As the warm breeze blew through the open window, Max relished the sweet sounds of nature's harmony. The gentle rustling of the leaves in the trees, the cawing of crows, and even the buzzing of city traffic all came together to create a rhythmic symphony that calmed his soul.

Despite the constant noise of the bustling streets outside, the soothing melody of the wind was enough to bring a sense of peace to his curious heart. Max settled down on the window seat, ready to bask in the tranquility.

But he was soon interrupted by the sound of treading paws—his mother was nearby, sprawled out on the ground, purring softly. Max couldn't resist the temptation to pounce on her and show his affection, making them both burst into laughter. Their playful moment was interrupted only when his mother wrapped her paws around his head, purring louder than ever.

"I love you, my little spark," she whispered.

Max's heart melted as he looked up at his mom, unable to hide his excitement. "Best curious kitten ever lived!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his joy.

“Hey, I need my Max too!” another voice shouted from somewhere out the house. Max and his mother, Rose, turned and saw Max’s father, Martin, smiling. 

Max ran over and gave another big hug. 

“Best parents any cat could ever ask for!” Max shouted, shuffling out of the hug. The family of three happy cats huddled under the window, later fast asleep. That was, until they heard their skynxwalker walk out the living room.

The sphinxwalker was everything but good news. The cats sped from the dining room window, to the living room couch. Max took deep breaths, and his mother’s paw was placed on his head for warmth. The big white couch was large and soft. It felt like sleeping in a pillow factory. 

Nice bright white, the cats would be in big trouble if anything spilled on that couch.

Martin sighed and looked at Max’s bright, shiny eyes. Max looked out of space.

“Max..I’m sorry our owner isn’t feeding us anymore…and we have to get it off the street. I’m sorry your life has to be like this.

“She isn’t feeding us anymore?” Max whispered, shaking in fear.

“That is no eye-opener,” Martin said to Max, patting his head, “Our skynxwalker never really showed us real love.”

“Well, then I’m lucky to have you,” Max whispered, jumping onto the soft, lush carpet. It was pure white too. 

Rose and Martin looked at each other, and sobbed a little when they heard what Max just said. Rose slowly kneaded the couch to calm herself, and sighed. She looked back at Max and just whispered back, “We are lucky to have you too. Even if we aren’t very elegant and fancy cats.”

“True. These scratches and dust all over me aren't pretty,” Martin replied.

“How did you get those scratches, father?” Max asked, rolling over on the fluffy carpet. 

“Well…not everyone is nice. We should have told you growing up not everyone is the nicest. Some things are worse than our skynxwalker, Max. We are lucky to have a house, even if this skynxwalker isn’t the best.”

 Max tilted his head as he got up from the carpet. “How did you get that bite on your ear?” Max asked, pointing to a little bite on his ear. Martin chuckled. “That was you.”

“Yes. When you were a little kitten, you liked playing with our ears. It looks like you got a little too carried away with that ear,” Rose finished. 

Max smiled. “I was like a lion when I was born! Roar!” Max ran around the carpet, until he ran into the glass table and whispered, “R-roar…”

“And you still are a lion,” Martin said to himself. 

Max shook his head, and walked back over. “Do you have any other stories about me?” He asked, his two front paws on the couch. Rose shook her head at Martin. 

“We do have a sad one,” Rose said.

Martin waved his paws at Rose. “Uh..no…we have a happy one. Let’s say that one.”

Max’s smile faded away. “I wanna hear the sad one. So then I can cheer up with a happy one.”

“Alright,” Rose said, looking ill at ease. Martin sighed. “Uh, let me bathe Max a little meanwhile. Don’t want him to lose his little spark.” Martin jumped down from the couch, and landed on the soft carpet. Max laid down on his back to allow Martin to bathe him. “Okay, okay, go on,” Martin told Rose. Rose raised a paw and sat up about to tell the story. “You see, our skynxwalkers…she doesn’t like cats, as you can see.”

“Bad start,” Max said, his ears pinning to the back of his head. But he had to admit, he was really engaged with the story. His ears popped back up and waited for the rest. 

Rose put on a little theater voice. “One day, I had you. No other kittens for some reason. Most cats have a whole litter. But we still loved you and thought you were so special. The moment you were with us, you were that little spark.”

“That's why you always call me ‘your little spark’?”

“Yep. Anyway,” Rose continued, “you were so rowdy. We didn’t want our skynxwalker finding out we had a kitten though. She would never like more kittens. So we always hid you in the broom closet by the door if we couldn’t be with you. But it turns out, it was a horrible idea. One random day, our skynxwalker had to get something from the broom closet. We saw her open the door, and we were scared for our lives.”

Max shook with every word. He kept wondering so many things in his head. Did my skynxwalker see me? Was she mad to see me? Why does she have cats if she hates cats?

“She saw you, and screamed,” Rose went on, “she was calling so many shelters to sell you. But we took action. We scratched our skynxwalkers a little bit. We were also at the risk of being thrown out. She decided that we would all stay, but she wouldn’t do anything with us. And now, she isn't even going to feed us.”

Max jumped up, making Martin walk back from bathing him. Max looked deeply at Rose, his eyes full. “Is this true? Did my skynxwalker not want me?”

“It’s true. We were hiding it for a reason,” Martin sighed.

“Well, how will we eat?”

“We can hunt our own food outside. This house has a built-in doggie-door. Might as well be a kitty door,” Rose replied. 

Max thought, and then replied, “It sounds like a door for cats.”

"Yes, that's what it is," Rose said, teasing Max as she walked by. Max tilted his head and jumped onto the table.

“Where are you going?” Max asked, seeing his parents leave the living room.

“I’m going to go hunting. Martin will watch over you,” Rose said, “we all need to eat.”

Max licked his lips, and thought about chewing on a yummy mouse. That would be a great treat right about now. Max jumped off the table and followed behind Rose. “Can I come?” Max asked, being picked up by the scruff of Martin. 

“No way!” Rose shouted,  “a kitten like you can’t be caught outside. Unless you want to be an eagle’s dinner!”

Max huffed. Martin placed him down and gave a small pet. 

“Listen, Max,” Martin said, without fuss, “Rose is an adult. You are not even half her age. Stay.”

Max watched Rose walk out the cat door. She gave a little wave. Max slumped down on the floor. “I just want to see the outdoors. It’s not that hard, is it?”

“Yes, yes it is. Because you must wait until you are older and have your own family to be outside.”

Max didn’t reply.

“How about I tell you another story about me and your mother?”

“That'll do for now,” Max replied.

Martin places the bored kitten on the fluffy couch. Martin lay on the carpet. Martin told Max he would talk about how he met Rose. Max rolled on his back, a way of showing off his boredom. Max sighed and replied, “Boring….!

“Picky. Well-” Martin stopped and his heart missed a beat. He spaced out for a few seconds. 

What’s wrong with father? Max thought. 

“Nevermind that, Max. Anyway–”

“Forget what I said. I want to know how you and Rose met.”

Martin cleared his throat and whispered, “some things I just don’t want to say anymore.” Martin slumped down on the fuzzy carpet and felt tears run down his eyes. Max sat on his back and said back, “why can’t I know? And why are you crying like a kitty?”

“You’re making fun of yourself then. Because you are a kitten.”

Max frowned, and pawed Martin’s face.

“At least play ‘catch the kitten’ with me, father!”

Martin raised his head, and Max leaped off his back, looking ready to run.

“You know I’m not a fast runner.” Martin sighed and gave in.

Martin got up and dashed through the hallway. Max was up on the brown dining table looking pretty at ease. His father wasn’t the best at getting on tall places. So he would never catch Max.

Martin stopped by the brown chair and table, where Max stood. 

“Alright! I gotta try that jump!” 

Max chuckled and just sat there, not moving one bit. Martin raised a paw on the chair for a boost, and pushed up his back legs. He gave a big jump, and landed on the hard chair. “Alright, lion. I’m going to get you!” Martin jumped up in the air, and landed on the table. He swatted a paw to a tag Max, but Max jumped off the table just in time and headed to the kitchen that was just nearby. He sat on the counter by the coffee maker and looked at it closely. 

“Father! I know mom is getting food, but I found some. But it’s stuck in this plastic thing.” Martin shook his head at Max’s definition of coffee. 

Since the counter was a bit lower, he jumped on next to Max and replied, “This is coffee. And it’s certainly not for cats. Unless you want to run around the house going crazy.”

Right after, they heard Rose walk out the cat flap. 

“Mom! Food!” Max shouted, a big smile across his face. He jumped off the counter, and ran over to Rose. 

“I found a dead mouse on the floor. I had a feeling my Max and Martin would love that.”

Max smiled. “So true.” Martin and Rose rubbed against each other like every cat does to show affection. “Max, you can have the mouse. I’m fine.” Rose whimpered and walked in between Max and Martin. “Martin, you should eat too. You will be hungry.”

“But you aren’t eating any,” Martin said, raising a paw. Max pawed the mouse and ate a piece. He thought it was delicious. But he had to make sure his parents ate too.

“You guys should have it. You work hard every day to take care of me.”
“No, hon,” Rose said, petting Max’s head with a paw, “as long as you are full and happy, we are.”

Max lay on the floor, staring at the juicy mouse. “That’s yummy. But you guys should have some.” Rose and Martin walked up to the door and sat there to watch Max eat.

“It’s okay. Eat up Max,” Martin replied.

Max looked at the mouse one more time and then his parents. He took another bite, and then another. He looked at his parents again, and heard their stomachs rumble. 

“You have to eat to live. What will you eat?”

‘I’m pretty sure we’ll find some crumbs in the kitchen, right Rose?”

“Yes. I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.”

Rose and Martin walked back into the living room since they weren’t allowed elsewhere. So they just had a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. It would do for now. 

Max hurried and gobbled down on the mouse, and ran into the kitchen. He looked both ways. I can make my parents something. 

They would be so proud of me they would probably let me go outside. Max jumped on the same counter where the coffee was placed, right next to the oven. Like a detective, he looked for places that food might be. He sniffed the oven. I wonder if they hide food inside this thing. 

Max jumped down from the counter and in front of the oven. He gave it one big sniff and put his paws on the oven handle, and pushed down. The oven opened up, and Max jumped back.

“Max? Are you okay?” He heard Rose shout.

“Good. Just playing with my uh…mouse. I know not to play with food, but I couldn’t help but frolic with it,” Max replied.

He looked at the oven. It had these weird railings that looked like they could hold things. But not something heavy. Something heavy would probably break it. Max jumped inside and sat on the railings. He found the bottom one, his new favorite sleeping spot. It was a bit hot, like it was set on fire an hour ago, but that made Max like it even more. He jumped up. Right. I can’t get off topic. Mom and father need to eat. Max jumped out of the oven, and onto the floor. He walked into the corner of the kitchen, and saw a big brown door. 

“What would this be?” he asked himself. He jumped up to the knob, and kicked it, opening the door. Before the door could hit the wall, he pounced off, and into the…pantry! Max smiled. He found what he needed! A bunch of food was put all around the pantry. They all had their own shelf. Max had his eye on a blue can that had a fish on it. Sa…men…salmon! Mhmmm! I love salmon. 

Max jumped on the middle shelf, where all the cans were, like yummy salmon. 

The shelf was a tight squeeze because there was another shelf right above him. He shuffled through the cans, and sniffed the salmon can. He knew one thing—that was salmon. Max pawed at the salmon can until it tilted at the edge of the shelf. Max’s heart thumped. He ran through the cans, a few falling over, and reached a paw for the salmon can, but the can and a few others dropped on the floor, the food all over the floor.

“Max? What are you doing in there?” Martin shouted.

Max’s ears dropped. He jumped off the shelf and hopped over the mess of salmon, soup, and peas. It was yucky, and definitely not a meal Martin and Rose would enjoy. Max stood at the entrance of the kitchen. Martin and Rose stood in front of Max.

“What is that behind you?” Rose asked. Max swallowed and replied, “I-I’m so sorry! I was trying to make you a meal.”

Martin and Rose walked into the kitchen and gasped. 

“Our skynxwalker will be so mad when she see is invited with this mess!” Martin slowly said.

Rose looked at the mess, and then at Max. “But thank you Max for thinking about us anyway,” Rose whispered.

“You shouldn’t thank me. I made a really bad mistake.”

“Don’t worry my little lion,” Rose said to Max, petting his head. Max purred and said, “Let me clean this up.”

“Well…how will you?” Martin and Rose asked. Rose stopped petting Max, and he ran off to the door.

“What are you doing?” Martin asked, following behind. 

Max jumped on the knob and kicked it to let it open. He strolled into the closet and said, “I see our skynxwalker use this thing all the time. A vacuum I think? We can clean it with this,” Max said, pointing a paw at the humongous, gray vacuum. For a cat, it was large at least. 

Rose and Martin who were right behind him couldn’t help but give him a little chuckle.

“Cat’s can’t use vacuums. Do you see us with fingers and standing on two legs?” Rose asked. Martin nodded his head and continued the laugh. Max’s ears did that thing they always do when he was sad. They fell back, pointing backwards. “Well I’m going to try!” The eager kitten shouted. He jumped on the vacuum. He was all the way up at the handle. “Now…how do I turn this machine thing on.” He tilted his head at many different angles. 

“Max! Stop! You can’t play with that. It’s also very noisy. We cats don’t like noise,” Rose shouted, pointing a paw at her ear.