Insect, the six-legged cat who became a hero

THE SIX-LEGGED KITTEN WHO BECAME A HERO

One day, there was a little girl named Ingrid who loved animals, cats in particular. One day, as she was walking home from school, she saw a man digging a hole in a patch of sandy soil. Finally the man got a kitten out of his car. Ingrid heard a pitiful mew and realized with horror that the kitten was alive. She raced over to the man and said “Don’t do it! Please don’t do it! How could you be so cruel; burying a poor, innocent little kitten alive? If you don’t want the kitten you could sell him, or hand him over to the RSPCA. Please let me take him.” “Fine”, grunted the man, shoving the little kitten into her arms. She looked more closely at him and realized the kitten had six legs, not four legs like normal kittens but she didn’t care; the kitten was as soft as butter and as innocent as a lamb so she took him home. Her parents saw the kitten as soon as she came home and said “Where did you get that kitten? It must have an owner, surely.” “I rescued him from a man who was going to bury him alive; probably just because he has six legs instead of four. He can’t help having too many legs. Please let me keep him. Please don’t send him back to that man.”, she replied. Ingrid’s parents agreed to let him stay until an owner could be found for him, but something happened three days later that would make it so he was to live with them forever. Ingrid was playing “Picnic” with her teddy bears and the six-legged kitten in when a man came into her yard and said “Hullo, you’re having a picnic, are ya? Well, I’ve got just the thing to round your picnic off nicely. I’ve got some caramel-filled lamington triangles in my car which is parked only about five steps away, so you can come with me and take them. We have to be quick; it’s rather a hot day and the lamingtons will melt if you don’t take them soon.” “No, sir” replied Ingrid “my parents say I’m not to go with anyone I don’t know unless they say it’s okay.” The man grabbed Ingrid’s arm, but the kitten rushed at the man and latched onto his leg, digging his claws in as far as he possibly could. The man screamed in pain and shock and tried to rid himself of the kitten, but he held on even tighter. Her parents heard the commotion and went out and they saw this man trying to shake the kitten off his leg and when they asked what was going on, she told them that he said he had lamingtons in his car and when she had refused to go with him, he had grabbed her arm, so her father called the police and they soon persuaded the kitten to let go and then arrested the man. When the man was gone, Ingrid’s father turned to her and said “If it hadn’t been for that six-legged kitten, the man would probably have taken you away and molested you; he might even have killed you, so I think the little fella deserves a reward in the form of a permanent home here, with us.” Ingrid was delighted. She knew the kitten needed a name, now that he was going to live with them permanently and she said “I think I’ll call him “Insect”, because he has six legs, like an insect.”, and her parents thought that that was a good name for him and he remained a source of happiness and laughter for Ingrid.

THE END

(By Shelley Goodman. Written on the 23^rd of March 2017)