The Heart of A Tiny Kitten

Once upon there was a huge, huge cat with huge huge claws. Can you picture him? Scary looking isn’t he? At least that’s what the people around him thought of him. His purring sounded to them like an earthquake and his miaows like a roar that could make their organs shake in their bodies. No wonder people stayed as far away from this huge monster-like-looking creature as possible.

Some big cats would be happy to be left alone, but not him. This big, big cat was still a tiny little kitten inside with tiny little kitten needs. He wanted nothing more than to be hugged, to be petted, and to lay his big head on a friendly human’s lap. None of those things are easy to achieve when everyone runs away from you as far as they can, so one day the big, big cat with the tiny, tiny heart decided to go into the world to find people that were brave enough to love him.

He searched the forests and fields, the deserts and beaches, he looked through windows and at some point even dragged his clumsy body up a lamppost to have a better view. No matter where his journey brought him, he never lost sight of his tiny heart’s longing. The human voices never seemed far away, yet always out of reach. If only they could hear the beating of his tiny heart instead of just the loudness of his roars...

Because the big, big cat with the tiny heart knew how scary he was to people, he also understood that just running up to them was not the solution if he wanted the people to feel safe around him. That’s why he decided to be very mindful by approaching any new group by waving at them from a distance. A great idea if you are anything but a huge, scary-looking cat. However, in his case, the people generously misperceived his kind intentions. What they saw was not a friendly waving cat, but a threatening-looking beast shaking its claws at them, threatening to tear them apart. As one might expect, they freaked out and did what humans always do when they feel irrationally frightened, they took out their guns and started shooting at this poor creature. 

This sweet, naive cat saw the people running after him while shooting their guns and thought:

“Wow, they’ve finally come to me and they want to play!”

And so he started to run and jump around, he started to sneak up on them to give them playful yaps with his paws. 

As with everything in life, it’s all fun and games until somebody gets shot, and that was exactly what happened to the cat. He felt a sudden sting in his paw and got really scared. As fast as he could, he ran into the forest until he could find a place in the bushes to hide. Where before he did anything in his power to get closer to people, he now wanted nothing more than to get as far away from them as possible. 

Right at that moment, a girl was walking through the forest. She saw the bushes moving wildly by the heavy breathing of the cat. As she came closer to him and he spotted her, he used his growl to scare her away, since now the big, big cat with the tiny kitten inside had gotten afraid of people. He didn’t see them as friends anymore but rather as dangerous creatures that were all out to hurt him. He growled and growled but the little girl didn’t move an inch. She was not scared of him, oh no… Why would she? Her father and mother were very mean to her every day. They were always shouting at her and occasionally they would hit her. What could this hairy creature possibly do to her that they hadn’t done to her already? 

And so she came closer. When she had finally reached him, she saw this poor, trembling creature looking up at her with big eyes. The whole frightening-looking facade that people had been so afraid of was now reduced to nothing more than a ball of fear and fluff.

“Don’t be afraid little kitty, I’m here to help you,” she said while petting his big head. She took his paw and looked at the big wound. 

“That doesn’t look good at all, little kitty. It seems like I will have to take you home to take care of this.’’

When the big cat heard those words, his eyes widened with excitement. Would he finally be able to have human friends? To spend time with them and play with them? 

The excitement about this prospect gave him new energy and he followed the girl home, hopping playfully alongside her while occasionally rubbing his big head against her leg. 

As they neared the house of the little girl, her mother and father were sitting outside, waiting for the little girl with pure rage in their eyes. She started to worry. What if they would yell at her for bringing this gentle creature into their home? What if they would hurt her... or him?

At that moment the big cat with the tiny kitten inside noticed the parents and he immediately got excited. Even more people to cuddle and share his home with! With great enthusiasm, he lifted his paw and started to wave wildly. So wild that the parents' eyes widened. All they knew in life was aggression and so they took the kindness of the cat for raging anger. Immediately they ran away as far as they could.

From that day on the cat and the little girl lived together in the house where there was always a sweet harmony. She didn’t have to worry ever again about someone yelling at her or beating her. And him? He could get all the cuddles he wanted and forever put his big paws around someone who would never ever be scared of him.