# The Kitten Who Found It's Happiness



## cosmickev (Jun 11, 2011)

For those who are visiting for the first time...welcome .

For those who are returning, I hope that it meets your expectations.

Alright, I did my best to take into account every piece of advice that  has been given to me. I'm having someone looke over it for me sometime  in the future to help with the grammatical areas. If you are good with  grammar, I would appreciate your help as well. I'm willing to learn and  better myself.

In any case, whether you are a first time visitor, or one who is returning, I hope that you'll enjoy:

The Kitten Who Found His Happiness


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## Prinkes (Jul 9, 2011)

This is adorable. And wonderful. And makes me smile.  Beautiful story, just perfect for kids I think. 

In the interest of writing, maybe you should start the story with Taiga sitting there all alone, and Bubbles trying to wheedle the reason he's sad out of him. I'd like to hear Taiga explain what happened in his own words, and it'll make us sympathize with him a little more I think. I think I'd like to hear a little more about the woman who adopts him too, why is she so lonely? 

Like I said, though, I really like this story!


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## cosmickev (Jul 10, 2011)

Thank you for your feedback .

I really like the idea of starting the story that way and have Taiga tell the story, as well as giving more background on the woman who adopts him. I hadn't thought about that before, and I think adding that information in won't hurt the story at all.

Again, thank you for your input .


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## kulyuly (Jul 24, 2011)

It reminds me of a love story only instead of a guy there is a cat. This was a sad story at the begining but the end was great and as "prinkes" saied this story is perfect for kids. It would be nice if you described Taiga's friends and new owner and why she is alone.


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## Celestial-Ultimatum (Aug 10, 2011)

This is breathtakingly beautiful...  the endurance and patience to find happiness... this was exquisitely done!  So many emotions were conjured up as I read it.  I disliked the previous owners and felt sorry for the kitten.  I jumped with joy when he found happiness.  

Once again, wonderfully done, a true children's story!!  

8)


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## cosmickev (Aug 14, 2011)

kulyuly said:


> It reminds me of a love story only instead of a guy there is a cat. This was a sad story at the begining but the end was great and as "prinkes" saied this story is perfect for kids. It would be nice if you described Taiga's friends and new owner and why she is alone.



Thank you for your feedback. I will defintely do some work on describing the friends and the owner and explaining why she is lonely.


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## cosmickev (Aug 14, 2011)

Celestial-Ultimatum said:


> This is breathtakingly beautiful...  the endurance and patience to find happiness... this was exquisitely done!  So many emotions were conjured up as I read it.  I disliked the previous owners and felt sorry for the kitten.  I jumped with joy when he found happiness.
> 
> Once again, wonderfully done, a true children's story!!
> 
> 8)



Thank you! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the story


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## Rustgold (Aug 14, 2011)

kulyuly said:


> It would be nice if you described Taiga's friends and new owner and why she is alone.


Q : If the story is about Taiga's journey, wouldn't that be adding words that doesn't advance the journey?  As it currently exists, it's a very personal story; and you risk upsetting that if you start focusing on everybody else.

Just my thoughts.


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## cosmickev (Aug 16, 2011)

You make a good point, since this is Taiga's journey, explaining about Taiga's friends would just be extra information. But I was under the assumption that it was more of a physical description to give the reader an idea about what his friends looked like since I did neglect to explain what they looked like.


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## Sweetblossom (Sep 3, 2011)

It is such a sweet story! Even though there were a few grammatical errors, it was still a lovely piece of writing. I almost cried when Taiga found out what the woman had scripted on his collar. It was so sad!!! A great story overall, I really enjoyed reading this!

~ Sweetblossom


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## cosmickev (Sep 3, 2011)

Thanks . I would need someone to point out my grammatical errors since its been burned into my brain, lol. But I do thank you for pointing that out and for your loevly comment .


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## GWJ Baird (Oct 2, 2011)

So beautiful and well written!

I am not an artist but I was already imagining illustrations to go along with it and to me it just made it even better!

The only thing I was not a huge fan of was the kitten thinking about dieing, I don't know what the age range is but I don't know if that is a bit much for a children's book, I think it would work perfectly without that or replaced with some other thought to show his sadness, that is just my thoughts though the story is incredible with or without that


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## cosmickev (Oct 2, 2011)

The only thing I was not a huge fan of was the kitten thinking about dieing, I don't know what the age range is but I don't know if that is a bit much for a children's book, I think it would work perfectly without that or replaced with some other thought to show his sadness, that is just my thoughts though the story is incredible with or without that[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your feedback. It always makes me happy when someone likes this story!

To be completely honest with you, I felt the same way about the dying issue (although they were mixed feelings at the time). Now that you've pointed this out to me, I agree that it is a bit much and I thank you for bringing it to my attention once again .


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## Phyllis (Oct 3, 2011)

I see remarks calling it cute, etc., and it is in parts, but then how could a kitten story not have cuteness in it?  Please take this as it is intended, as objective necessary criticism that may help you in future stories.  I am not being nasty here.  It's after 1:00 AM and I'm tired and should be asleep, so I am only writing this to *help you,* since I see some hope in your writing, if not in this story.  It had some nice parts, but it may be too flawed to save without major revisions.  Three reasons:

1) Too sad for too long, and for *no apparent reason. * There is no *reasonable* explanation of why the previous owner would cruelly abandon a kitten, unless she was a horrible person.  Just makes no sense.  The fact that many months later she was looking for Taiga makes even less sense.  If you want Taiga to be alone, you need a reasonable explanation, such as his owner died or went to jail or anything but deliberate abandonment. * Children need security *and to hear that a well-behaved pet (or perhaps then a child, in their minds) was abandoned by its owner (parent) is *very scary for them, since abandonment or losing a parent or their home is a real and common fear for kids!* * So this is the worst thing you could say in a children's book!
*
2) Taiga's problem is resolved *through no effort of his own.*  He just sits around and feels sorry for himself until two people come along and help him.* Is that really a lesson you want to teach our kids? *Yikes! For this reason and the first,  as a parent, it's not a story I'd want for my children.  

3) Even if it were a good kids' story, it's not ready.  You need to read some books on rules of proper sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, etc., then do serious editing.  Here are just a few of many examples:

Orig:  in this town, lived a kitten, a kitten…who had given up
New: Now in this town lived a kitten, a kitten who had given up — punctuation was incorrect in many ways

Orig:  this little kitten was laying on the slide of the town’s park, and staring off into the distance. He was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn’t even notice his friend 
New: this little kitten was lying on the slide of the town’s park and staring off into the distance. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice his friend — Commas are incorrect in both places and need to be removed.

Last I'll take time for:  Even your title has a grammatical error.  "It's" is short for "it is" ... you want he possessive form "its" here.  Anyway, using "his" would be more personal and appropriate.  Since he talks to his friends and acts like a person, why not give him the personal pronoun instead of the pronoun used for things!


Note to Kulyuly:  You said _"this story is perfect for kids."_  Do you have children?  If you do, please read #1 and #2 above and reconsider that opinion, for their sakes.


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## jim rose (Oct 3, 2011)

cosmickev said:


> Once upon a time, there was a  special town in a land far, far away. The  town itself looked like any  other town.  It had places to shop, live,  eat and play, but the one  thing that made this town special was that  cats lived as long as humans.  Now in this town, lived a kitten, a  kitten…who had given up on ever  finding its happiness.



I read the story, the comments, and your reaction to the comments. I think you have some good input from the group. I think you have something good here, but it needs plot work and polish. Below is an ad hoc representation of the sort of changes I would suggest. I would start another paragraph before I mention the main character. 

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a very special town called Kittyville. Now, Kittyville looked like most any other town, with pleasant shops to buy sweets and storybooks lining the main street. There were comfortable homes, restaurants which served tasty meals, and a wonderful park where all the children played. Kittyville looked like any other town, but there was one thing that made it different from anywhere else. You see, in Kittyville, the cats lived just as long as people do.


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## cosmickev (Oct 3, 2011)

jim rose said:


> I read the story, the comments, and your reaction to the comments. I think you have some good input from the group. I think you have something good here, but it needs plot work and polish. Below is an ad hoc representation of the sort of changes I would suggest. I would start another paragraph before I mention the main character.
> 
> Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a very special town called Kittyville. Now, Kittyville looked like most any other town, with pleasant shops to buy sweets and storybooks lining the main street. There were comfortable homes, restaurants which served tasty meals, and a wonderful park where all the children played. Kittyville looked like any other town, but there was one thing that made it different from anywhere else. You see, in Kittyville, the cats lived just as long as people do.



I like this idea and Kittyville. If you don't mind, I'd like to use what you wrote. Also I had been thinking about how to add a bit of journey to find his happiness as well to thicken the plot a bit. So thank you very much for your input and hopefully this will turn out great.


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## jim rose (Oct 3, 2011)

I'd be flattered if you used any of my ideas or any of what I wrote. I hereby give you permission to do so. When I read your story I felt you had that elusive ability to create entertaining stories for the young folks. Your enthusiasm is charming and I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job with this project.


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## cosmickev (Oct 15, 2011)

*The Kitten Who Found His Happiness*

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a very special  town called Kittyville. Now Kittyville looked like most towns, with  pleasant shops, to buy sweets and storybooks, lining the main street.  There were comfortable homes, restaurants which served tasty meals, and a  large, wonderful park where all the children played. But even though  Kittyville looked like many of the towns surrounding it, there was one  thing that set it apart. You see, in Kittyville, the cats lived to be as  old as people do.



Our story begins with a kitten. This  kitten believed he was the happiest kitten in the world, and for a  time, this was true. His owner was very important to him and whenever  she came home, he would run to the door with the bell on his collar  ringing all the way. She’d feed him, give him baths, walk around the  town with him while she did her shopping, and tucked him in at night  when it was time to sleep. This went on for many years. But one day, the  owner suddenly spent less and less time with him when she was promoted  to a new job. A few months later their friendship came to an end, and he  lost his happiness..



One morning this little kitten  was laying on the slide in the park, lost in his own thoughts. He was  thinking so hard that he didn’t notice his friend Bubbles walking up and  jumped on his back.



“Good morning Taiga!” she said cheerfully.



This startled Taiga. “G-good morning Bubbles,” he responded once his heart started beating normally again.



“Hey, hey! Let’s play tag today!” she said as her light grey eyes glowed with excitement.



“Sorry, I really don’t feel like it today.”



“Hey, hey. You look really sad, did something happen?”



He nodded.



“Tell me! Tell me!”



“Sorry, but I don’t feel like talking about it. And can you get off of me?”



“Nope. I won’t get off of you until you tell me.”



Taiga  let out a small sigh, but knew that the only way to get her off was to  tell her. So he took a deep breath and began telling her what happened.



“My owner no longer wants me,” he said quietly.



“What?!” Bubbles asked in surprise.



“Please don’t make me say it again.”



“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe that happened. But why would she do that? I thought she was happy with you.”


“I  thought so too. But she said that she wasn’t happy with the way our  friendship was going and that she knew she wasn’t the right owner for  me.”



Bubbles didn’t move as she continued to listen to his story.



“I  didn’t think she was being serious, so I followed her. But when I did,  she told me not to make this any harder than it already was. At that  moment, I knew she was serious. So I granted her wish and returned to  the slide.”



“I see,” Bubbles said sadly.



“So are you going to get off me now?”



“Oh…yeah.”



For a few minutes, the two kittens didn’t say a word to each other.



_I wonder what I did wrong,_ Taiga thought as he went back to staring off into the distance.



His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Bubbles jump off the slide and dash away.



_I wonder where she’s going_, he thought as he closed his eyes.



When Taiga opened his eyes a few minutes later, he saw that Bubbles had returned with two of their friends, Akemi and Leo.



“Taiga what’s wrong?” Akemi asked as she sat on the ground with her emerald green eyes staring right at Taiga.



 “Bubbles is right, for once. You do look really sad,” Leo said as he smoothed his shiny black fur out.



“No I don’t,” he lied as he forced a smile on his face.



“Then why do you have tears running down your cheeks?” Akemi asked.



_Huh?_  Taiga sat up and reached a paw to his face and felt the tears. He then  frantically began wiping the tears away, but they wouldn’t stop falling.  “Why? Why am I crying?” he asked in confusion.



Akemi jumped onto the slide and grabbed his front paws. “You’re crying because you’re sad.”



“No, I’m fine…really.”



She  lifted up her paw, which was a golden brown like the rest of her body,  wiped a tear away and held it up for him to see. “This doesn’t look like  you’re fine.”



He laid back down and continued to let the tears flow.



Akemi gently placed a paw on his back, as Leo and Bubbles jumped onto the slide.



“What happened?” Akemi asked again.



Taiga decided to explain what happened.



“Taiga…I’m sorry,” Leo said as he lowered his yellow eyes to the ground.



“I still can’t believe she did this!” Bubbles exclaimed.



“Bubbles calm down.” Akemi instructed.



“I’m  sorry, it’s just that…” she couldn’t finish her sentence because she  was so upset, so she just growled as she jumped to the ground and paced  back and forth, while the white fur on her body stood on end.



“I  think she was silly for letting you go and one day she’ll realize this.  Although it might be too late then because you’re a good kitten and  someone will come along who will make you just as happy as you make  them. You’ll just have to be patient for a bit, even though I know  that’s hard to do,” Akemi said encouragingly.



Bubbles jumped back onto the slide. “Yep, yep. Akemi is right, things will get better. I promise.”



“This  is Taiga we’re talking about. He’s the most patient kitten in the town.  So I don’t think being patient will be a problem. But I don’t think  he’ll have to be patient for long because there are plenty of people in  this town who would love a kitten like him,” Leo added.



Akemi and Bubbles nodded in agreement.



Taiga’s spirits were lifted. “You guys are right,” he said with a smile.



Bubbles laughed. “Yay! Taiga’s smiling again!”



The  kittens played happily together until the sun began to set. They then  parted ways. Taiga, who was feeling hungry, decided to look around the  main street for something to eat. But he wasn’t sure where to look since  he was always fed. After searching for what felt like hours, Taiga  found himself in front of his previous owners house, however, all of the  lights were off.



_That’s strange,_ he thought. _She’s usually home by this time._


While  he was trying to figure out what was going on, he heard someone walking  up the sidewalk that he was standing on. He quickly darted into the  bushes that were nearby, even though he wasn’t sure why. Since the only  light came from the dimly lit street lights that were slowly warming up,  Taiga couldn’t tell who the person was. But when they turned towards  the house that his previous owner lived in, he knew it was her. He  silently watched as she fumbled with her keys and let a tired sigh when  she dropped them and had to bend over to pick them up. After she picked  them up, she found the right key and entered the house. But the only  light that came on was the light to her bedroom upstairs.



Taiga  came out of the bushes and jumped on the brick fence dividing the  houses in the neighborhood, and made his way to the apple tree that he  often took a nap in. He walked across a branch that led to the balcony  of his previous owner’s bedroom. She hadn’t drawn the curtains, so he  could easily see inside. When he saw her she was laying across her bed  fast asleep with her work clothes still on.



After  seeing this, Taiga came to the conclusion that she had been at work all  day and was far too busy to be his friend anymore. But even though he  understood this, he still wasn’t ready to forgive her for pushing him  away like she did. He sat there just staring at his previous owner with  slightly angry eyes, but when his stomach started growling, he  remembered he was hungry and made his way back to the sidewalk that led  to the park.



As he was making his way back to the park, the owner of a nearby grocery store was getting ready to close up for the night.



“Oh,  you’re out pretty late little one. Shouldn’t you be heading home?” he  asked as he bent down to pet Taiga. “Oh, you don’t seem to have an  owner’s tag, but you have a collar.”



Taiga meowed softly.



“I  see. You don’t have a place to return to. But who would leave such a  nice little kitten by itself? I guess that doesn’t matter right now.  Wait right here.”



The store owner walked inside and then came back out with some fish.



“Here  you go,” he said. “Until you can find an owner, I’ll feed you. So make  sure you come and see me every morning, afternoon and evening okay?”



Taiga meowed happily as he took the fish in his mouth and went back to the park.



_I guess things really will get better_, he thought as he happily ate.



Taiga  didn’t mind his life as it was. Everyday his friends came to play with  him and the grocery store owner would feed him. This went on for a few  months, but by the third month, he began to feel empty inside. Whenever  he saw his friends happily walking with their owners, his heart would  feel as if it were breaking. However, he never said a word of this to  his friends because he was afraid that he would steal their happiness.  By the fifth month his beautiful white fur had turned dark and began to  look like the black stripes that had made him look like a tiger.


_Nobody’s going to want me now_, he thought. E_ventually the store owner is going to get tired of caring for me as well. I’m beginning to think that my happiness doesn’t exist_.



Many  days had passed since he had started to give up hope and his friends  suddenly stopped coming to play. He waited patiently for them, but after  a few days, he began to think he was meant to be alone.



_I  must’ve done something wrong to deserve this. I just wish I knew what  it was so I could apologize and get my happiness back…if it exists_, he thought.



Several more days passed and there was still no sign of his friends.



_I guess they don’t want to be around me either since I don’t have an owner_, he thought as he laughed to himself. _I guess that’s okay though, I don’t even want to be with me_.



Many  more days passed and he completely gave up on his friends, or anybody  for that matter, ever coming for him. And surprisingly, he didn’t care  either. He just laid on the slide and stared off into the distance.  While he was doing this, he noticed that a storm was coming. He knew  that he needed to take shelter, but he no longer cared about what  happened to him, so he didn’t move from the slide.



When  the storm arrived, it started raining lightly at first, but then the  rain became so heavy that Taiga could barely see what was in front of  him. The wind blew violently and shook the trees. Taiga closed his eyes  to keep the water out of them until he heard something snap. He opened  his eyes just in time to see the branch of a tree break off and come  flying towards him. While this branch was small compared to a person, it  was rather large to a kitten. Taiga could barely gather the energy to  move as the branch spiraled closer and closer to him. When he finally  found the strength, he jumped to the end of the slide just as the branch  went flying by, but he couldn’t dodge all of it and got a very deep cut  on his shoulder.



He whimpered in pain as he collapsed  and began licking the wound to stop the bleeding. When he realized it  wouldn’t stop, he stopped licking it.



_Why is this happening to me?! I didn’t do anything wrong! All I want is to be happy!__ he shouted in his mind._

_His  frustration caused the fur on his back to stand on end, but when he  started to stand up, his shoulder quickly reminded him that he was hurt.  He then calmed down and rested his head on his folded paws._

He let out a sigh. _I guess it doesn’t help to get angry about my situation, _he thought_. I guess if my happiness won’t come to me, then I’ll have to go find it. _ He thought about this until he fell asleep.



When  the next morning came, the sound of the birds chirping woke him up. The  smell of the rain was still present in the air since it rained through  the night. Taiga stood up to stretch and yawn, but had completely  forgotten about the wound on his shoulder. As he stretched his left leg  out, a sharp pain rain throughout his leg, reminding him that he was  hurt. However, instead of falling down, like he did the night before, he  decided to fight through the pain as he shook the remaining rain water  off of him and sneezed.



_I should have found shelter,_ he thought with a laugh as he wiped his wet nose with his right paw. _I wonder where I should go first._ He began looking around the town. _The  northern part of the town is not an option since that’s where I used to  live. The park takes up the southern part of the town, so that leaves  only the eastern and western parts of the town._

He  lifted his right paw and began playing a decision making game to help  him decide. His right paw stopped on the eastern side so he decided to  make his way there first.



He jumped off of the slide  and began limping to that side of the town, pausing every now and then  to rest. After a few hours he made it to his destination. It wasn’t as  nice as the northern part of town since it was the oldest part of town,  but it still felt as comfortable as the northern part of town.  Especially when he saw kittens and the older cats playing with one  another. He continued to limp through the area but stopped shortly after  that.



_I never thought about it, but what does happiness look like?_ he thought as he sat down. _A squeaky mouse? A scratching post? A ball of yarn? A fresh fish?_


While he was trying to figure out what happiness looked like, an older cat from the area walked over to him and greeted him.



“Hey there kid,” he said in a deep, yet friendly voice.



“Oh, hey,” Taiga responded in a startled voice.



“I haven’t seen you around here before. What’s your name?”



“Taiga.”



“I’m Sylvur. It’s nice to meet you,” the older cat said with a smile.



“Nice to meet you too.”



“You look like you’re looking for something?”



“I am, but I’m not sure what it looks like.”



“Well I’ve been here a long time, so maybe I can help. What are you looking for?”



“My happiness,” he responded t\with a hopeful look in his sky blue eyes and his tail happily swishing back and forth behind him.



“Hm,  I see,” Sylvur said thoughtfully. He then looked at Taiga’s left leg  and realized it was barely touching the ground. “Did you hurt your leg?”



Taiga nodded.



“I see. Well, come with me then,” Sylvur said as he turned and started to walk away.



Taiga  slowly limped behind Sylvur until they reached an abandoned house.  Sylvur lifted up a window that led into the basement. He held it open  until Taiga had made his way inside. Once inside, Taiga noticed a ramp  that led to the basement floor, so he took it. When Taiga finally  reached the basement floor he saw that there were dozens of tops to  boxes that had blankets spread over them. Finally he noticed that the  only light in the room came from the three small, dusty windows that  were on the opposite side of the basement.



“Go ahead  and rest here for a while. You look really tired and your leg needs time  to heal,” Sylvur said. “We can start looking for your happiness in the  morning.”



Taiga nodded as he crawled into a box top and  curled up into a little ball. He once again began thinking about the  shape of happiness until he fell asleep. When he woke up, he realized  that it was nighttime and that most of the cats and kittens he saw  playing earlier were resting in the same room. He started looking around  the room and noticed Sylvur heading up the stairs to first floor of the  house.



_I wonder where he’s going,_ Taiga thought curiously as he stood up and began making his way up the stairs.


When  he finally got up the stairs, he temporarily lost sight of Sylvur. He  quickly looked around the room and caught a glimpse of Sylvur’s shiny  grey tail heading up another set of stairs. Taiga quickly limped after  him and slowly made his way up the stairs. After a few minutes, Taiga  finally made it up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a path to  only one of the three rooms since the floor leading to the other rooms  had fallen to the first floor. So Taiga followed the path and entered  the room to find Sylvur sitting in an open window. The moonlight was the  only light in the room and Taiga could see how Sylvur got his name. As  the moonlight touched his fur, it began to shine as if it were actually  silver.



“What are you doing here?” Taiga asked as he hopped into the window and sat next to Sylvur.



“Just looking at the moon,” Sylvur answered.



“Why?”



“Because it makes me happy,” he answered with a smile.



“It makes you…happy?”



Sylvur  nodded and then turned to face Taiga. “Earlier you told me you were  looking for your happiness. Why are you looking for it?’



Taiga explained what happened several months ago.



“I see. Do you think you’ll be happy if you find a new owner?”



“I don’t know. But to be honest, I really don’t think I want another owner. I just can’t trust people.”


“Has this happened before?”



Taiga shook his head.



“Then how can you say that you can’t trust people.”



Taiga began feeling very frustrated as he let out a sigh. “I’m not sure you’d understand.”



“Try me.”



Taiga  took a deep breath. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was patient,  friendly, did my best not to dirty up her house when I came in from  playing, and was by her side when she was sad. But still…” Taiga stopped  what he was saying as he felt tears starting to run down his face. He  turned his head to hide them from Sylvur.



Sylvur reached his right paw up and placed it on top of Taiga’s head.



This surprised Taiga because it had been a long time since anyone had shown him such kindness.



“I  understand how you feel kid. I really do. They say they’ll always be  there for you. That they love you. That nothing will take you away from  them. But then they suddenly pack up and leave and take everything they  told you, with them. Leaving you to wonder…what you did wrong.”



“Sylvur…” Taiga managed to say.



“Don’t  you start feeling sorry for me. I’m too old for that,” Sylvur said with  a laugh. “That’s just an old story from my past, and unfortunately, the  story of many of the cats living here. But you are fortunate because at  least your previous owner said goodbye instead of just leaving you.”



“I guess so. But I still won’t forgive her,” Taiga said bitterly.



“You can’t go around thinking like that.”



“Why?”



“Because you risk losing what’s here,” Sylvur said as he placed his paw on Taiga’s chest.



Taiga gave Sylvur a very confused look as he looked down. “If I think like that, I risk losing my fur?”



Sylvur  erupted into laughter. “No, not your fur. Your heart. And I don’t mean  that you’ll really lose it, but you’ll close it off and once you do  that, you’ll never find your happiness. Trust me…you don’t want to be  like me.”



“What do you mean? You just told me that looking at the moon made you happy.”



“That’s only temporary happiness. It’s not enough to keep me happy. I’ve honestly forgotten what true happiness feels like.”



_True happiness?_ Taiga thought.



Sylvur  yawned as he stretched before jumping back into the bedroom. “You  should get back to resting so you can get your strength back and your  leg can heal,” he instructed.



Taiga nodded and also jumped into the bedroom.



They then began making their way to the basement.



“Oh,  I forgot to mention something,” Sylvur suddenly said when they reached  the first floor of the house. “You’re more than welcome to stay here,  but under two conditions.”



“Okay. What are they?”



“The  first condition is that you must always remember that sometimes bad  things happen to those who are good and most of the time, the reasons  are unclear.”



“Why is that?”



“I don’t know. I’ve been asking that question for many, many years now.”



“I’ll remember. So what’s the second condition?”



“You must never forget what you came here looking for.”



Taiga agreed to the two conditions and then the two of them made their way back to the basement to sleep for the night.



While  Taiga was trying to sleep, he kept trying to figure out what ‘true  happiness’ was. He thought about it so much, that he didn’t even notice  that he had closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. That night he had a  dream.

In the dream he saw a woman wearing a blue sundress. He  was curled up in her lap as she read a book. She was sitting under a  large tree, under a bright blue sky. The wind was gently blowing and he  felt happy. But he could never see the woman’s face or hear her voice.  The only thing he knew about her was that she made him feel very warm  inside. When he awoke the next morning, he could only remember a small  part of the dream.



Several months had passed by and  each night Taiga had the same dream. And whenever he woke up in the  morning, he could still only remember bits and pieces of the dream. Many  more months passed by and Taiga, who now resembled a black kitten,  played happily with the other kittens day after day, slowly forgetting  why he had come to this place to begin with.



One day, while he was playing, he saw his friend Leo walking through the area.



“Leo!” Taiga called out to him excitedly.



“Taiga, is that you?” Leo answered in a confused tone as he squinted his eyes at him.



Taiga nodded happily.



“I guess you decided to join me and become a black cat,” Leo joked.



Taiga  looked down at himself and realized for the first time that his fur had  turned completely black. “I guess I did,” he joked back. “So what are  you doing here?”



“I could ask you the same thing. I’ve  been looking all over for you. Bubbles and Akemi are really worried  about you because we couldn’t find you after that storm.



Taiga  had completely forgotten about the storm, but as soon as he remembered,  several months worth of memories came rushing back all at once. “I see.  I’m sorry for worrying them. Can you let them know I’m okay?”


“Why don’t you come with me and tell them yourself?”



“Because going back will only cause me to lose the happiness I’ve recently gained.”



“The happiness that you’ve recently gained?” Leo asked with a frown. “Is this what you really want though?”



Taiga wasn’t sure what to say, so he remained silent.



“Well  I came looking for you to tell you something, just in case this isn’t  what you want. There’s a young woman who just moved in on the western  side of town. She lives on the third street to your left and six houses  down on the right. She’s also really kind, and this is something I know  will make you happy…she’s looking for a kitten!”



“That’s  great, but it’ll just be my luck that she’ll have already found one by  the time I get there because there are so many kittens on that side of  town” Taiga said bitterly.



“That’s true, but you’re forgetting one thing.”



Taiga’s ears perked up. “What’s that?”



“All of the kittens where I live have an owner.”



Taiga began to feel something warm swell up inside of him.



“Anyway that’s what I wanted to tell you.” Leo then turned and began walking away.



“Leo, wait.”



Leo stopped and looked over his shoulder at Taiga.



“Why didn’t you guys come to the park anymore?”



“What do you mean?”



“Before the storm came, you, Akemi and Bubbles stopped coming to play.”



“Oh  yeah. I knew I was forgetting to tell you something. Akemi was with her  owner in the Southern City while he finished up some work there. I went  with my owner to visit her relatives and Bubbles was at the vet because  she got sick. I think she said she ate some paper or something.”



“Bubbles is always eating something that she’s not supposed to,” Taiga said with a laugh.



“Yeah,  I know,” Leo lauged. “Alright, I need to get back to my owner,” Leo  said as he began running away, but then he stopped. “Oh and I’m not  telling Akemi and Bubbles that I saw you, so you better come to the park  and make them stop worrying!” Then he darted off into the distance.



Taiga watched Leo until he completely disappeared from Taiga’s sight. _I’m glad they didn’t stop being my friends too,_ he thought with a smile. He suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.



Taiga  then returned to playing with his friends, quickly forgetting the  conversation that he just had with Leo. That night, however, he couldn’t  sleep and found himself sitting in the window, where he and Sylvur  often talked, staring at the night sky. The wind had become cold, and  even though Taiga’s fur was thick, he found himself shivering whenever  the wind blew.



“Looks like winter really is here,” he heard Sylvur say from behind him.



Taiga nodded, but continued to stare into the night sky.



For a while, neither one of them said a word.



“I heard what your friend said,” Sylvur finally said, breaking the silence.



Taiga looked at Sylvur, but said nothing.



“I honestly think you should go see this woman for yourself.”



“You think so too?” Taiga said with a smile.



Sylvur  started laughing. “Looks like I was worrying over nothing. I thought  you came up here because you weren’t sure whether to go or not.”



Taiga  shook his head. “I’ve decided to go and find out if my happiness is  with her. The only thing I was thinking about was how to say goodbye to  everyone.”



Sylvur hopped into the window with Taiga and  placed his paw on Taiga’s head. “I want you to remember one more thing.  This one is very, very important,” he said. “Friends don’t say  ‘goodbye’ to each other. They say ‘see you later.’ But don’t worry about  that. I’ll tell the other kittens and cats for you.”



Taiga nodded. “Thanks.”



“Now  that that’s settled, Go ahead and get some rest. I overheard two men  talking earlier today, and they said it’s supposed to snow a lot  tomorrow. So I want you to get an early start since it’ll take you more  than half a day to get to the western side of town.”



Taiga  nodded and they went to the basement to rest. Taiga was so excited  about meeting this woman that he could hardly sleep. When the morning  came, he had trouble waking up even though Sylvur tapped him quite a few  times. After several minutes of repeated tapping, Taiga finally opened  his eyes.



“Good, you’re finally awake. Did you sleep well?” Sylvur asked.



“Not really,” Taiga said with a yawn.



“Maybe you should stay here for the day and make sure you’re well rested.”



Taiga shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll be okay. I want to meet her as soon as possible.”



Sylvur smiled. “Alright, then you need to hurry. The snow has already started falling.”



Taiga  nodded and followed Sylvur up the stairs to the first floor. But  instead of going to the second floor like they always did, they went to  the door in the back of the house and walked through the hole that was  in it. When they got outside Taiga could see that the snow was quickly  building up on the ground outside.



“Take this path,” Sylvur instructed.



“Why can’t I just take the main street?”



“Because they’ll be doing some work on it to get rid of the snow. So going that way won’t be very safe.”



Taiga  glanced at Sylvur with worried eyes and then looked at the wooded area  that the path was  going to lead him through. He remembered that his  previous owner told him to never go to the woods in the Southern area,  so he had always stayed away from it when he was at the park.



“Don’t  worry about the woods,” Sylvur told Taiga. “Just make sure to stay on  the path. If it gets too dark for you to see, stay where you are and  wait until the morning to move again.”



Taiga nodded and took a deep breath. “Alright, I’m heading out now,” he said.



“Be safe Taiga. And make sure you come to visit after you’ve spent some time with your new owner.”



Taiga nodded and began making his way down the path.



A  few hours had passed since he started his journey and the snowfall had  gotten much heavier than before. He did his best to stay on the path,  but when he could barely see his paw in front of his face, he decided to  wait for the snow to stop falling. Several more hours passed and the  snow was finally starting to fall less and less. Taiga decided it would  be a good time to move, however, he couldn’t tell where the path was at  anymore since everything looked the same when it was covered in snow.



_What do I do now?_ he thought with a sigh.



He turned to see if he could find his paw prints from when he was walking earlier, but the snow had covered them up.



_I guess I can’t go back that way. But I really have no idea where I’m going now._

He  continued walking in the direction that he was originally going. He  looked around the area and tried to find something that would show him  where the path was, but everything still looked the same. He continued  to walk for a few more hours but decided to rest when he realized it was  starting to get dark. He curled up next to a tree and tried his best to  sleep.



Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he heard  something crack. He immediately jumped up and began looking around. He  couldn’t see anything so he quietly listened. He heard another crack and  it sounded even closer than the first one did. His heart began to race  as his eyes focused on where the sound came from. His ears stood high on  his head as he carefully listened. For a while he didn’t here anything.  Suddenly he heard a third crack and it sounded liked it came from above  him!



Taiga didn’t care what was making the sound. He  just took off running without knowing where he was going. He was too  afraid to look back to see if something really was chasing him. After  running for what seemed like forever, Taiga finally ran out of breath.  He stopped near a tree and carefully listened once again. When the only  sound he heard was his own breathing, he laughed to himself as he tried  to calm down. He then curled up into a little ball to keep himself warm  and watched as his breath made little clouds until he fell asleep.



When  the next morning came, he tried his best to figure our where he was.  But the more he walked around, the more lost he felt. He didn’t give up  and kept trying to find the path. He continued looking for a few days.  The snow had been melting during that time and the grass that was once  hidden by the snow, slowly began to show itself. By the sixth day, the  snow was almost gone and Taiga was able to find the path!



He  was overjoyed when he saw the concrete path winding through the woods,  but he was extremely hungry and tired. But he didn’t let this stop him  and he walked down the path as fast as he could. He stopped every now  and then when he sneezed or whenever he felt that it was hard to walk.  His vision had started to become a little blurry and his head began to  feel really light. He still continued to move forward though. At the end  of the sixth day, he finally made it to the western part of the town.



He sat down for a few minutes to catch his breath, and then started walking.



_Where did Leo say she lived again?_ he thought as he began searching the streets.



Just  as he was getting ready to reach the first street, he collapsed and was  breathing very heavily. He tried to stand up, but couldn’t find the  energy. He tried to call for help, but he couldn’t find his voice. The  harder he tried to stand and find his voice, the more tired he became.  After a while, he no longer had the energy. He decided to rest and try  again when he had the energy.



When he opened his eyes a  few hours later, he noticed that he was wrapped in something white and  felt very warm. He then saw that the housese were moving past him, even  though he wasn’t walking. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he felt  comfortable enough and fell asleep.



When he woke up  the next morning, he still felt very weak. He slowly looked around to  see where he was at and soon understood that he was in someone’s home.  As he continued to look around the room, he noticed a young woman  sleeping on a table where he was at. He couldn’t find the strength to  move, so he meowed softly. This got the young woman’s attention.



“Oh, I see you’re awake. That’s good,” the woman said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “How are you feeling today?”



Taiga meowed weakly, but happily.



“I see,” she said as she gently scratched under his chin. “I’ll be right back.”


The  woman disappeared through an open door. A few minutes later, she  returned with some milk in a bowl, and a small bottle of medicine.



“Make sure you drink it all up. This will help you to feel better real soon.”



The  young woman continued to nurse Taiga back to health for an entire  month. She only left his side to do chores and take baths. The month  quickly passed by and Taiga was now healthy again. One morning when the  woman had finished taking her morning shower, Taiga greeted her at the  door.



“Oh, you startled me,” the woman said to Taiga. “It looks like you finally got your strength back.



Taiga meowed happily.



“I’m  glad to hear that,” she said with a smile. “Now let’s see if we can  find your owner. I’m sure they are worried about you.” She picked Taiga  up and searched for his Owners Tag. She saw his worn out collar, but  couldn’t find it. “Oh you’re alone aren’t you?”



He meowed sadly.



“It’s okay, so am I.”



Taiga licked the woman on her right hand.



The  woman laughed. “That tickles. Hey, I have an idea. Since you don’t have  an owner, would you like to be my pet?” she asked as she sat down and  Taiga to her chest.



Taiga couldn’t believe his ears. _Is she serious_? he thought. He gave her an unsure look.



“You don’t want to?” she asked.



Taiga rubbed the top of his head against her chin and purred. _Of course I do!_ he thought.



“I’m  glad. Well let’s get you cleaned up first. It’s been at least a month  since you’ve had a bath. Once your bath is finished, we’ll have  breakfast.”



She took him to the bathroom and gave him  the first bath that he had had in months. After his bath was done, he  returned to the way that he looked before.



“What a  beautiful white coat you have! I thought you were just another black  cat!” she said in a surprised voice once she finished drying him off. “I  honestly can’t believe someone would leave a kitten as wonderful as you  all alone.”



_She thinks I’m wonderful?_ Taiga thought as he picked up his collar, that she had taken off during the bath, in his mouth.



She noticed him carrying it when they got to the kitchen.



“We  can’t put this on you after we just got you clean,” she said with a  laugh as she bent down and waited for him to place it in her hand. She  then looked at it and realized something was sewn into it. “’Taiga.’ Is  that your name?”



He meowed.



“It’s a  wonderful name since you look just like a tiger. But I wonder what would  have made your previous owner want to be separated from you. They  obviously cared enough about you to give you such a wonderful name. Oh  well, no use thinking about it now. Once we finish breakfast, we’ll get  you a new collar and Owners Tag.”



Once they finished  breakfast, the woman got dressed. While she was tying the blue string on  her sundress around her neck, since spring had arrived and springtime  in Kittyville felt a lot like their summers did. While he was waiting,  Taiga jumped onto a small table near the door that had a single picture  frame on it. Inside the frame was a picture of his new owner standing  next to a man. He meowed curiously as he turned to look at the woman.



“Hm?”  she said as she looked at Taiga and took the hairpin out of her mouth  to pull her long wheat colored hair into a ponytail. “Oh, you want to  know about the picture,” she said softly as her blue eyes filled with  sadness. She walked over to Taiga and cradled him in her arms. “The man  in the picture was my husband. A little over a year ago, he passed away  in a car accident on the way home from work. It was too painful for me  to stay in the city where we lived, so I moved to this town.”



Taiga stretched out and nudged her head with his own and meowed softly.



“Thank  you. But I’m okay now. Besides I really like this town. It’s quiet and  the people here are friendly. It’s also where I met you. So shall we go  now?”



Taiga meowed and then they left the house together. They walked through the town and made their way to the pet store.



“Welcome. Are you looking for anything in particular?” the store owner asked.



“Yes,” the woman answered. “He needs a collar and an Owners Tag.”



"Okay do you have a certain collar that you want?”



Taiga was sitting in front of a sky blue collar and had his eyes locked on it.



“This one,” the woman said as she pointed to the collar he was looking at.



“Alright, and what color should the owner’s tag be?"



“Silver please.”



“Alright, anything else?”



“Can you sew a message in it for me?”



The store owner nodded as he pulled out a notepad and a pen. “Please write your message here.”



The woman then wrote the message out.



“Alright, come back in about an hour and it should be ready.”



The  woman nodded. Then she and Taiga left the store and walked down the  main street. After an hour had passed, they came back to the store. The  owner greeted them with Taiga’s new collar. The woman bent down and  fastened the collar around his neck.



_This is my new collar and Owners Tag_, he thought as he held the tag in his paw. _And this…this is my new owner_.


As  they walked out of the store, he felt something bubbling up inside of  him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he soon found himself running  circles around his owner meowing excitedly.



“You must be very happy,” she said as she laughed at his playfulness.



She then bent down to pick him up in her arms and looked into his eyes.



“You’re  collar looks very good on you,” she said with a smile. “It makes you  even more handsome than before.” She then gently kissed him on his  forehead before putting him back down.



As they were walking home, they passed by his previous owner. Taiga didn’t look at her and kept walking.



“Taiga?” she called out to him.



His new owner stopped and looked at the woman who called out to him.



"It is you!” she exclaimed.



She started walking towards him, but Taiga backed up and glared at her.



“I’m sorry,” she said as she stopped walking towards him and bent down. “I know you must hate me.”



Taiga looked away from her unsure of how he should feel. But he knew he was angry.



“I  want you to know I didn’t have a choice. I got promoted at my job and  they were demanding more hours from me. I barely have time for myself  anymore, so I knew I wouldn’t have time for you.”



_That doesn’t make what you did right!_ Taiga thought.



“I know that doesn’t make what I did right,” she said.



Taiga couldn’t believe what he was hearing as his eyes softened and he looked at his previous owner.



“I  hope you understand how much I love you and care for you. And I always  will. I hope you’ll believe me when I say that. But your place isn’t  with me. If you’re with me, I can’t make you happy. I wish I could  because the time that we spent together made me very happy. But my job  is my life, so I can’t give you the happiness you deserve. I hope that  you’ll forgive me.”



Taiga suddenly felt the same feeling that he felt when he learned that his friends hadn’t abandoned him.



He slowly walked over to his previous owner and nudged her hand with his head. He meowed. _I’ll forgive you, _he thought. _And thank you for telling me the truth._



His previous owner was moved to tears. “Are you…forgiving me?” she asked.



Taiga meowed happily.



“Thank  you!” she said as she wiped the tears away and hugged Taiga one last  time. She then turned to his new owner. “I know I don’t have to say  this, but…please make him happy.”



“That’s my intention,” Taiga’s new owner said.



“Thank you. And if it’s okay with you, could I come…visit him sometime?”



“Whenever you would like,” the new owner said with a smile.



Taiga’s previous owner nodded and then walked into a nearby grocery store.



Taiga  and his new owner then headed home. When they got home, they went into  her backyard. As she sat down on the grass and read a book, Taiga  climbed into her lap and curled up into favorite position. She smiled at  him as she gently rubbed her hand over his fur, before returning to her  book. While he was laying there, he began thinking.



_This feels familiar,_  he thought, but couldn’t understand why. Oh well I’ll figure it out  later. He then started to close his eyes, but opened them up when he  remembered something._ I need to go see my friends!_


He quickly got up and jumped onto the brick fence around her house.



“Going out?” the woman asked him.



He meowed.



“Alright, have fun,” she said with a smile and a wave.



He  ran along the fence and then jumped to the street leading to the main  street. He then quickly ran to get to the park to see his friends. When  he arrived at the park, Akemi and Bubbles saw him first and dashed  towards him.



“Taiga!” Bubbles called out excitedly as she jumped on him.



Akemi decided to join Bubbles and piled on top as well.



A few minutes later, Leo walked up and sat next the three kittens.



“Where have you been?” Bubbles asked.



“Seriously, we thought something had happened to you in that storm,” Akemi said.



Taiga explained everything that happened, including his run in with his previous owner.



“So you decided to take my advice after all,” Leo said.



Bubbles and Akemi looked at Leo suspiciously.



“Oops,” Leo said.



“Oops?” Akemi asked. “What do you mean ‘oops’?”



Leo confessed that he had seen Taiga a few months ago.



“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us this!” Akemi shouted.



“That was mean!” Bubbles yelled as she jumped on Leo and began playfully biting his ear.



Bubbles and Leo began rolling around as Leo tried to get her off of him.



“Aren’t you going to join in?” Taiga asked Akemi.



“I’ll  get him later,” she said. “Right now I’m glad that you were able to get  a new owner. And it’s just like I said, you’re previous owner realized  her mistake.”



Taiga nodded in agreement.



“That’s a nice collar you have too bro. What is it silk?” Leo asked once Bubbles stopped biting his ear.



Taiga shrugged. “I don’t know, but it feels nice.”



“Hey, hey something silver is shining on it,” Bubbles said.



“That’s the Owners Tag,” Leo pointed out.



“No, no that’s not what I’m talking about. On the back of the collar something silver is shining.”


Leo looked at the back of the collar. “Oh, you’re right.”



Taiga  rolled over on his back and tried to pull his collar to where he could  see it, but it didn’t work. As he continued to try and find a way to see  it, Akemi jumped on his back.



“Hold still,” she said. “I’ll read it for you. ‘For my best friend. May we continue to be happy forever.’ That’s what it says.”



Taiga  suddenly remembered why sitting in his new owner’s lap felt so  familiar. The dream that he had been having finally completed itself and  he realized that the woman in his dream was actually his new owner. His  eyes filled with tears. “I need to go.”



“Go ahead, we can talk tomorrow,” Akemi said with a smile.



“Go  on! Go on!” Bubbles said as she nudged him with her head and then  laughed. “I want to hear more about your new owner later though.”



Taiga  nodded and sprinted home. While he was running, he saw the shop owner  who had fed him when he didn't have an owner. He paused for a moment and  meowed at the owner.



"Oh hey there little one. Haven’t seen you in a while. Did you find a new owner?" the store owner asked.



Taiga meowed excitedly.


"Good for you. I'm sure you two will be very happy together, but don't forget to stop by here every once in a while."



_I will! And thanks for all of the food,_ he thought. Then he continued his sprint home.



When he got home he jumped over the fence and saw his owner asleep under the tree. He jumped into her lap and woke her up.



“Welcome back,” she said while rubbing her eyes. “Hey why are you crying? Are you not feeling well again?”

She reached for his forehead, but he put his paws up and grabbed her hand.



_I know you can’t understand me right now, but I’m the happiest kitten in Kittyville right now!_ he thought.



He then let go of her hand and purred as she pet him on his back.



“I see. You’re really happy aren’t you?”



He purred again. _I finally found it! I finally found my happiness!_

“So am I,” she said as she picked him up and kissed him on the nose. “So am I.”



The  kitten who had lost his happiness, found it. Many, many years had  passed since he met the young woman and he finally understood what the  cat Sylvur meant by true happiness as the majority of his days were  filled with fun and laughter. And he lived happily ever after.


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## Giantlobsterrobot (Oct 20, 2011)

I will say that I read a bit of your story, but it was making me too sad to continue.  I felt very bad for Taiga, so you at least captured that emotion.  I had to scroll to the end to make sure that everything turned out okay.  I know the point is to read the whole story to find that out, but it was very sad, though Taiga's friends were amusing.  I can't give much more criticism since I was unable to bring myself to read the rest of Taiga's tale.


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