A Fairy Tale
No point in changing the names to protect anybody, the characters and moral of the story should be obvious.
Once upon a time there were two brothers, Oleg and Derek. One day, Oleg brought home a kitten from school.
Look what my friend Rich gave me! said an excited Oleg, Will you help me take care of her?
Derek said, Sure, I love kittens. Im happy to help. What can I do?
You can be in charge of feeding her. Ill pay for all her food. replied Oleg, as he handed the kitten to Derek. Her name is THR.
Every day, Oleg would invite his friends over to play with the kitten. THR grew really fast and needed a lot more food than Oleg could afford, so some of his friends offered to help Oleg pay. Since Oleg didnt have a lot of money, he happily accepted. Oleg told them to give the money to Derek since he was in charge of care and feeding. Derek did a great job feeding THR and even paid for some cat food himself.
One day after school, when all of Olegs friends were over playing with THR, Oleg told Derek that he was thinking about letting their neighbor, Mr. Wealthy; take care of THR for a while. Mr. Wealthy said that he would pay for all of the THRs food and would still let everybody come over and play with her any time they wanted. Imagine Olegs surprise when Derek grabbed THR by the scruff of the neck and yelled, NO! You cant do that!
But shes my cat. said Oleg. You just take care of her. Give her back now!
No! shouted Derek as he ran toward the house with the frightened cat. This is my cat too! I take care of her more than you do. All you and your friends do is play with her while I do all the work! And he ran into the house and slammed the door leaving all the neighborhood kids standing outside in shock.
The next day, Derek brought THR outside just like Oleg used to do, except he had a baseball bat with him. He said all the kids could play with THR just like before, but Oleg wasnt allowed anywhere near her. But some of Olegs friends werent happy with Derek. They told him that THR belonged to Oleg and that he should give her back. Derek didnt like hearing this, so he told these kids that they couldnt play with THR anymore and he made them leave. He even threatened them with the bat. He told the other kids to just keep playing with THR like always and dont talk about who owns her. A lot of kids did what Derek told them to do because all they cared about was playing with THR.
Every time Oleg tried to come near THR, Derek would threaten to hit the cat with the baseball bat. Some of the kids yelled at Oleg. Stop it! Stop it! Youre going to kill THR!
Oleg told them, But shes my cat, and Derek is the one holding the bat, not me.
The kids didnt care. They kept yelling at Oleg like it was his fault.
Oleg had no choice but to tell on Derek. He walked into the house and told his mom what Derek had done. As the two of them walked back outside, Oleg heard all the neighborhood kids screaming. As he came around the side of the house, he saw them all running away. There stood Derek by the front stoop with a flaccid cat in his hands; a baseball bat at his feet. You want your cat back?! Here it is! he said, as he threw THRs limp body toward Oleg.
Oleg ran and caught THR before she could hit the ground. There was a strange sound when he caught the cat, like a cross between a groan and a purr. Dereks mother was furious and sent Derek to his room. Just wait until your father comes home! she scolded. Derek knew he was going to get the belt.
Meanwhile, some of Olegs friends had come back to the place where Oleg was holding his badly wounded cat. Shes not dead, whimpered Oleg. But shes hurt real bad. Together, the kids took THR to the veterinary hospital. The vet patched up what he could and gave the injured cat some medicine; then he gave THR back to Oleg.
I dont know if shes going to live or not, the vet said, She needs a lot of care and attention. It depends on you.
The End.
?2008 David J. Miller All rights reserved.
