Foundling by Kristen Fife Natalie fumbled with her car keys when she heard a “mew?” coming from under her car. She stopped and peered under her car and saw a small pair of eyes gleaming out at her in the darkness. “Well kitty…what are you doing there?” She spoke very softly, trying to coax the kitten out. The wary creature didn’t move. Natalie stood up and opened the door to at least put her belongings inside. She walked down the block to the all night grocery store and bought a tupperware containter, plastic picnic ware (the clerk thought she was nuts getting it in November) and several cans of pop top kitten food. If there was one thing she knew about cats it was that the fastest road to trust involved food. Luckily the rain had stopped although heavy storm clouds still hung low in the gray early morning sky. As she got back to her car, she again heard a pathetic “mew?” from under the car. Chuckling, she set the efforts from her impromptu shopping trip on top of her hood, and proceeded to open the can and spoon a small amount of the food into the Tupperware container. She carefully picked it up and went to the side closest to her little “guest”. She put the food down and slowly backed up several paces. She waited cautiously for the little guy to make his appearance. Finally, she saw a whiskered little face peer cautiously out from under the passenger side and look around. As more of the creature emerged, she saw that he was a tuxedo kitten with a black face and body, four white paws and a white bib, and gold eyes. He didn’t look very old, although he was certainly old enough to be weaned. He cautiously approached the food and settled down to licking the food, making little mewli! ng noises as he did so. Luckily he became enrapt with the food. Natalie slowly and carefully walked up behind him, gently leaning down and picking him up when he was almost done with the food. He squirmed and “mew mew mew’d” but he didn’t try and scratch her. Finally after a few seconds he started purring and settled into her arms. He looked up at her and his luminous gold eyes melted her. She snuggled her face into his fur and he kneaded his sharp claws into her arm, luckily protected by several layers of coat and clothing. She carefully leaned down and picked up the paraphernalia of his meal, and loaded them into the car. She kept him in her arms as she got walked around to the driver’s side and cautiously got in to the car. He didn’t panic which told her that he had been well cared for in his short life. As she started the car, he settled onto her lap and curled up into a ball and fell asleep. After a brief drive to her apartment, Natalie gently scooped up the small kitten and put him inside her coat. Aware that Sidney was not going to be happy with this new visitor, she stopped outside of her door, the kitten contentedly purring next to her heart. She smiled and opened the door. Sidney was on the other side, obviously awaiting his mistress’ return and his dinner. As she walked in and Sidney twined about her ankles, suddenly he stopped, crouched down and laid his ears back and started growling low in his throat. Natalie carefully walked into the apartment and gently took the kitten out of her coat and set him on the floor. He immediately began exploring his surroundings and Sidney started yowling at the small creature. The kitten walked toward the older cat, obviously intent on making friends. Sidney backed up, hissing and finally turned tail and ran, hiding in the bedroom under Natalie’s bed. Nat frowned. Obviously Sidney was not happy about the kitten. Just then, the kitten found a toy of Sidney’s, a small rattle mouse, and he began playing joyously with it. Watching him, Natalie started chuckling then outright laughing at the kitten’s antics. After about 20 minutes, he finally got bored with the toy and started running around the apartment. He was full of energy and playfully ran towards her, let out a “Mew!” and then ran away again. He bounded around with energy, and once jumped straight up when something startled him. Finally after about an hour of watching his antics, the kitten resolutely trotted up to her, and jumped into her lap where she sat on the couch. He looked up at her and yawned, showing his pink tongue and delicate little fangs. Then he laid down, curled up in her lap and fell asleep purring. Seeing his fangs and his gold eyes, she thought of her favorite vampire…and then she looked down at the little black body with a pure white streak on his belly and his white paws…mostly black with bright patches on him. She smiled to herself and decided her niece Amy would like having a kitten. And she decided that the kitten had a name. She made a mental note to call her sister-in-law when she got up and suggest that little Nico would be a nice companion for Amy. Le Fin. ========================== Standard disclaimers: Don't own Natalie. Don't own Sidney. I DO own a new kitten named Nico :) Thought I'd share his story with everyone. He's a tuxedo kitten, gold eyes, white bib and paws. HAD to name him after my favorite character. My adult cat is as unhappy as Sidney, although he doesn't understand that the kitten is for HIM :) Permission to archive at FK fan fic site granted.