Whoever it may be... "sighed Pepin.

Just as he was going back to play again, he saw two small shinning eyes watching him from a dark hole at the corner of the wall. Pepin moved backwards one step. He was a bit worried because he did not know what was hiding there. Then said quickly "I do not know who you are, but if you want my help, you must come out now" The two small shining eyes, it seemed to Pepin, were appearing then disappearing as if blinking...

"I am sick," a faint voice and a strange one too, came out from the dark hole.

Pepin hearing the voice was a bit confused, because the voice did not sound like any kittens' he had played before, and without thinking he took another step backwards which made him fall into the pond just behind him.

The two small, shining eyes watching from the dark hole became two tiny dark spots in the daylight as a mouse came running out to help Pepin.

The mouse tried hard to save Pepin even though he himself was sick, but he was too small and too weak to pull Pepin out of the water. So he looked around him and to his delight he saw the branch of a tree just touching the water close to Pepin.

"The tree branch will save you, hold it, hold it now".

The mouse shouted as loud as he could, but Pepin was too scared to do anything. He kept splashing the water in panic trying hard to get out of it. But the more he splashed the water, the further away from the mouse he became.

"Don't be afraid and don't panic, I will climb the tree branch, go to the end of it and extend my tail to you so that you can hold on".

The mouse climbed the trunk of the tree to the branch and then went down to the end of it. He turned round until he felt the cold water touching his tail. The mouse shivered and pulled back his tail but quickly tried once more.

"Hurry up and grab my tail" the mouse called out to Pepin. His whole body shivered again as his whole tail was immersed in the water.

Pepin, coughing because he had swallowed water from the pond, tried to catch the mouse's tail. He closed his eyes and said to himself just as he managed to catch the end of the mouse's tail "I will make it, I will be alright".

Pepin was saved but very wet. He lay on his back, feeling cold, beside the sick mouse.

"I am sick" the mouse said.

"I am sick too" Pepin said.

Then, the warm sun came out from behind the clouds. The mouse and Pepin closed their eyes to avoid the bright light, but both of them started to feel a little bit better as the heat of the sun started to dry their wet fur.

Later, when both of them felt completely dry and warm, Pepin who was feeling good once again, said to the mouse: "What is that thing coming out of your back?"

The mouse turned his head towards his back and said in a worried voice: "That is where I feel the pain!"

Pepin moved towards the mouse, started sniffing and looking at his back then said in an excited voice as if he had discovered something: "I know what is sticking out of your back!"

The mouse didn't care what Pepin had said to him, because he thought no one could do anything to save him from the terrible pain.

"Don't move, I will take that thing out of your back" Pepin said to the mouse, who was shaking his head as if he did not believe what he was hearing.

Pepin slowly opened his mouth close to the back of the mouse. If you had been there, watching what was happening, you might have thought that Pepin was about to eat the mouse, and to be honest, the mouse suddenly felt very worried too. For a moment, he thought he should really stand up and run away as fast as he could to save his life from those giant jaws.

But it was too late...

Pepin was already holding something in his mouth, which he was trying to pull out of the mouse's back. It was really painful for the poor mouse, but he was determined not to scream or make any movement and let Pepin finish what he was doing. Because deep down in his heart, he knew that Pepin had good intention and that he really wanted to save him from his pain and make him feel well again. Yes, he knew that especially at that moment.

It was a very big thorn that Pepin managed to remove from the mouse's back. He moved forward and dropped it on the ground near the tree.

"Wow, the pain has disappeared! What have you done? Are you a doctor?" The relieved mouse said, with clear signs of happiness in his face.

"Oh, well! It was really nothing..., "said Pepin proudly.

In fact, Pepin was feeling so good about himself that he lifted his head and tail up high and walked away with his eyes half closed wondering if he really should become a doctor. The happy mouse ran quickly after him and disappeared into the little dark hole.




Altawell





© Altawell 2008