“Mum please, stop it! Your words offend my Snow!” said Ayan, as his mother shouted at his cat for playing with her food.

Ayan was an 11-year-old-boy. His grandfather had gifted him this cat on his tenth birthday. Ayan loved the cat very much. However, this was not the case with his mum and his younger sister Alia. His mother thought the cat made a lot of mess, while Alia thought the cat tore up her toys. Just like Ayan loved Snow, Alia had a beloved doll and she was very possessive about it.

One morning, when Ayan was school, Snow walked past Alia’s room. Out of curiosity, the cat walked inside. She played with a ball and jumped over various toys. Then she saw the beloved doll of Alia lying on the bed. Snow took the doll in her mouth and shook it back and forth vigorously. It was just a game for her.

Just then, Alia’s mother was passing by when through the open door she saw Snow playing wildly with the doll.

“Drop it! You can’t play with it!” she shouted.

Surprised into obedience, Snow quickly dropped the doll and hid in a corner. On hearing her mother shout, Alia rushed to her room and found her doll damaged. She was outraged at Snow.

“Go away from my sight, you’re stupid!” Alia cried. Her mother tried to comfort her. Snow ran towards Ayan’s room and hid there until he came back. So when Ayan came back home after school, Snow rushed towards him. Ayan hugged Snow and she felt secure.

“Woah! Snow! Feels like I was being missed a lot,” said Ayan in a surprise. Snow meowed.

No wonder, animals understand the language of love and hate. Alia wanted Snow to learn a lesson for destroying her doll, so she made a plan to get rid of her immediately. The next day, she found the opportunity when she saw Snow was alone and looking out of the window.

“We will be taking a trip together,” said Alia while carefully taking the cat in her hands. Snow didn’t feel comfortable as she could sense Alia’s sinister intentions. Holding Snow, Alia marched into the kitchen and showed Snow the garbage bin.

“You see this? This is where you belong, not our house!” she said angrily and then put her inside a picnic basket so that no one could see her.

Snow was scared, she meowed.

“Mama! I am going out to play with my friends,” said Alia while taking Snow in the basket.

“Be careful dear!” came her mum’s voice.

Alia walked a few streets away from her home and opened the basket at a dumping place. Snow jumped out of the basket ... she was horrified to see the new surrounding, but she ran without knowing where she was going.

“Don’t even try to walk back, you silly cat!” shouted Alia as Snow ran.

Snow was very scared. She hid under a car. Alia went back home without the slightest sense of regret at what she had done to the cat.

When Ayan came back from school, he wondered why Snow didn’t greet him. He looked around for Snow but she was nowhere.

There was no way for Snow to let him know where she was. On the other hand, Snow was covered in garbage. She was hungry and scared, she saw other cats giving her threatening stares, and then she had the first fight of her life with another cat. Snow was inexperienced, she was a pampered cat and had never seen the harsh reality of the outside world, so she was beaten black and blue.

She ran and ran, didn’t know where she was going. It was night-time now. On the other hand, Ayan was crying in his room at not finding his cat anywhere. He didn’t have his dinner. His father and mother insisted but he didn’t come out of his room. Both the parents wondered where the cat could have gone.

“Poor cat, she has no experience of the world outside, how will she survive? I am sure she will be beaten to death by dogs or other cats!” said their father.

Hearing this, Alia felt disturbed and ashamed for her heartless act but remained silent.

After running around for more than two hours, Snow finally saw the familiar gate of a house! Yes, it was Ayan’s house — her house.

“Meow!” she cried jumping inside from the gate to inform Ayan of her return. Ayan was looking out of his room’s window when he saw his cat almost in an unrecognisable condition.

He rushed outside, saw Snow all covered in garbage, dust and there were many bruises telling her terrible story of the day. Ayan hugged her while crying.

“Snow!” he said, “I love you, Snow. Please don’t you leave me again like this!”

Snow, too, was experiencing unusual emotions. Everyone was surprised, but felt pity for the poor cat’s struggle to reach the house. Alia felt ashamed for what she had done therefore, she immediately confessed the whole incident. Both parents and Ayan were astonished to learn what she had done. However, they accepted her apology.

“I feel really bad, but I forgive you and I hope you never do this ever again.”

Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks and she hugged her brother and caressed Snow.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 21st, 2017