The Writer’s Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire and various fiction and non-fiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com.
Curiosity Killed the Cat by Allison Hambrick
“Well, this could have gone better,” Mittens thought to himself as he flew above San Francisco. He pondered the past hour of his life and how he got into this predicament, all the while observing the setting sun. His human, Mandy, wasn’t cruel by nature; she was just curious.
Mittens knew all too well about curiosity. It was curiosity that flew him all the way from San Francisco to New York in a coat pocket. It was curiosity that landed him hanging off the Golden Gate Bridge. It was curiosity smuggled him onto Alcatraz Island. If Mandy went somewhere, odds were, so did Mittens.
Mittens loved his human, and she loved him. The older humans never paid them much attention, so Mittens took it upon himself to keep Mandy happy and entertained. That’s why he put up with her.
Mandy wasn’t so bad all the time. She was quick to give him kisses, and she never forgot to give him a big bowl of milk every night. He had no doubt that she loved him, and, he supposed, he had loved her, too.
Today was a very windy day, so Mandy and Mittens set out to go to the park; Mandy loved flying her kite whenever she got the chance, and Mittens loved to see her happy. He failed to notice the extra kite string she had packed in her backpack. It didn’t start off any different from their usual visits to the park. Mandy ran, the kite trailing behind her and then rising into the air. Mittens ran, too. Why not, he thought. She seemed to be having so much fun, why shouldn’t he?
Mittens was surprised when Mandy suddenly stopped and reeled the kite back in. She sat it down and reached into her backpack. She called Mittens over, and before he could protest, she had him tied up.
“Help, I’m scared,” Mittens meowed, knowing that Mandy wouldn’t understand him. She again took off running with the kite in tow. Instead of rising in the air like it had before, the kite, and Mittens, dragged across the grass as Mandy ran faster and faster.
Suddenly, the kite caught the wind, and Mittens began to rise. He could barely hear Mandy let out a cry of excitement as the wind blew in his face. Higher and higher the kite rose, until Mittens began to feel a pull; Mandy, still running, was trying unsuccessfully to reel in the kite. She tripped, and the kite slipped right from her hands.
“Mittens!” Mandy screamed repetitively, as she disappeared from view. “I always said that girl would be the death of me,” thought Mittens, as he floated endlessly through the air.
