Week 9 Story - Why the Cat Kills Rats

“Get back here you rat!” Cat’s voice echoed somewhere in the maze of hallways behind me. 

I am in fact a rat, but the anger and disgust in her voice hurt. She wasn’t calling me by my name, but by the negative connotation behind me as a species. I had never seen this side of Cat before. We had been raised together by the King and were best of friends ever since. I turned a corner and ran, only to find a dead end. I quickly turned around to see Cat’s silhouette against the dim candlelight, her glowing eyes piercing my soul. She had found me. 

“Cat!” I managed to say between heavy breaths, “We’ve been friends since we were little! Please don’t do this!” 

“How dare you beg for mercy,” Cat growled, “You stole from the King! That’s treason!” 

Cat began to stalk forward towards me. I tried to back up, but my tail hit the wall. Panic started to set in. 

“Please Cat!” I cried out, “You know I wouldn’t do something like that if I had any choice!” I looked around franticly for an escape route. There weren’t any. 

“My loyalty is to the King first.” Cat snarled, teeth glinting in the dim light. “I have a job to do, and that is to execute you for your crimes.” 

“Please don’t… I don’t want to die…” I whimpered. This was it. 

This was the end. Suddenly my life flashed before my eyes. I remembered my mother and siblings. I remembered her death, and how the young King, a price at the time, took me in. That’s when I first met Cat. She was a small kitten at the time. Because I was a rat, I was never given the same kind of care and privileges as Cat did. I had to fight to survive. I never knew if I would go to bed not hungry. But no matter my status, the King and Cat always treated my kindly. But I betrayed them. And for what? Some damn servant girl? All of this for her. I was never able to say goodbye… I opened my eyes to see Cat looming over me. 

“Goodbye Rat.” She said with no emotion in her voice. She raised her paw in the air, unsheathing her claws. They were sharp. Very sharp. 

I shuttered at the sight and closed my eyes. 

Goodbye, old friend.

Cat & Rat - Image Source

Author's Note: Not all fairy-tales have happy endings. Many of these short stories are very surface-level when it comes to the characters involved. I like to add depth by changing the perspective to one of the characters. In the story "Why the Cat Kills Rats", it tells of a rat who steals rood for a servant girl because he cannot afford any presents for her. The cat is sent by the king to kill the rat. In my version of the story, I elaborate on the scene where the rat is killed. 

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