Paradise Regained

Zsombor Górán


Once there was a cat who lived a lousy life. Let’s call him Toast because his fur looked like slightly burned toast. . He lived on a farm eating mice and chasing birds all day. He was a bit chubby but so fast that if he had raced with lightning he would have won. He was living the life of a king. Napping on the old pear tree next to the shed. Or roaming the streets of the city stealing sausages and bacon.

One day this paradise came crashing down when his owner had a stroke while working on the field. The owner died and the farm was sold to a sweet old man. He was short and almost blind, with white hair. The problem was that the man had a cat too. Its name was Coal. He was  a strong young black cat ready to take on the world. The day they moved in, Toast was resting on the old pear tree. He had the most comfortable branch with a great view. Then he felt a strong push and was thrown off the tree. He was still half asleep and didn’t even realize what had happened. Then he saw the new cat sitting on his branch. He jumped up the tree and confronted the new cat. It was arrogant and selfish. It didn’t care about Toast’s branch. Toast tried to take the spot, but he was knocked off the tree with one slap. From that day on Toast was determined to take his branch back.

He got up and went to the city where he used to steal sausages from the market. After borrowing a sausage from the butcher, he was stopped by an old gray cat with many scars . The cat demanded the sausage, but Toast wasn’t going to give it up that easily. When he refused to give the sausage the old cat jumped on Toast, pinning him to the ground in less than a second. Toast was humiliated, but he saw how powerful the old cat was. Toast offered to get sausages for him every day, but the old cat would have to show him how to fight. The old cat agreed. Toast trained every day, every night for the duration of the summer. By the time the leaves started to fall from trees, he was a master. Now he could even beat the old cat without breaking a sweat.

This was the time to take back the pear tree. He ran back to the farm and found Coal sleeping on his tree. Wasting no time, Toast climbed up the tree. He challenged Coal to a fight. Whoever loses has to leave the farm. Coal eagerly accepted the offer because the last time they fought he defeated Toast with a single slap. But this time was different. Toast jumped at Coal, knocking him off the tree. He fell to the ground; while he was getting up, Toast jumped on him and pinned him down. Coal tried to cut Toast with his claws, but Toast just dogged it and slapped Coal in the face every time.  At last Coal gave up; he knew he was defeated. When Coal was ready to leave, Toast stopped him and offered to share the pear tree. He still kept his favorite branch but allowed Coal to stay on the farm. And they lived happily until death.