Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Victor

     The bright, glowing sun shines down on me, casting a shadow as I exit my den.  My housefolk's nest.  The place where I slept with my mother as I grew into a much stronger cat that I am now.  She named me Minnow, a name that came from the small lake nearby.  Every day she would walk out and fish for a meal instead of the housefolk rubbish we're forced to eat.  And every day she comes back empty-pawed.
     But today, I told her I'll show her the biggest fish in the world. She just laughed.
"Oh, Minnow, do you really think you'll come back with a big fish?" she asked.
"Of course, Mom!  I can catch anything!" I replied.  My brother and sister, Trout and Salmon, just laughed.
"I think we'll catch it first!" Trout said.
"Trout, be nice to your brother!" Mom said.  But I knew she didn't mean it.  I was the runt of my litter, but just barely visible to the cat's eye.  But Trout and Salmon never let me forget it.  But today I'll prove them wrong.  I'm going outside to play in the yard.  But this front yard has no fence.  It has no boundaries.  According to the stories Mom's told, there is a huge territory of forest, untamed and unclaimed.  No cat has dared enter it, for huge creatures like the small yet deadly orange and white dog, or the domesticated wild dogs roam there.  Salmon said that she heard Sally, the cat from next door, say that her denmate, Sprinkles, went in and never came out.  That's why her housefolk got a cat named Sammy.
"Minnow, only the strongest cats cat catch fish," Mom said.
"But I am strong!" I protested.
"Only the strongest cats will be victorious, like me and Salmon," Trout said.  I remember that feeling in my heart... the sinking in my feelings.  My own siblings hate me.
     The next day, we were allowed to venture outside.  And that's where I am now.  Outside.  In the front yard, chasing the butterflies.
"I bet I can catch a moth before you can!" Salmon shouts to Trout.  He laughs, and they run towards a different side of the yard.  I realize my mom is watching them, not me.  She doesn't care. 
"Hey, runt!  Finally outside?" I glance around.  Who said that?!
"Up here, shorty!"  I look up.  Two cats are there, on the fence.  A light brown tom and a darker brown she-cat.  They must be littermates.
"Stop calling me that!" I shout at them.  They just laugh, and then jump down onto our yard.  They pad over to me.  The cats are huge!
"It's k, kid," the she-cat says.
"Who are you?" I ask them.  It's a dumb question, but I'm dying to know!
"I'm Aspen, and this is Wintergreen," the tom says.  "But we're nicknamed Tough and Rough."  I nod.  Those are cool names!
"What's your name?" Wintergreen/Rough asks.  I gulp.  How can I tell them my name's Minnow?
"It's okay if you're name's dumb.  We know how mothers are." Wintergreen looks at me with pure honesty.  I know I can trust her.
"Minnow," I reply.  "It is a dumb name."
"It's fine.  Why don't you make up a better name for yourself?" Aspen says.  I nod. A nickname...
"Only the strongest cats will be victorious, like me and Salmon," Only the strongest will be victorious.  Victorious.  Victorious...
I lift my head and look into my neighbors' eyes.
"My name is Victor."