Kitten Surprise! (How To Break Up A Cat Fight!) The Original!
Our mother taught us omens,
like how the thick white rain which stays
means poor hunting season, or how
if the saucer of milk is warm on our tongues
there will be unrest among the bigthings.
The omens foretold the runt, she said.
When she was fat with us she bled
for three nights straight. Then came us.
Then the runt.
Still blind long after we were, it
refused to feed. It should have died,
but the bigthings fed it from a bottle,
nursed open its lazy eyes.
The runt watched us play.
It never played.
But we grew bigger every day, and took
some joy in the new strength of our legs,
the new fineness of our fur,
even if it did not.
Once, as we played, runt coughed
and coughed, and brought forth
thick milk from inside its throat.
This was an omen we had not been
taught. Mother sniffed the thick
milk and made deep noises and
told us nothing.
Six nights later she was gone.
Her scent is fading now. And we are
growing stronger, faster. We can
jump high and eat well and sleep in
the sun... and all of us watch runt,
the wisecat, for bad tidings he may bring.