Oh, the places you'll go.

[glowlynose]

Story Title: Oh, the places you'll go.
Author: Glowy
Character(s): Willow
Genre: Adventure... sort of, I guess.
Rating: PG for now, but I have to finish writing it first. It could change.
Warnings: Willow will never be an actual character. Sorry if you like her as much as I do, but it's just not going to happen. Oh, and I may change types of narration from scene to scene. Please don't kill me.
Comments: I'm going to be posting this in separate mini chapter-like installments. This should happen every day or couple of days until the conclusion of the story. Well, I'll post the sections when I'm done with them. |D

Prologue

[/u]

If you asked my mother about me, she would tell you that she used to see so much of my father in me. If you asked my sister, she would say that I've always got my head in the clouds. Both would tell you that I'm pathetic, a disgrace, and the most immature out of the three of us. Haha, it's probably a good thing they're not here then, isn't it? I can see why they would think those things about me, though. They've both found themselves nice warm houses and mates that love them, and all I've managed to find is this little tarp and a few scraps of food. Ah, but none of that is important right now. They certainly aren't. They decided I wasn't important a long time ago. All that matters is those sad little kittens huddled behind me and, of course, yourself. My goodness, you're a fright! You look hungry. Come on in and warm yourself up. Oh, and take this. It's not much to eat, but it's all I've got, and you certainly need it more than I do.

Oh, don't let those bells scare you, dear. They go off every so often, whenever the poor elderly human that rings them can manage to pull herself up the stairs. What's that, my name? Oh, my name's not important right now. Listen, you're pretty stressed, and that's not good for a mother with her kittens due so soon. You don't want to scare them out before they're brave enough to say hello to the world all by themselves, do you?

Look, how about I tell you a story, to help you calm down and the like? I know loads of fairy tales. They're great tales for the little one- oh, what's that, miss? You want to hear MY story? Nobody's ever asked for MY story before. Ah, you probably want to know how I got myself into this business, hey? I suppose curiosity would be natural, but- oh, whoah, hey! Slow down with the questions, miss! Alright, alright, I'll tell you my story, though honestly it might bore you to sleep...
[/size][/center]

[glowlynose]

Part 1: Exodus

[/b]

It all started the day I woke up and the ground was shaking under my paws. Y'see, I didn't used to live in the city. Me and my family used to live way out in the country, away from all the noise and filth and harsh lines that the humans make. I was really young, so sorry if the details are sort of sketchy, but I don't really remember much of what happened that day.

My dad was off on a trip somewhere, I remember that. It was just me, my mom, and my sister. Like I said, I woke up and the ground was shaking, and my mom and sister were over huddled in a corner, crying and wishing at the tops of their lungs that my daddy was there to protect them. I could barely hear them, though, because whatever was making the ground shake was making this horrible, loud noise. Have you ever heard the noise one of those pavement-breaking machines makes? It was like that, just louder and growlier, and it was coming from everywhere all at once.

I remember I tried to get them to calm down and run away from the noise, but they were too frightened to move. I couldn't leave them there all by themselves. Dad would have wanted me to protect them. So I stayed. I tried yelling at the noise to go away and leave us alone, but it didn't, no matter how loud I yelled.

Then they came. The humans, I mean. Mom had used to live with humans, so she wasn't afraid of them and even let them pick her up. It was the weirdest thing though. When the humans came, the noise stopped. So Clementine and I went up to them as well. Humans are tricky beasts though. They brought all three of us to one of their cars and put us in these little cages inside of it. All I remember from there is strange noises, lots of bumps, and even stranger smells. Everything was silent except for my sister crying.

I don't know how long it was that we were in the car. All I know is that it was barely morning when we were kidnapped, and when the humans brought us out again, the stars were out. Have you ever stayed in a hotel, miss? Well, that's what we did for a few nights. It was the most terrifying experience ever. It might not sound too bad to you, since you grew up in this city, but I think I was in an entirely different state when I was born.

Anyway, eventually we got to the city. We still weren't talking to each other. Actually, no. Let me rephrase. They still weren't talking to me. I told them stories every night though, to help them fall asleep. I even told them stories when the humans brought us to the animal shelter. It wasn't so bad in there, though, because we were all put in the same cage. In there, we lost track of the days. It was the weirdest thing, y'know, because I was so used to knowing exactly what time of the day it was just from looking at the sun.

One day (or night, I still don't know what it was), this family of humans came and took us to their home. They had another cat there, a tom, and boy, let me tell you, he was huge. Like seriously, he was so big, he would take up half of this tarp! He really liked my mom though. Like, seriously. He would have gone insane if she ever left him. He didn't care much about me, though, and I didn't care much for that house anyway, so one night I ran away with my sister. We were gonna find ourselves a new life, away from that stupid tom.

Hah, we even thought that we would be able to escape the city and find our dad. You know how that turned out though.
[/size][/center]

[glowlynose]

Part 2: Different Kinds of Hope

[/u]

Alright dear, please try to calm down. I know your belly hurts. I can see it starting to ripple from here. Don't worry, I've seen this dozens of times before. The key is to breathe and just let it happen. Yes, dear, I know it hurts. Your crying about it isn't going to make it any better. You gotta buck up and face it. I know you're scared. Take deep breaths, miss, and try to think about something else. Here, I'll keep going. Would that make you happy? Alright.

So, once Clementine and I left that stupid house, we had no idea where to go. We didn't know our way around the city. We didn't know the dangers we faced. Haha, we thought of it as an adventure for a little while. Things were going great. It was the middle of summer still, it was warm, and the housecats' owners often left their food bowls outside and we mooched from them when we could. So we survived and we laughed and played and had ourselves a grand old time. But we couldn't find our way out of this place. I was distraught since we wouldn't be able to find dad, but Clementine didn't seem to mind.

Ah, she never even wanted to find dad, I don't think. She just wanted to have an adventure or whatever her reason was for leaving. I still don't know to this day, because she complained about it all the time. She hated how her claws got walking on the concrete, and then she complained about her paws got a little bit green from walking on the grass, and all sorts of stupid things like that. We started getting into fights a lot more. Makes me sad to think about it, but I guess that it had to happen eventually. We were always different, me and her. She hoped in the future and I hoped in the past.

See, I never let go of the hope that someday I'd find my dad. She gave up on him and started to live for herself. To me that was tantamount to betraying his memory. He told us he'd come back to us. He promised. I guess she didn't believe him.

Anyway, one of the fights got really bad and she ended up leaving me all alone under this oak tree we were sleeping by. I never even got to apologize to her. I wish I'd gotten to. It's one of the major regrets of my life, I suppose. I've learned not to dwell on the past, though. I was young and the world seemed completely right in my eyes. Nothing bad could possibly exist, and everybody always kept their word. Ah, but I sound bitter now. I'm not. Not really.

Alright, dear, I know that the squeezes have sped up a little bit. I know the pain is getting worse. Just think of the little ones. They're worth it, trust me. The initial pain is totally redeemed by the thought that you've just brought something with breath, life, and a soul into the world.
[/size][/center]