The Kitten and the Bear

            In, out, under, over.  The rhythm of the needle as it stitched patterns under the careful eye of a six year old and her gray haired grandmother.  The colors intermingled, making beautiful shades and pictures.

            A calico kitten appeared from the needle, gazing up at a blank space and as the child watched, browns and blacks began to form the figure of a bear, standing on its hind legs, looking down at the innocent looking kitten.  With a single stitch more, the grandmother stitched a pink scar across the kitten’s back.

            The child gasped.

            “What is it?”  Asked the grandmother in concern, “Did I poke you by accident?”

            The child shook her head, then lightly touched the kitten.  “Did…did the bear hurt it?”

            “The bear?  Hurt this kitten?  Never.  He wouldn’t have dreamed of it.”

            “But it has a scar!  And the bear is right there.”

            “Ahh, yes, but this bear would never hurt this kitten.”

            “How do you know?”

            “Because, child, I know the story that I am stitching.”

            “Is this the beginning of the story?”  The girl jabbed the cloth with her index finger.

            “Ah, no, this is near the end, when the bear has earned the trust of the kitten.”

            “Why does he need to earn her trust?”

            “Do you suppose a kitten would naturally trust a bear?”

            Gnawing on her lower lip, the child pondered the question, then slowly shook her head.  “What happened before this picture?”

            “Oh, you’re asking me to dig up old pictures that I have already completed?”

            “Is that where the beginning is?”

            The old grandmother nodded.

            “Please!”  The child begged.

            “Oh, very well.  Pull that chest over here for your old grandmother, I tire of walking.”

            The girl did as asked and pulled an old cedar chest from the corner of the room to beside her grandmother’s rocking chair.  The grandmother opened it and pulled out a stack of white squares, each with beautiful embroidered pictures covering them.

            “Ahh, the beginning.”  The grandmother held up the top square.  It was a newborn kitten curled into its mother’s side, nursing.  “The kitten was the only one from her litter, so had her mother all to herself.  She was, of course, a cat, and the fathers of cats rarely stay around, although the tiny calico wished with all her might that her father was there.”

            “Human fathers always stay around, don’t they, Grandma?”

            The grandmother reached out and gently touched her granddaughter’s cheek, “Not always.  But they stay around more than cats.”

            The girl giggled a little bit.  “Is there more about the kitten?”

            “Not on this square.”

            “What’s the next square?”

            The grandmother lifted the next one.  Though the embroidery was beautiful, the picture was gruesome.  A cat.  Dead.  Alone in the alley, save a small calico kitten curling close in an attempt to stay warm.  As the child looked, she realized that the dead cat was the kitten’s mother.

            “The kitten wasn’t old enough to be alone, without her mother.  But the fates didn’t care—”

            “The fates?”

            “It’s just a fancy way of saying it happened anyway.”

            “Oh.  Why not just say ‘it happened anyway’?  It would make more sense.”

            “We say it like that to make little girls, like you, ask questions.”

            “Oh.”

            “Shall I continue?”

            The child nodded.

            “The fates didn’t care.”  She pulled out the next square.  The kitten was alone, walking down an alley of her own.  “The kitten left, knowing there was nothing left for her.”

            “Was she really young?”

            Her grandmother nodded.

            “Then what happened, Grandma?  Then what happened?!”

            Her grandmother sighed, “She looked for warmth, love, and contentment, in all the places she shouldn’t have.”  The next square was not just one picture, but eight.  Four of the eight pictures showed the kitten curled next to another creature.  One was a dog, another a fox, then a mocking bird, and lastly, a rooster.  To the right of each of these pictures, she was shown being chased away and wounded.  Some of the animals looked apologetic for hurting her, because they hadn’t wanted that for her…others looked pleased with themselves.  The next square was the kitten; alone, bleeding, crying tears onto the dirt.  “She was only given hurt and pain as reward.”

            The little girl reached out to touch the broken, bleeding kitten.  “Oh.”  She breathed softly.  “Will she be okay?  Grandma, will she?”

            “Hush child, let me continue.”

            “But, Grandma, what happens next?”

            The grandmother only pulled another square out and laid it down, smoothing it gently.  It was a bear, sniffing at the wounded kitten, as she shivered in terror.  “A bear found the kitten and she was sure she was dead.  He was bigger than she was.  Stronger than she was.  He had the power in his jaws to crush her without even trying.  After going through so much pain, she was afraid to trust again.  Especially afraid to trust a creature that had so much power to hurt her.”

            The next square.  The kitten was in the mouth of the bear.  The child gasped.  “He’s eating her!”

            “No, no, of course he’s not.  Look at the one I’m working on.”

            The child looked back at the one her grandmother had originally been working on.  The bear was standing on his hind legs, looking at the kitten, while she looked up at him.

            “The bear took the kitty somewhere safe, and took care of her, and won her trust.”

            “How did he do that?”

            “He didn’t chase her away or hurt her.  He loved her.  He curled close to her when she was scared and let her burrow into his fur where she felt safe.  He was gentle with her.  And he was patient when it came to earning her trust.”

            “Well, that was nice.”

            “Yes it was.”

            It was silent for a moment as the grandmother added a few extra stitches to the one she’d been working on.

            “Grandma….”

            “Hmm?”

            “The story?”

            “Oh, yes, the story.  The kitten and the bear became close friends…nearly inseparable.”  She gentle stroked the embroidered bear.  “Their love for one another grew so strong, that the bear asked the kitten what she thought about becoming a human.”

            “A human?”

            The grandmother nodded, with a faraway look on her face, “The bear longed for a deeper relationship with his kitten…one they couldn’t share as the animals they were…and later, he told her that the reason he wanted to become human was simply because he couldn’t handle the thought of a tom cat coming in and sweeping her away.  Not that that would have happened….”

            “Did they become humans?  Wait, what’s that square for?  The one you’re working on?”

            “This is where we are now.  I haven’t been able to put the feeling in their eyes yet, but when I do, it will be a feeling of love and adoration.  The kitten isn’t scared, she’s watching who she loves.  And he’s not trying to eat her, he’s doing the same thing she is.”

            “Oh.  What happens next?”

            “Oh, perhaps I’ll make you wait until the next square is completed to tell you.”  The grandmother teased, with a twinkle in her eye.

            “Nooo!  Grandma!  I can’t wait until you’ve finished it!  Tell me now!”

            “My my, such rudeness.”

            The girl lowered her head bashfully, then peered up through dark eyelashes, “Please?”

            Though secretly pleased at continuing her story, the grandmother sighed, “Very well.  The bear went to a witch, one who spoke both the language of the humans and the language of the animals.  He explained the situation, and told her that the kitten was in agreement.  Reluctantly, she gave him the potion he asked for.”

            “Then what happened?”

            “He and the kitten both drank some, and became humans.”

            “Did they live happily ever after?”

            “Oh, they had a kerfuffle or two.”

            “Kerfuffle?”

            “Yes, that’s a word he taught her.”

            “What’s it mean?”

            “It’s like a little disagreement or unimportant fight.”

            “Oh.  Are you sure that’s a word, Grandma?  Are you sure you’re not just making things up?”

            “Positive.”

            The little girl settled back down, content with the story.  “That was a good fairy tale.”

            The grandmother sighed, “Ahh, it was wasn’t it?”

            As the night drew on, the little girl moved to the couch, where she curled up in a ball and slept.  She wasn’t even awake when her grandfather finally returned home to kiss his wife and say, “I missed you, Kitten.”  Nor to hear her reply, “I missed you too, Bear.”

©2016 Katie Holm