Wings by Talmos Anonymous (good ebook reader .txt) 📕

A silvery stream of light was cast upon morning dew as two cats climbed over fences and sprinted across finely groomed backyards. A sleek black and white tom named Sulfur turned to his sister, beckoning her on with a bright glow to his green gaze. "Wings hurry up! They're waiting for us."

Wings, a long furred she-cat followed him, short on his paws. "Sorry, I can't run as fast!" she panted. But even as she spoke, she could feel the excitement running through her from ears to wing tip. Last night, Sulfur had told her that he had a surprise and that he was going to show her and their friends. The thought of what it could be made her fur bristle with so much excitement, that her puffed up fur made her look twice her normal size.

By the time they had gotten to the ravine it was nearly noon. All around them insects chirped, and Wings could just make out the sound of running water moving along the slope. Here and there wildflowers dotted the landscape, and a fresh breeze rustled the ferns, but despite being the home of three young cats it was unusually quiet.

Sulfur echoed her thoughts. "Nobody's here."

Wings opened her mouth to taste the air, but no fresh scents of any cats came to her. The place was deserted. "Where are they?"  She took a step forward, dead leaves crunching underneath her paws. Her green gaze ran over the numerous fallen trees and branches, covered in a curly gray moss that snaked downwards. This is where her friends lived: Brooke, Daisy, and Flint. She had known them since she was a kit and for a while she and Sulfur had lived with them. But it was strange for them to be missing, especially when Sulfur had something to tell them. Had the humans caught them? The thought sent shivers running down her spine, but why? They never come to this part of the ravine.

"Unless..." Sulfur meowed, looking long and hard at the trees.

"What?" Wings followed his gaze. She could just make out a brown tabby pattern among the moss, almost hidden from view, yet a patch of white chest fur stood out like a white dove.

"Daisy, we see you!" Sulfur yowled.

Daisy, obviously caught, narrowed her eyes. She leaped down onto a lower branch and then climbed down the rest of the way to the ground. She looked angry, but Wings understood that she was just disappointed. Sulfur always ruined her games.

"How did you find me?" she asked, wide eyed. Then, realizing there wasn't any need for an explanation, she licked her chest fur in embarrassment. "Sulfur you're too smart!"

"Obviously you would be up in a tree," he said coolly. "How else would you be able to disguise your scent?"

"By standing behind you?" a cat suggested.

Wings jumped. She immediately whirled around, laying her eyes on one of the prettiest tortoiseshells she had ever seen, Brooke. The black and cinnamon patched she-cat looked at them both with stunning amber eyes.

Following her was a muscular brown tabby, Flint, the oldest of the three. Even though he was two months younger than Sulfur he was already dwarfing him in size.

"Sorry about that. Daisy told us that she wanted to test her hunting abilities, but I can see now that she just wanted to pull a prank," said Brooke.

Flint placed one paw on Daisy's head. "Bad kit, you know better than to lie to others."

Daisy's tail flicked. Wings knew that she hated being called a kit and especially by her older siblings.

"Hey, I really did want to practice!" Daisy retorted, her fur bristling. "It's not my fault that Sulfur has the eyes of a hawk!" The minute she said that, she winced.

Brooke gasped. "Daisy!"

Wings immediately felt her fur stand on end. Her eyes fell on Sulfur, who just stood there, looking at his paws with a blank expression. Although he didn't show it physically, she could see the pain in his eyes and sense that something was wrong.

He looked up. "How is Flower doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

"She's doing fine," said Flint, breathing a sigh of relief. "She's hasn't had any symptoms yet, but you can already see her belly growing."

Wings nodded, remembering the brown tabby she's known since she was a kit. It was a surprise to all of them when they learned that she was starting a new litter. It was a sign for her oldest kits to leave and find a new place to live. But before that would happen, they've vowed to spend as much time together as possible. That's just what friends do.

"Tell us the surprise Sulfur!" said Daisy excitedly, jumping up and down with the energy of a kit. She had forgotten all about what occurred moments ago and was now back to her normal playful self.

"I'll tell you on the way there," Sulfur replied.

Daisy could only scrunch up her nose in impatience. She didn't want to have to wait, she had to know now!

Just then a familiar scent filled Wings nostrils, and she perked her ears at the familiar sight. Flower had just finished climbing up the ravine to join her kits. The brown, mostly white tabby waved her tail in greeting at Wings and Sulfur. "Don't be gone for too long okay? I don't want to have to come find you."

"We won't, I promise!" Daisy said reassuringly.

"There's no need to treat us like kits," Brooke told her. "It's almost time for us to grow up anyway."

Flower gave a small sigh. "You're right. But at least come back before nightfall, for me?" She gave a quick lick to Brooke's ear and turned away, waving goodbye with her tail.

"Can you tell us the surprise now?" Daisy meowed impatiently as she padded across the front lawn of a house. She struggled to stay in line with Sulfur, who was walking quite slowly.

"Yes," Sulfur blinked. "I found a new hunting spot."

"Really?" Brooke burst out.

Wings turned her head to see the she-cat's eyes were as wide as pinecones.

"It's only temporary of course. If anything we can only hunt there once, but you never know."

Daisy glared at Sulfur. "But its only temporary how come it can't be permanent?"

"Can you tell us about it?" Flint asked, interrupting Daisy before she can say anymore. He was falling behind and Wings could tell that he was unsure about the whole thing.

"Well as I was hunting mice behind a house, I discovered this strange looking puddle that looked too big to be an average puddle. When I got closer I noticed that there were fish inside of it."

"Oh, fish!" Daisy licked her lips. "I love fish! How far is it Sulfur?"

"Not too far now."

"Daisy when did you try fish?" Brooke asked curiously.

"When I was hunting around the fish market some person was nice enough to give me one."

Sulfur looked at her with concern. "Person? Daisy, you know how dangerous it is be around them. You could have been kitnapped!"

"Well I wasn't!"

"Still, you should have been more careful," Flint warned. "Who knows what could have happened."

Daisy sighed, "I know Flint, you don't have to warn me. Besides, Wings was with me."

"Wings?" Everyone turned to look at the completely white cat, who ducked her head in guilt. It wasn't her fault Daisy was so manipulative.

"Hey look, there it is!" Sulfur pointed with his tail at a hole in the fence ahead of them. It was just the right size for all of them to fit through, even Wings, despite the large appendages on her back. "All we have to do is go through that fence and we'll have all the fish we can eat!" With that, he cautiously approached the fence and took a peek through the hole. When everything was clear, he made a signal with his tail and everyone slipped inside.

The inside of the yard was peaceful and pretty. Yellow marigolds decorated the edges of a garden harboring countless varieties of vegetables and flowers and rose bushes bordered the white picket fence that surrounded the yard. Sulfur led the way to the pond by following the shaded path between the garden boxes, which harbored 6 foot high tomato plants and bushy patches of squash. When they arrived, everyone widened their eyes at the huge goldfish.

"Can I catch one Sulfur can I?" Daisy jumped up and down at the sight of the fish.

"Well, you can certainly try." Sulfur gave a smug look.

Daisy thrust her paw into the water and tried diligently to catch a fish, with no go.

"Here let me show you," he jumped onto the rocks that bordered the water. "Now, the first thing you want to do when catching fish is to get into position." He showed them by leaning forward towards the water and unsheathing his claws. "The next step is to be patient and wait for the fish to come to you." Every cat listened patiently except for Wings, who wandered away from the group to explore.

This is such a beautiful garden. She told herself excitedly. There must be something other than just fish to eat. She wandered around the yard for a bit, tasting a few of the leaves and sniffing some of the flowers. She was amazed at how different each one looked and smelled. How come she had never seen these before? She poked a hydrangea with one claw, watching as a few of the petals fell to the ground.

Without realizing it she had ventured dangerously close to the house, where a variety of large and small pots perfumed the air with scents of lavender, mint, and basil. One plant stood out to her the most and as she climbed up on the porch the sweet, intoxicating scent grew even stronger. From underneath a window she spotted it, sitting in a blue pot with a sandy colored stripe winding around the exterior. It looked odd, tiny pink flowers were gathered in balls against tall thin stems, and the leaves were pointy but not sharp. Still, Wings couldn't resist nipping at the leaves. The herb tasted wonderful, and much more savory than a stinky old fish. Come to think of it, the others might like some too! She pulled up the pretty pink flowers and headed towards her friends, all the while resisting the mouthwatering urge to swallow them whole. As she approached, she heard a big splash.

"Yes! I caught one!" Daisy held up her prize for all the other cats to see: a reddish orange goldfish that was as big as her head. "Told you I would catch one first!"

Flint nodded with approval. "Good work."

"Me next, me next!" Brooke jumped onto the rocks next to Sulfur, who purred with pride.

Wings used this chance to approach the others with her herbs. "Hey look, I found some yummy flowers!" She held them up happily, while the others turned to look at her.

Sulfur narrowed his eyes, "Wings you-"

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!!" An enormous woman carrying a broom flung herself right in between the cats. She raised the weapon as high as it would go in the air,