By Jean Boonstra
Listeners of Discovery Mountain often send me story ideas. This one came in from a listener named Skyla. If you have a story idea, visit our website and send it in, too.
Stormy purred as she cleaned the ears of each of her kittens. The kittens were getting bigger—and braver—every day. Stormy finished cleaning the littlest, but the bravest kitten. His grey and white fur glistened in the sunshine.
“Stormy,” Kayla said with a big smile on her face. “Look at how big he’s getting!”
Stormy purred proudly and climbed up into Kayla’s lap. She wanted some attention, too.
“Alright, come here girl,” Kayla said cuddling Stormy against her arm. “You can help me with my algebra,” Kayla added with a laugh.
As Kayla scratched her head and then scratched out the answers to the problems with her pencil, Stormy slept in her lap. The kittens napped in their box. All, that is, except the littlest grey and white kitten.
The littlest kitten slipped out of the box while no one was looking. After exploring the family room, the kitchen, and an abandoned sock, he crept towards the open door. At first, he set his little paw on the grass timidly. Then, feeling the cool blades of grass, he scampered out into the lawn.
The littlest kitten had fun chasing the birds trying to land in the bird feeder and tumbling in the grass. After one particularly long tumble in the grass he looked up. He felt afraid. Instead of cool green grass under his paws, he now felt sticky brown mud. And, instead of the bird feeder and his familiar house behind him, all he could see were trees.
“Meow,” the littlest kitten mournfully sputtered. Too afraid to walk in the mud, he jumped onto a little log and crouched. The big trees swayed in the wind above him and made a low whistling sound. The littlest kitten wished he’d never stepped outside the door.
Inside the house, Kayla finished her homework.
“Stormy,” I’m ready for a snack. How about you?” she asked scratching Stormy behind her ears as she stretched awake.
Stormy jumped down off of Kayla’s lap and walked over to the box. Nuzzling each kitten with her nose, she looked for the littlest one. He wasn’t there.
“Meow!” Stormy found Kayla and meowed with worry.
“The kittens?” Kayla asked as she heard the funny way Stormy meowed at her. Rushing to the box, Kayla saw that the littlest one was gone.
“Stormy,” Kayla said calling out for her cat. Then, she noticed the door open to the backyard. Running outside, she could see Stormy ahead of her.
“Stormy,” Kayla called out, “he’ll be alright. He must’ve wandered into the woods!”
Kayla ran up behind Stormy and her worry vanished in a moment. There was the littlest kitten, sitting on a log, Stormy gently licking her ears.
“You found him,” Kayla said happily. “Oh, littlest kitten. You are brave, but you’re not ready for the woods. Stay close to home until you are ready.”
Just like our little kitten, some new things can seem scary when we aren’t ready for them yet. Our parents and teachers will help us to know when we’re ready. Until then—stay close!
Listen to more adventures with Kayla, Stormy, and others at DiscoveryMountain.com/shows/discoverymountain.