From Glam to Sham

As night descended on the land, 3 small kittens peered out from their hidey hole in the forest near the river, waiting for their mother to return home. The runt of the litter yawned, stretching the sleep from his limbs. He was restless, impatient. Taking a single step outside the den, he paused and listened for any signs of danger, like he watched his mother do that night and every other night when she went out to hunt. Nothing. Slinking further out, he heard the mews of his siblings behind him. As he continued, the mews grew louder with panic until they faded into the distance. And though he knew not to wander too far from his home, he couldn’t help but keep walking. He felt courageous. He felt free. He reached a clearing in the trees.

A cry echoed in the distance. The kitten stopped, eyes wide and ears pinned back. He heard the cry again, a familiar cry, his mother’s cry. He raced through the dark, following his mother’s voice into a thick brush. Streams of light staggered about, and he saw his mother’s body cowered within the brush. He rushed to her and mewed, beckoning her away from the bipeds who aimed to capture and domesticate them, just as they had done to the dogs.

The mother and runt made a run for the clearing, and the lights followed, boots stomping furiously behind them. The runt struggled to keep up with his mother and ahead of the humans. A spotlight followed him as he zigged and zagged between the trees, but the men grew closer and closer. One man dove to grab him, but he dodged it and scrambled under a bush. The kitten heard rustling above him as the men peeled back the layers of the bush.

The kitten concentrated, and the hair on his back raised. He concentrated harder and shed the fur from his body. He quickly and quietly made his way to the edge of the bush, leaving the pile of his fur behind. He waited for the humans to find the decoy, and then sprinted towards his home, completely naked. He reached the den and tried to enter, but he was met with only growls from his mother. Realization came to him; his mother was afraid of him because never before had she seen a hairless cat.