Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Victor

     The next day, I awake early.  Maybe Tough and Rough will be up.  They might be able to show me the forest.  Salmon and Trout are sleeping next to mother.  They won't miss me.  I creep past them.  I crawl under the twoleg stuff, and out the little flap-wall.  The stars shine as walk down the steps and into the yard.
"Aspen?  Windergreen?" I call into the night softly.  No reply.
"Tough? Rough?" I call again.  Still, no reply.  I snort in frustration.  Where are those furrballs?  I bunch up and hop onto the fence with ease.  I take a pawstep forward, and then another, gaining speed.  I look into the yards of the twolegs, but no sign of my friends.  Soon the sun is coming up.  I sigh and retrace my steps.  I guess I better go back.  
     "Where have you been, Minnow?" Mother asks me sharply.
"Uh, exploring the house," I reply.  She narrows her eyes.
"You nearly missed the story," Mother says dryly.  My ears perk up.
"Do tell!" I say.
"Please Mama?  At least tell us and not Minnow!" Salmon says.  I roll my eyes but look at Mother.
"Just listen," she says.  We sit in a semi-circle facing Mother.  "Once, a long time ago, there was a young cat named Moon.  Moon was a very special cat, you see.  One day, she decided to explore the world.  She left her home and walked into the forest nearby.  The forest was a dangerous place, you see, and still is."
Trout's eyes widen.  Salmon gasps.
"What was the forest like?" Salmon asks.
"Shh.  I'm getting to that," Mother says.  Salmon and Trout nod.  "The forest was full of dog-like creatures, but were far more dangerous than your common yapper.  These dogs had long, pointy snouts.  They had puffy tails and were orange and white.  The had sharp, dagger-like teeth.  There were small, flat-faced creatures that were just as dangerous as the orange dogs, but worse.  They could eat a cat in one bite.  But Moon wasn't scared.  She kept walking through the forest, following the stars."
"Wasn't Moon scared?" Salmon asks.
"No.  Salmon was very brave, you see," Mother replies.  Salmon nods.
"Soon, the trees began to grow scarcer and scarcer.  The grass under Moon's paws grew harder and harder.  And soon there were no trees at all.  She saw some twolegs nearby.  Moon was very curious.  She slunk up unnoticed by the twolegs.  They had small sticks with weird shaped thick leaves on the end, and were hitting them up against a cave where they were working.  Moon entered the cave.  Small lines of bright, glittering yellow lined the walls of the cave.  There were smooth, criss-crossed tracks that Moon followed.  Soon, the twolegs became less and less common.  The cave grew darker, but Moon still walked on.  And then, she came into a part of the cave where two tracks met.  There were beautiful crystals along the wall glowing where Moon stood.  It was beautiful.  Moon was very tired from her journey, and went to sleep.  She dreamed of cats with stars on their pelts that told her to go on a journey.  She would find her destiny at that place, and a yellow cat would accompany her."
My eyes widen at the thought of that cave.  That would be so cool!
"Moon accepted her quest and left the cave.  She was to go north, past the forest, past the mouth of the streams, to a place where the sun sank beneath the huge pool of water, so huge where you couldn't see the other side.  She met the yellow cat along her journey who was named Gold.  When she got to the place, she learned of her destiny."
"What was her destiny?" Trout asks, his eyes wide.
"That is for you to decide, my dear.  No one knows what Moon's destiny was, or her story of why she left her home." Mother replies.
"You mean no one really knows?  Then how did you hear of this story?" I ask.  Mother says nothing.
"Yeah, Mama, how did you know?" Salmon asks.
"It's been passed down to my family, my dears.  But that is not important.  What is important is that you stay safe and don't let the story get to your head."
"Okay, Mama." Trout says.
That story was amazing.  Someday, I will go to where Moon went.  One day.