Jackpot

Jázmin Juhász


Jackpot! – I think to myself. I just don’t get how people can throw out all this food. Tonight, I’m especially lucky since I’ve found a box of half-eaten fish and chips in one of the trash cans. This is the most delicious meal I’ve had in weeks. People are actually crazy to waste such delicacies. Fortunately for me, I don’t have much competition when it comes to scavenging through bins. The townspeople feed every other animal: cats, dogs, birds, you name it. They help everyone except for me. When I was still a kitten, I didn’t understand why my black fur scared everyone away. To be honest I still don’t understand it, but I got used to it. They say it is because I bring bad luck; I don’t know how that’s possible, but they must be right, they believe in this so firmly. I learnt that it is best to hide during the daytime and only come out at night. My dark coat does have some advantages: at night I can go anywhere without bothering anyone. People don’t have to cover their eyes and run in the other direction the moment they see me. Even other animals avoid me. Although everybody seems to hate me, they aren’t cruel. Nobody’s ever tried to hurt me, at least not physically. I just feel so lonely, but it’s alright, after all this time I’ve gotten used to it. The Sun is about to come up, I better hurry before anyone wakes up. My days are pretty repetitive; after spending the night searching for food, I always sleep in this hole of a tree in the backyard of an abandoned house. And just like any other day, I fall asleep inside my tree.

I wake up to the sound of talking. I’m so confused, nobody ever goes here. I look out and to my surprise, it is a family with one of the women from the town. The parents and their daughter are happily carrying boxes. This is a nightmare, where will I go after they move in? I have to leave tonight before I cause any harm to this poor family. As I’m listing all the possible places where I can find shelter, I realize that the little girl is staring at me. I can’t escape without being seen, I hope it’s not too late for the girl, I don’t want to hurt anyone.

“Mom, look there’s a cat! Can I pet it, please?” asks the girl excitedly. Oh no, this can’t happen, I have no idea what to do. All three adults look at me.

“Look away!” says the lady from town, who I assume is the realtor. She whispers something to the parents, whose eyes widen. They all look terrified as they rush inside the house, except for the little girl, who I lock eyes with; she is still staring at me bewilderedly. Suddenly her dad pulls her inside.

I try to go back to sleep, but I have no luck. Time is moving slowly, it’s still late afternoon. I hear the girl’s voice again, but this time she’s whispering and she’s right next to my tree. Why doesn’t she listen to her parents? What could she possibly want?

“Hi! My parents told me you’re bad luck, but I don’t believe it. Anyway, I brought some ham, you must be hungry.”

I’m frozen, maybe if I don’t move she’ll go away. I don’t want to get her into any kind of trouble.

“Lizzy! Come inside, you’re going to catch a cold!” her dad shouts from the window. Luckily for Lizzy, her father doesn’t see she is with me.

“Just a second!” she yells back. Then she looks at me again.

“Good night!” she says quietly to me. Then she does the most unexpected thing I can imagine. She stretches her arm out and pets me. No one has ever petted me. I’m scared for her, I have no idea what kind of terrible thing will happen to her. But at the same time it feels nice, so nice. I wish that this moment would last forever. But it doesn’t; she has to go back to the house.

After the sun has set, I go on my usual journey to find food. I find a few edible things, but they don’t compare to that piece of ham Lizzy gave me. I’ve never wished more to be a regular cat. Instead of returning to the backyard I used to call home, I need to find a new place to sleep. I have no idea where to go; after wandering for hours I decide to sleep in the bushes in the park. It’s a popular area, but the plants can hide me very well. Since many people go here in the afternoon it is hard to sleep, so I just watch the townspeople. To my surprise I see Lizzy and her mother walk by, and Lizzy is perfectly fine. No horrible thing has happened to her, at least not yet.

Every day for weeks I watched them pass by, always terrified that today’s going to be the day when Lizzy gets hurt. But that day never came. I’m so relieved but confused at the same time. Do I really cause bad luck or is it all just a myth? There is only one way to know. After weeks of building up my courage, I run out of the bushes during the daytime when the park is full of people. I make sure everybody sees me, and I even bump into as many people as possible, then run back. All hell breaks loose, everybody is panicking and crying, some try to catch me but I’m already up on a tree hiding in the canopy watching the chaos from above.

I waited for many days to see if anything happened to the people, but nothing happened. Everybody continued their lives, till one day something did happen. I was sleeping in the bushes when I saw Lizzy and her parents standing over me. “You’re coming home with us!” squealed the little girl.