Challenge #1 "Can You See Me, Mother?"

My mother, the one who was supposed to raise me and care for me, doesn't see me. She acts as if I'm a ghost, ignoring my presence even if it means giving up her only kit. My small, tortoiseshell body chases after her every day, hoping that there will be some sign that she will care for me today-tomorrow-even seasons in the future. But nothing ever comes. My name? Oh- what does it matter anyway.

Anyway, by the time I became an apprentice she wasn't even in my life anymore. She didn't cheer with love, she cheered with the same tone that the warriors use when it's simply another cat getting older. She didn't come near me that day as I walked away with my mentor who actually saw me, and I could feel the pride he had in himself that he got an apprentice- I was proud too.

I remember sitting on a rock in the middle of a stream as my mentor taught me how to fish and I asked him, in a quiet voice, "Why doesn't my mother care like you do?" I can remember the silence that came afterwards as he stared at me, dropping the wiggling fish in his jaw as he stared at me for a little while. "W-What do you mean?" he had asked, but the way he glanced away proved that he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"You know." I had replied coldly, staring at the moving water as two minnows swam by. I heard him sigh and could practically feel all the thoughts that were crossing his mind as he tried to word his sentence correctly.

"I guess I do know. But I don't know why." He had meowed and watched the stream like I was and then he jumped in, splashing me in the process with a wide smile. "Yet- you shouldn't be so down! You're an apprentice and you need to have fun!" he meowed and tilted his head with a closed-eye smile. His mistake.

I took the opportunity and grabbed a fish we had caught earlier and threw it at him. "Catch!" He opened his eyes widely after the fish hit him and backpedaled before realizing that his fresh-kill was floating down the stream. He chased after it desperately and came back soaking wet with half the fish in his jaws, his ears pulled back as he looked at me annoyed. I remember how I broke down laughing and he soon joined me, and for once it seemed like my laugh echoed off the land instead of falling on deaf ears.

I felt like I was heard.

He had then told me about how he was ignored by his father because he wasn't the strongest in the litter, but said once he confronted his father it helped him a lot and his father saw him like his brothers. "You should try it." Those words had stayed in my brain the whole night and I continued to think about them, even when I was half asleep.

Now, I'm standing in front of the she-cat who ignored me all my life, her face filled with blank curiosity and absolute annoyance while mine probably radiated hope and determination. "Why are you ignoring me." I said and I couldn't help but notice how it wasn't a question, it was more of a statement. So simple, so clear and yet she didn't get it.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me why you've ignored me all my life."

She glanced at me and tilted her head, her next words catching me off guard and making my mind question everything. I can tell you that I'll never get over it, no matter how much talking my mentor does, no matter how many days I train. I'll never get over the words my mother said.

"Who are you?"