Angry Cat's Arc

Chapter 4 of 8

They walked back toward home in silence. Angry Cat felt the weight of the rose stem still pressed between his paw pads, though he had given the bloom to Mother Cat. She carried it carefully in her mouth. The anger had not left him. It sat in his chest the same way it always had. The cabin came into view through the trees. Mother Cat had lived here alone before she found him. She had built a life in these walls and then made room for a kitten who hissed at everything. Angry Cat looked at the worn wood and thought about all the nights she must have spent listening to him yowl. All the broken dishes. All the mornings she woke up to find scratches on the door frame. She had chosen that. She had kept choosing it. Harriet was waiting by the sandbox near the cabin. She saw them coming and her tail went up. Here we go, Angry Cat thought. She trotted over and started immediately. Did you talk to her? Did she tell you anything useful? Are you still mad about the paper? Her voice was loud and insistent like always. Angry Cat felt the familiar heat rise in his throat. But then he looked at Mother Cat still holding the rose. He thought about the cabin and the years she had spent raising him without anyone to help. Harriet had been there too. She had grown up with his hissing and his outbursts and she still came back every time to pester him. The heat in his throat cooled just enough. He sat down and let Harriet keep talking. She asked three more questions without waiting for answers. He did not hiss once. Harriet stopped mid-sentence and stared at him. You okay? she asked. Her voice was quieter now. He nodded. Mother Cat set the rose down on the ground and walked to the cabin door. Angry Cat watched her go inside. He turned back to Harriet. She was still watching him with her head tilted. Yeah, he said. I think I am. The anger was still there but it felt smaller now. He knew what Mother Cat had given up to raise him. He knew Harriet had lived through it too. That changed something. Not everything. But something.