Is It Rude To Call You Kitty?

There once was a girl. She was an adventurous girl who lived on a farm in Illinois. She would always get into trouble and always talked to the animals.

"Look Kitty! Is it rude to call you Kitty? The first spring flower!" She pointed at a small blossom dwindling through the ground. The flower stretched it's small petals out to the sun. The cat just sat down and didn't answer. "Well sure it's just a flower, but isn't that just simply wonderful?"

"You see Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty? The flower started as another flower far away. Then they were a seed. Now look! It's life again! And one day this entire field will be full of them!" She gestured to the sea of grass in front of them rippling in the wind.

"Don't you think it's wonderful Kitty? Is it rude to call you Kitty?" She reached out toward the cat slightly and patted the ground next to her. The cat trotted over and curled up next to her.

"One day Kitty...is it rude to call you Kitty? I'm gonna make it big in Chicago and save the farm. Dad has been having tax problems. He didn't tell me but I found out." She pet the cat gingerly. The cat let out a slight purr sounding much like a rusty old car.

"Maryland!" Her dad called. She bounced up so quickly she could have grazed the sky. "I've got to go Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty?" The cat got up and stretched. He stalked off into the forest at the edge of the field.

Maryland raced across the field she climbed over the pig pen fence and trekked through the mud then hopped the second fence. She ran past the chicken coop and felt the shavings under her feet.

She reached her home and her mother frowned. "Well look!" She patted the dirt off her daughters dress "You've gotten yourself all dirty!" She sighed and gave her daughter another dress to change into.

Maryland came out in a blue dress with her blonde hair done up in a braided bun behind her. "Don't you look just like Alice in Wonderland." Her mother brushed a strand of hair out of her eye.

"Come now...the inspectors here." She grabbed her daughters hand and pulled her through the family picture cluttered hall into the dining room.

There were two men there. One was Maryland's father, a man she could recognize from a mile away because they looked so much alike. The second man she had never seen before.

He was a fat man with a bald head. He wore pink cat-eye glasses that glinted in the sunlight. he had a pen and a notepad in his hands. He eyed Maryland suspiciously before writing something down.

"As you know Mason." He turned to Maryland's father "Management thinks this farm should be shut down. Not enough products coming out. I realize that this farm has been in your family for generations, but with all those generations you're the only one with this problem.

"I honestly don't know what to do. I'll be risking my butt by trying to save this silly farm. I suggest you get a new job and save up for a house out of town." He finished with a croaky cough.

"But they said I have three more weeks." Mason tapped his foot uncomfortably to the ground. "Had three more weeks Mason." The man wrote a note down "Look with the tractor repair you only have one more week of savings until this place well..." He looked away from Mason guilty.

"It's not my fault what those boys did to my tractor!" Mason slammed the table with his fist even though it hurt. "I'm not saying it is, but we can't exactly press charges on kids. If we did that then every naughty kid down here would be behind bars or have a fine that they can't repay on their hands." The man clicked his pen and the tip disappeared.

"I'll give you two more weeks Mason." the man stood up "If you don't have the money by then, you're on your own." The man left through the backdoor and dawdled to his pickup truck.

Maryland's dad slammed the table and let his head fall into his hands miserably.

"Daddy it's okay." Maryland patted her dad's head "I'll make it big and I'll help you save the farm." Her father smiled. "You don't have to worry about us Maryland. We'll be just fine." He went up the stairs to his room.

"Your dad's just going through a rough patch right now." Her mother sat down at the kitchen table "Nothing you should worry your pretty little head about. Now get your backpack on for school." Maryland sighed and went to her room to grab her back pack.

There was an unexpected guest sitting on the window sill. "Oh Kitty! Is it rude to call you Kitty?" She pet the cat gingerly.

The cat purred and let it's matted gray fur sit flat on it's back. "Oh Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty? My dad has only got one more week to pay off his debt! And all because of those rotten boys!" The cat hissed furiously as if agreeing.

"Maryland the bus is here!" Maryland grabbed her stachel and gathered all her books. She went out the back door and into the bus.

She always hated the first day at a new school. It seemed so lonely. If her alley cat friend were around she would have so much to complain about. "Oh Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty." She thought "Have you ever been alone but not felt lonely? Oh and Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty? Have you ever been surrounded by others yet somehow you feel so lonely?"

"You can sit next to me if you like." A boy patted the seat next to him. "What's your name?" Maryland didn't want to answer but the question got the better of her. "Maryland." She hardly looked at the boy and only gave him side glances but he acknowledged even those. "Like the state?" He looked at her in a puzzled sort of way. "Yes." She looked up at ceiling finding it the only place where he wasn't. "Why's that?" He fiddled with a string sticking out of his shirt. "My parents met in Maryland." She simply said and thought he would stop there.

"My name's Rider." He looked at her with glassy blue eyes "I guess my parents just liked the name." He shrugged and looked out the window.

"Maryland look a rainbow!" he pointed at a fading shimer of color in the sky "You know it rained last night?"

Maryland looked at the rainbow. She always loved rainbows but she didn't want to give Rider the satisfaction of her smiling.

"You gonna be doing the talent show in Chicago?" Maryland jumped. "What talent show?" She gave him a blank stare of disbelief. "You know the one with the one hundred thousand dollars as prize money." Maryland did the math in her head and realized it would be enough to save the farm three times over.

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Maryland and Rider decided to sing together. Maryland learned to enjoy his company. They trained hard.

Then the time came when they were behind the curtain. The curtain rises to see three thousand eager people. They both took a deep breath and the music began.

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"No they didn't win. Well they did lose the farm. What's the point of this story? Well after six years Maryland and Rider were singing for the president and and the queen. They moved into a large house. No the moral isn't to give up on your dreams. The moral is real life can be so complicated but if you believe then it always straightens out."

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Maryland pet the cat on the hill after the talent show and sighed. "I don't know what to do Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty?" The cat purred. "Mary! I knew I'd find you here." Rider climbed up the hill and sat down next to her. "This might be the last look at your farm but it's the first glimpse at your new life. I know we'll make it Mary oh and you too Kitty. Is it rude to call you Kitty?" The cat sighed and laid down. They didn't care if they were called Kitty, Dog, or even Pesk because for the first time in a long time they felt at home.