The Kitten named Farewell
Penny spent the rest of her summer tending her duties of looking after the younger children for the headmistress eagerly. A month and a week passed slowly for her, as she prepared a small carrying bag with her few personal belongings. She had only her clothing and the few shells and feathers she'd picked up from the river bank.
On her last day at the orphanage, she woke and rose to fetch the milk from the back door of the kitchen. Pulling the door open she spied a small box set out by the road that looked like it had been hit repeatedly by passing cars. She frowned, thinking that a box was an odd thing to see out here, being so far from other houses as the orphanage was, and so few vehicles passed that would have lost such an item. She stepped barefoot off the stairs and started walking across the back lawn and playground. Slowly she started to hear mewing, and her eyes widened as she approached the box.
Lifting the side lids up over the upper sides of the battered box, she peeked in, to see two kittens, one black and cream, seemed too still to be living. With a gasp, she reached into the box to see if it would move if she touched it. It stirred faintly, appearing tired it yawned and lay it's head back down. She saw a bit of blood on it's side and thought it must've been hurt when the box was left there, hit by a car or whatever the case was.
She looked to the other kitten who was mewing, and scratching at the sides of the box frantically. She lifted it into her arms, and the mewing stopped immediately. She looked into the creature's eyes and the kitten leaned forward to lick her nose. "Awww...you poor things" she said, setting the kitten back into the box and lifting it into her arms.
She carried the lot back to the doorway where there had appeared two of the other children and the headmistress. "What have you got there? Where did that box come from?"
"Kittens ma'am. Two of them, but one of 'em looks like it's hurt bad." she responded, looking up at the woman sadly.
"Well, bring them in, we'll see what we can do." Mistress Oryan's usually strict voice was motherly. It was obvious the woman loved kittens by the softening features of her face.
Penny carried the box into the common room with a trail of children following behind her, and the headmistress not far behind. The lot of them arrived in the larger room and Mistress Oryan walked forward passed the children, telling them all to go get cleaned up for breakfast, and she knelt beside the box. "Penny, lift the perky one out of there... Hold him up for me to look at."
The older woman proceeded to examine the kitten closely for any signs of illness or injury. She repeated the process, though more delicately, with the other kitten. Both proved relatively healthy, but for the darker one's wound. A small cut on it's leg. Nothing that would not heal.
Penny was in a dreamy state of hoping she could have one of the kittens when Oryan's voice saying her name penetrated her mind. "Yes ma'am?" she responded quickly, though belatedly.
"Didn't the note from the school say you could have one pet?"
"Yes ma'am!" she said excitedly.
"Well then, what will you name him?"
"You mean I can keep him?!" asked Penny. She was shocked.
She thought about it though, and finally decided on "Farewell" as the kitten's name. "Yes, Farewell will be your name"
Penny spent the rest of her summer tending her duties of looking after the younger children for the headmistress eagerly. A month and a week passed slowly for her, as she prepared a small carrying bag with her few personal belongings. She had only her clothing and the few shells and feathers she'd picked up from the river bank.
On her last day at the orphanage, she woke and rose to fetch the milk from the back door of the kitchen. Pulling the door open she spied a small box set out by the road that looked like it had been hit repeatedly by passing cars. She frowned, thinking that a box was an odd thing to see out here, being so far from other houses as the orphanage was, and so few vehicles passed that would have lost such an item. She stepped barefoot off the stairs and started walking across the back lawn and playground. Slowly she started to hear mewing, and her eyes widened as she approached the box.
Lifting the side lids up over the upper sides of the battered box, she peeked in, to see two kittens, one black and cream, seemed too still to be living. With a gasp, she reached into the box to see if it would move if she touched it. It stirred faintly, appearing tired it yawned and lay it's head back down. She saw a bit of blood on it's side and thought it must've been hurt when the box was left there, hit by a car or whatever the case was.
She looked to the other kitten who was mewing, and scratching at the sides of the box frantically. She lifted it into her arms, and the mewing stopped immediately. She looked into the creature's eyes and the kitten leaned forward to lick her nose. "Awww...you poor things" she said, setting the kitten back into the box and lifting it into her arms.
She carried the lot back to the doorway where there had appeared two of the other children and the headmistress. "What have you got there? Where did that box come from?"
"Kittens ma'am. Two of them, but one of 'em looks like it's hurt bad." she responded, looking up at the woman sadly.
"Well, bring them in, we'll see what we can do." Mistress Oryan's usually strict voice was motherly. It was obvious the woman loved kittens by the softening features of her face.
Penny carried the box into the common room with a trail of children following behind her, and the headmistress not far behind. The lot of them arrived in the larger room and Mistress Oryan walked forward passed the children, telling them all to go get cleaned up for breakfast, and she knelt beside the box. "Penny, lift the perky one out of there... Hold him up for me to look at."
The older woman proceeded to examine the kitten closely for any signs of illness or injury. She repeated the process, though more delicately, with the other kitten. Both proved relatively healthy, but for the darker one's wound. A small cut on it's leg. Nothing that would not heal.
Penny was in a dreamy state of hoping she could have one of the kittens when Oryan's voice saying her name penetrated her mind. "Yes ma'am?" she responded quickly, though belatedly.
"Didn't the note from the school say you could have one pet?"
"Yes ma'am!" she said excitedly.
"Well then, what will you name him?"
"You mean I can keep him?!" asked Penny. She was shocked.
She thought about it though, and finally decided on "Farewell" as the kitten's name. "Yes, Farewell will be your name"