Life was once perfect. Back when my older sister Travlery was only a little girl. Back when Mama and Papa had to take time to answer my every whine, and cradled me in their arms like a baby. Back when this wonderful family first adopted me, and were still trying to figure me out.
I woke up in my bed, which was a mess of old, orange hair. Ah, the price of being an orange-haired princess. I hopped on Travlery’s bed, and poked at her face until she woke up and poured me breakfast. Hey, call me evil, but I couldn’t pour it myself. After breakfast, I napped, and after napping I snuggled up next to Mama while she read her afternoon book. Then Papa came home from work, and we would play chase! Oh how I loved chase!
Then, sadly, all the fun and perfectness of the day had to come to an end. Mama started getting sad phone calls, and cried often. Then one day, our parents sat me and Travlery down and gave it to us straight.
Something had happened to someone in the family. It turns out, Mom had a Mom named ‘Granny’ and she had just suffered from kidney failure.
This is when Travlery started to cry, and I comforted her by letting her rub my back.
Her crying stopped when Mama told us Granny had survived the kidney failure and had been donated kidneys to stay alive. But now she would be very fragile and couldn’t live by herself.
“Granny’s moving in with us,” Mama told us.
I didn’t think that would really happen, until a few days later, the family went to the airport and came back with a lady I didn’t recognize. She had the same mole-spotted face as Mama.
“Oh my lord! Is that the Ginger I’ve heard so much about!? Com’meer, Gingy-poo!” Granny opened her arms up wide and smiled at me.
Gingy-poo!? This woman was insane! I stayed away from her, curling up as she tried to walk over to me, gripping her cane.
Travlery explained to Granny that I might need some time to get used to her and that she should stay away from me for now. Stay away was right. I already didn’t like Granny.
First off, she always tried to talk to me using the name, ‘Gingy-poo.’ I never got used to it, and even hissed at her when she called me by that insult one day.
Papa told her she might wanna call me Ginger, but that old lady didn’t listen. She was all, “Ginger!? But that name is so plain! I give people nicknames! That’s just the way I roll!”
To make matters worse, she stayed up late as well. Usually, while the rest of the family went to sleep, I was up amongst the moonlight by myself enjoying some quiet time. But Granny was a night owl, watching game shows or old dramas at high volume.
She constantly told people to bring her ‘sushi rolls’ from the store. I had no idea why, but whenever she got them, she’d be in a happier mood and start singing, which was VERY annoying. She’d pour some of the shrimp and avocado in my bowl. I was onto her. Of course she’d try to poison me, knowing I hated her this much.
Mama became busy trying to arrange doctors appointments for Granny. Papa hardly wanted to play with me, and would rather eat sushi with Granny. Even Travlery became too busy with Granny to care about me anymore, even when I chirped at her door.
One time I was having a particularly bad day. Travlery had yelled at me to leave her alone, she was doing ‘homework’. I was sitting at the top of my tower, moping when Granny came into the room, of course singing and eating sushi rolls.
She began to talk to me, which I ignored, until she put one of those poisonous shrimp thingies on one of the lower platforms of my precious tower. The nerve of her!
Of course I ate it to keep it off my tower but I discovered that shrimp wasn’t… that bad. She had left a trail of shrimp leading to where she sat on the couch. I ate them, all the way to the one right beside her on the couch.
She began to pet me, which I didn’t like too much. I growled from the back of my throat. Don’t push your luck Granny.
And then, as if she heard me and wanted to mock my kindness, she said “You’re lucky this family knows how to deal with you. I don’t know why they decided to adopt a cat as grumpy as you.”
Now before you overreact, isn’t that statement alone enough to justify the reason I bit this lady? She went too far! My adoption was none of her business!
But then Mama came, and Granny snitched on what I did and Mama slapped my bottom, saying I should know better than to do that to family.
Later, behind closed doors, I heard Papa explaining to Granny that since I was just a kitten, I had been pampered, and was not used to somebody else having all the spotlight.
Travlery even came by me. She pet me and explained that she was no longer mad at what I had done to Granny, she only wanted me to understand that what I did was wrong. When I was adopted, the family had to change their lives to include me in it, so why couldn’t I do the same for Granny?
The next few days, Granny was quiet. She slept earlier, stopped giving me ‘shrimp’ and made sure to avoid me at all costs. I hated it
So one day, while she was busy watching an old blurry drama show, I sat by her, and she began to pet me.
When Granny sang, I listened. When Granny napped, I snuggled beside her.
Soon enough, she started to stay up later, and smile at me again.
“Gingy-poo! I’m going to watch our favorite tonight!”
I hopped off my scratching tower and trailed over to her. What can I say? I hated the name, but I loved Granny.
My name is Shila Williams. I am 16 years old and I have been passionate about writing and drawing since I knew how to spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as living and traveling abroad. I write to inspire children's minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.
I'm now a published author! Please support my debut children's book! Check it out here on Amazon! Imagination By Shila Willams
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Meet the girls of Algo Green! Love for the planet and all its inhabitants, big or small. There will only be 50 green girls: https://t.co/yrwWL9ZJZI
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