Freedom
Arthur had been kept indoors for what felt like his whole life. But today was the day that finally changed. He had spent so much time looking out of the living room window, watching people pass by, as well as squirrels and various kinds of birds. He longed to catch them all. He had seen his mum go out many nights and come back in the early morning. Where did she go? What secret places was she finding while he was stuck indoors? He had been told he was too young and that the world was too full of germs (some kind of dangerous bug, from what he could understand) and he had not had his ‘shots’ (whatever that meant) yet.
Well, a few days ago he had found out what ‘shots’ meant. Stabbing. Lots of stabbing. Someone came to his house to stab him and no-one – not even his mum – tried to stop them. He felt so hurt and confused. Had he done something wrong? Why was everyone okay with this? Why did he have to get stabbed before he went outside? Was it some kind of test, to see if he was tough enough? He did his best not to meow too much or scratch the human who did the stabbing, he tried to show them all that he was brave enough for outside.
It must have worked, because now the front door was open and his mum was standing outside, waiting for him to join her. He tentatively stepped outside. Whoa, it was kinda cold out here. The air felt funny, like it was moving around him. He stepped back a little, not sure if this was normal. His mum meowed at him impatiently. Okay, he guessed this strange air must be normal. Directly in front of the house there was a big room with a green carpet. And the ceiling was sooo high above him, and blue. His mum walked over to the carpet, so he followed. Whoa! This felt so weird! It wasn’t all soft and warm like the inside carpet, it was… tickly. And smelled really nice. He loved it! He jumped about happily, rolled in it and chewed on a bit of it. He couldn’t believe he had been missing out on this!
His mum meowed at him again. She wanted to move on but he wanted to stay here longer. It apparently wasn’t up for discussion though. She started to walk off to the other side of the green carpet, so he followed, now really curious about what other amazing things he would see today.
Where will the kitten and his mother go next?
Will they meet anyone (human or animal) whilst they’re out?
How long will they stay out for?