Two cats lived across the road from a school in a small town. One of them, named Fluff, resided in a nice house, while her best friend, Kat, lived next door in a rather old and unattractive home. The cats’ owners were best friends, too.

One year, both cats had kittens at the same time. Fluff’s first kitten was a beautiful little white one, who was bigger than her siblings. Her owners named her Beauty, and everyone who saw her felt her name suited her perfectly.

Just a few hours later, Kat had her kittens. Unfortunately, her owners couldn’t afford to feed the cat and her kittens well, so the result was that their cats was not as healthy as Fluff and her kittens. The last kitten born to Kat was a tiny little black kitty that was named Midnight. Although Midnight was small, she had a big heart and loved everyone.

Because she was so pretty, Beauty became quite proud and spoilt. Aware of her looks and strength, she began bossing the other kittens around. One day, she decided to pick on the neighbour’s kittens, making their lives miserable. She called them names, laughed at them and told her siblings to stay away from them because they were small, weak and dirty. She was particularly mean to little Midnight.

This behaviour went on for several days until one day, Fluff overheard Beauty teasing Midnight.

“Beauty, come here at once,” Fluff scolded. Startled by her mother’s upset tone, Beauty looked up.

“Don’t you know that Kat saved my life years ago by distracting a big dog that would have killed me? If she hadn’t risked her life to save mine, you wouldn’t be here today. So you must be nice to her and her kittens, if for no other reason than that,” her mother said.

She continued, “Besides, the One who created us all — whom you smart children know as God — tells us to be kind to everyone whenever we can.”

Although Beauty was spoiled, she wasn’t a bad kitten. Hearing about Kat’s sacrifice for her mother made her feel ashamed.

“Oh, Mama, what should I do to make it up to Midnight and her siblings?”

“Please go to Kat and her kittens, and apologise at once,” her mother replied. And so, Beauty did just that.

From that day onwards, Beauty never made fun of anyone else for the rest of her long and happy life, discovering that making others happy brings joy to herself as well.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 9th, 2024