The Year He Touched the Sun

Year One
In my first year I was playful.  I would run and jump and run and jump.  When I was first born I had lots and lots of brothers and sisters but then they took me away from them.  Then I was alone in the house with all the humans.  They bought me toys.  The toys moved by themselves and made noises and lit up but I liked boxes and paper bags better.  They bought me a bed to sleep in but I would rather sleep on their bed.  The children liked to play with me and I liked to play with them.  They picked me up and pet me on the head and I purred.  Sometimes they told me to go away, I didn’t like that.  I slept a lot too, I liked the sunshine that came through the window in the day time.  I wanted to see the sun.

Year Two
In my second year I got big.  I grew and grew and grew.  They fed me a lot of food and I ate a lot of food.  They threw away my bed and they gave away my toys because I didn’t want them.  There were no boxes left in the house.  I slept on the floor.  They didn’t pick me up that much anymore because I was too big, but I still purred when they rubbed behind my ears because I liked that.  Sometimes they tried to rub my belly, and I didn’t like that.  One day they took me to the doctor and they took away my claws because I was scratching the couch.  I tried to tell them that I liked my claws but they didn’t listen.  It really hurt.  At night I tried to play with the children but they didn’t like to play in the dark.  I sat by open windows and stared at the sky.  Birds flew around and I wanted to chase them, to play with them.  I wanted to fly too. 

Year Three
In my third year I slept a lot.  When they tried to pick me up I ran away.  They bought boxes for me but I didn’t play in them.  I wanted to see the sun, I wanted to fly.  I wondered what my brothers and sisters were doing and if they got to see the sun, I wondered about them all the time.  I didn’t eat that much anymore because the food tasted bad, I only ate when I was hungry.  They rubbed me behind the ears and I purred because I liked it.  I listened to the crickets at night and wondered what they were saying, maybe they wished they could fly too.  The squirrels ran up the trees and I hated them.  I wanted to run up the trees too, I wanted to run away.

Year Four
In my fourth year they left the front door open.  I looked outside and saw the birds flying and the squirrels climbing.  When I looked behind me there was nothing there.  When I looked out the door I saw the whole world.   I stepped out and looked up at the sun.  It was really bright.  I saw a bird hopping on the grass so I ran up to go play with it.  It flew away.  I tried to fly too but I didn’t have wings.  I went up to the giant tree and looked at the leaves dancing in the breeze.  I tried to climb but I didn’t have claws.  I looked at the house with the food and the boxes and the children.  But the food tasted bad and the boxes were small and the children were not children anymore.  I walked for a whole day down the street.  Sometimes cars drove by and sometimes they played music.  One time a person walked by but they didn’t see me.  I was tired.  I was hungry.  I wanted my bed and my food.  So I turned around.

Year Five
In my fifth year I ate so much food that they had to bring me to the doctor.  He gave me new food because I was too fat.  I tried to tell him I didn’t want it but he didn’t listen.  I didn’t look out the window anymore because the sun was too bright and I couldn’t fly and I couldn’t climb.  They pet me on the head and I liked that.  During the day I hid in the basement or under the bed because everything was too bright and too loud.  They bought me new toys because they were sad that I never played anymore.  I ignored them.  At night I ran around the house and pretended to be a squirrel, even though I couldn’t climb. One time I pretended to be a bird but I didn’t have wings so I fell over.  I didn’t try to fly again.  They bought me a blue, velvet collar with a bell on it.  I hated it.  Squirrels didn’t have bells on them.  I hated squirrels.

Year Six
In my sixth year they got another one like me.  She looked like my sisters but she wasn’t.  “Look how cute she is!” they said.  “Look how tiny she is!” they said.  They bought her a pink, velvet collar and she loved it.  They bought her toys that lit up and made noises and moved by themselves and she played with them.  They bought her a bed and she slept in it.  She never looked out the window.  They picked her up and pet her all the time and she liked that.  They never told her to go away.  One night she asked me what I was doing and I told her I was pretending I was a squirrel.  She asked me what a squirrel was and I told her they were free and they could climb and they didn’t wear collars.

Year Seven
In my seventh year she grew big.  She didn’t grow tired of her toys so they didn’t throw them away.  They still picked her up because she wasn’t as big as me and she liked that.  We had to eat food next to each other, we had to live in the same house as each other and I didn’t like that.  Everywhere I went she was there and I didn’t like that either.  I started looking out the window again.  The sun wasn’t as bright as it used to be but it was just as warm.  The birds sang songs and the squirrels danced in the grass.  I didn’t hate them anymore.

Year Eight
In my eighth year the left the window open.  If I was a bird I would have flown up and out but I didn’t have wings.  If I was a squirrel I would have climbed down but I didn’t have claws.  She came up to my side and asked me what I was doing.  I told her I was going.  She asked me where and I told her I was going to see the sun again.  She said she wanted to come too.  I told her no, it was too bright for her eyes.  She didn’t care.  I hissed at her and she hissed back.  Then I jumped out.  It didn’t hurt, it felt like I was flying even though I didn’t have wings.  Then she jumped too.  We walked down the road for a whole day.  She said she was hungry and tired.  I told her too bad.  We kept walking. We walked for three days and three nights until someone found us.  They took us to a place with a lot more like us.  They looked like my brothers and sisters but they weren’t.  They cried at night.

Year Nine
In my ninth year I sat in a cage.  It was like a box but I couldn’t get out.  They kept saying that someone would adopt me.  I tried to tell them that I already had a home but they didn’t listen.  I waited for them to come and find me, to bring me back but they never did.  Sometimes they let us out but mostly they just fed us in the cages.  They gave me a toy that didn’t move or light up or make noises but I still kept it.  One day someone came and took her away, they gave her a new collar with a bell on it and she loved it.  I talked to the one in the cage next to me.  He wagged his tail a lot.  He kept telling me that someone was coming for him, that they would throw the ball for him and one day they did.  Then they put another one next to me and she never wagged her tail.  One day she went to sleep and never woke up.  They said if someone didn’t come and get me then they were going to have to put me to sleep.  I didn’t understand because I slept just fine on my own.  I missed the birds, I missed the sun, and I missed the trees with the stupid squirrels in them.  I wanted my collar back.

Year Ten
In my tenth year they took me to the doctor.  I was scared they would take my other claws away but they didn’t.  I was scared they would call me fat but they didn’t.  On the way there I saw the sun.  It was warm.  I wanted to see the birds and squirrels too but they weren’t there.  They put me on the table and I tried to run away but they held me down.  I cried, I hissed.  I tried to tell them that I wanted to see the birds and the squirrels but they didn’t listen.  They never listen.  They pulled me and stuck something sharp into me.  It hurt.  And then it didn’t.  I looked up at them but they weren’t there.  I was tired.  I was under the bed in the dark.  Then I was looking at the sun.  I climbed up and tree and then flew towards it.  It was warm and it was bright and I liked it.