{"sf1_id":707282,"sf2_id":"V1YK57xm","title":"Malcomb","author":"Strikes_From_the_Sun","words":2247,"posted_at":"2014-05-20T05:33:00.000Z","tags":["Cat","Clean","Short Story","Story Series"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/707282-malcomb","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/V1YK57xm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/f1/08/f108a884-5b83-4ca3-b13f-d16a3c7ee771","description":"This is a children's story about responsible pet ownership. At the same time, it's about the foster system. I hope we all find forever homes.","content":"This is Malcomb. (needs illustration of cat)\n\n  \nThis is Mrs. Biss. (needs illustration of old woman)  \n  \nMalcomb and Mrs. Biss live together in a green house, in a nice, quiet neighborhood.  \nThey are happy.  \n  \nMalcomb did not always live with Mrs. Biss. A long time ago, he lived in a barn, with his mother and his brothers and sisters.  \nHe was a Barn Cat, and he was happy.  \n  \nOne day, a woman in a long skirt came to the barn. She looked at Malcomb and his brothers and sisters. She picked Malcomb up. She scratched his ears. She stroked his fur. It felt nice. Malcomb leaned against the her and purred.  \n\"I'll take this one.\" said the woman in the long skirt.  \n  \nShe put Malcomb in a box and put the box in her car. They drove to a house in the city.  \nMalcomb had never been in a house before. He ran into every room, and saw what there was to see. Then Malcomb smelled a wonderful smell!\u0026nbsp;  \nHe followed the smell to the kitchen. The woman in the long skirt put a dish on the floor. The wonderful smell was coming from the dish! It was fish! Malcomb ate the fish, and it tasted very good.  \n  \nMalcomb was a House Cat now, and he was happy.  \n  \nThen, a tall man and a little boy walked through the door.  \n\"We're back!\" said the man.  \nThe little boy ran around and yelled. He made a lot of loud noise. Malcomb was scared.  \n  \nMalcomb ran and hid under a chair. He flattened himself on the floor, and hoped the noisy little boy would not see him.  \n  \nThe woman in the long skirt picked Malcomb up from under the chair.  \n\"Look, Timmy,\" she said to the little boy, \"I have a surprise for you!\"  \nThe woman put Malcomb on the floor by the little boy. The little boy yelled and tried to grab Malcomb. Malcomb ran and hid under the chair again.  \nThe little boy ran over to the chair and reached under it for Malcomb. Malcomb was very frightened. He flattened his ears and growled, to tell the scary little boy to stay away.\u0026nbsp;  \n  \nBut the little boy did not stay away. He grabbed Malcomb's tail. It hurt very much!  \nMalcomb yowled and tried to run away, but the little boy was holding on too tight. Now Malcomb was frightened\u0026nbsp;_and_\u0026nbsp;hurt. He did the only thing he could think of to do.  \n  \nMalcomb bit and scratched the little boy.  \n  \nThe little boy let go, and Malcomb ran back under the chair. He was hurt, he was scared, and he was\u0026nbsp;_not_\u0026nbsp;happy.  \n  \nThe little boy was crying. The tall man and the woman in the long skirt looked very angry. The woman in the long skirt took Malcomb out from under the chair.  \n\"You are a Bad Cat.\" she said. \"We will not keep you.\"  \n  \nThe woman in the long skirt put Malcomb back into the box, and put the box back into her car.  \nMalcomb thought maybe the woman would take him back to the barn. Then he could be happy with his brothers and sisters again.  \n  \nBut the woman in the long skirt did not take Malcomb back to the barn. She drove to a large building, and took him inside.  \n  \n\"This is a Bad Cat.\" said the woman in the long skirt. \"I don't want him.\"  \nThe woman gave Malcomb to a man at the desk. There were many animals in the large building. There were cats and kittens, dogs and puppies, and even a rabbit. They were all in metal cages. The man from the desk put Malcomb in a metal cage, too.  \n  \nMalcomb stayed in the metal cage all night. He missed the barn. He did not have his brothers and sisters to snuggle with.  \nHe was all alone. He was not happy. He was very sad.  \nHe curled himself into a little ball, and tried to sleep.  \n  \nThe next day, many people came to see the animals in the large building. Some of the people took animals home with them. They looked happy.  \nMalcomb pressed his little pink nose up between the bars at the front of the metal cage. He hoped someone would take him home.  \n  \nA girl in a red shirt looked at Malcomb in the metal cage.\u0026nbsp;  \n\"This one is cute.\" said the girl in the red shirt. \"I will take him to my new apartment. A cat will be easy to take care of.\"  \n  \nThe girl in the red shirt put Malcomb in a box, and put the box into her car. She took him to her small apartment near the college.\u0026nbsp;  \nThe girl in the red shirt took Malcomb out of the box, and put him on the floor. He ran into every room, and saw what there was to see.  \n\"You're funny!\" laughed the girl, \"but I have to go to class now.\"  \nThe girl left Malcomb in the apartment.  \n  \nMalcomb slept in a soft chair for a while. When he woke up, he went to find something to do.  \nHe saw a round bowl of water on the table. The was something shiny in the water!  \nMalcomb jumped up on the table to get a better look. He put his paws on the edge of the bowl and looked in the top. The shiny thing was going around in circles. He wondered what it was. He wondered if it was good to eat. He wondered if he could catch it with his paw.  \nMalcomb leaned into the bowl to see the shiny thing better.  \n  \nSPLASH!  \n  \nMalcomb fell into the bowl. It tipped over, and water spilled all over everywhere. The bowl rolled off of the table and crashed to the floor. Water and broken glass were all over the room. Malcomb was very wet, and he was not happy.  \n  \nThe girl in the red shirt came home. She saw the water and broken glass. She saw Malcomb. The girl in the red shirt yelled at Malcomb.\u0026nbsp;  \n\"You are a Bad Cat.\" sad the girl in the red shirt. \"I will not keep you.\"  \nShe took Malcomb back to the large building with the metal cages.  \n  \nMalcomb curled himself up into a little ball again. He slept in the metal cage again. He was not happy. He was scared, and alone, and sad.  \n  \nThe next day, people came to look at the cats and kittens, and dogs and puppies again. Malcomb sat quietly in the middle of the metal cage. Maybe someone else would take him home. Maybe he could be good this time.  \n  \nA man with a mustache took Malcomb out of the metal cage.  \n\"I will take you home.\" said the man with the mustache. \"You will catch mice in my basement.\"  \n  \nThe man with the mustache put Malcomb into a box, and put the box into his car. He drove home, and took the box to the basement of his house. He opened the box.  \n\"Catch the mice.\" said the man with the mustache.  \nHe walked out of the basement and closed the door at the top of the stairs.  \n  \nThe basement was dark and cold, and it had a strange smell. Malcomb walked around and saw what there was to see. It wasn't much.  \nThere wasn't any food in the dark, cold, smelly basement. Malcomb started to get hungry. He chased the mice, but he couldn't catch them. He was only a kitten, and he did not know how to catch mice.  \n  \nAfter a long time, the door at the top of the stairs opened. The man with the mustache came down. He looked around. Malcomb was excited. Maybe the man with the mustache had brought him some food!  \n\"I do not think you have caught any mice,\" said the man with the mustache. \"Maybe I will not feed you. Maybe, if you are hungry, you will catch the mice.\"  \nThe man with the mustache went back up the stairs and closed the door.  \n  \nMalcomb was not happy. He was hungry, and cold, and alone. He missed his brothers and sisters. He curled himself up into a little ball, and tried to sleep.  \n  \nIn the morning, the man with the mustache came back into the basement. Malcomb ran over and looked up at him. The man with the mustache did not look at Malcomb.  \n\"Meow!\" said Malcomb. \"Meow! Meow!\" He was hungry.  \nThe man with the mustache still did not look at him. Instead, he picked up a box and walked up the stairs. Malcomb tried to go up the stairs with him.\u0026nbsp;  \n  \nThe man with the mustache kicked Malcomb back down the stairs!  \n\"You stay in the basement and catch the mice!\" growled the man with the mustache. \"I am going to work.\"  \n  \nMalcomb hid under the stairs. His side hurt where the man with the mustache had kicked him. He heard the door at the top of the stairs close.  \nMalcomb was not happy at all.  \nAfter a while, he crawled out from under the stairs. He would try again to catch the mice. Maybe they would taste good.  \n  \nMalcomb looked up at the stairs. He noticed something. The man with the mustache had not shut the door all the way! Malcomb ran up the stairs and through the door. Maybe there would be food up here!  \n  \nMalcomb jumped up on a table. He saw something yellow on a little plate. He smelled it. It smelled good. He tasted it. It tasted good! Malcomb ate all of the square, yellow food. Then he went looking for more things to do. He found many interesting things in a tall bucket. He played with some, and ate some. Then he took a nap on the couch.  \n  \nSuddenly, Malcomb woke up. He heard the man with the mustache coming home! He ran into the basement and hid under the stairs. He did not want the man with the mustache to kick him again.  \nThe man with the mustache saw the things that Malcomb had done. He stomped down the stairs and looked for Malcomb. He saw Malcomb under the stairs and grabbed him.\u0026nbsp;  \nMalcomb was very scared, he tried to get away, but the man with the mustache shook him and yelled.  \n  \n\"You are a Bad Cat!\" yelled the man with the mustache. \"You do not catch the mice, and now you eat my butter and spill the trash! I will not keep you!\"  \nThe man with the mustache put Malcomb back into the box and took him back to the large building with the metal cages. Malcomb curled up into a little ball again, and went to sleep in the metal cage. He was not happy.  \n  \nThe next day, people came to look at the animals again.\u0026nbsp;  \n\"No one will want me.\" thought Malcomb. \"I am a Bad Cat. Everyone says so.\"  \nHe stayed at the back of the metal cage, in a little ball.  \n  \nAn old woman stopped in front of the metal cage. She looked at Malcomb.  \n\"She will not want me.\" thought Malcomb. \"I am a Bad Cat. Everyone says so.\"  \nHe closed his eyes and did not look at the old woman.  \n  \n\"This one looks so sad,\" said the old woman. \"I will take him home.\" She put Malcomb into a box, and put the box into her car.  \n\"She will not keep me,\" thougth Malcomb. \"I am a Bad Cat. Everyone says so.\"  \n  \nThe old woman drove to a green house, and took the box inside. She put the box on the floor in the kitchen and opened it.\u0026nbsp;  \nThe old woman looked at Malcomb. He looked at her.  \n\"She will not like me,\" thought Malcomb. \"I am a Bad Cat. Everyone says so.\"\u0026nbsp;  \nHe did not get out of the box.  \n  \n\"Hello, Malcomb.\" said the old woman. \"My name is Mrs. Biss. This is my house, and now it is your house, too. Why don't you come out of the box, and see what there is to see?\"  \nMalcomb did not get out of the box.  \n  \n\"She will take me back to the large building with the metal cages,\" thought Malcomb. \"I am a Bad Cat. Everyone says so.\"  \nMrs. Biss opened a can, and put something in a dish. She put the dish on the floor.  \nMalcomb smelled a wonderful smell. Malcomb had smelled that smell before. It was fish!  \nHe got out of the box.  \n  \nMalcomb ate the fish. Mrs. Biss walked towards him.  \nWould she kick him like the man with the mustache? Malcomb got ready to run away.  \nMrs. Biss did not kick Malcomb. She bent down near him.  \nWould she scream and yell like the girl in the red shirt? Malcomb got ready to run and hide.  \nMrs. Biss did not scream and yell. She reached out her hand.  \nWould she grab his tail like the noisy little boy? Malcomb got ready to scratch and bite.  \nMrs. Biss did not grab Malcomb's tail.\u0026nbsp; She scratched his ears and stroked his fur. It felt good!  \n  \nMalcomb remembered how to purr.  \n  \n\"You are a Good Cat, Malcomb,\" said Mrs. Biss. \"I like you. I will keep you.\"  \nMalcomb was a Good Cat!  \nHe was very happy.  \n  \nThat is how Malcomb the cat came to live with Mrs. Biss, in a green house, in a quiet neighborhood. He made other friends there, and had adventures. I will tell you all about them, in another story.  \n  \n\n**THE BEGINNING**\n\n  \n\n  \n  \n\n"}