Curiosity Killed That Cat | Teen Ink

Curiosity Killed That Cat MAG

By Anonymous

     It was drizzling the day we named our dog Curiosity after he killed the Siamese cat that belonged to the lady down the street. My mother had said the dog couldn’t stay, but after he got his name, it was too late. You can banish an It, but once the It has a name, It is family. My mother had hated that Siamese cat. She always said it looked down its nose at her. She wasn’t sorry it was dead. My mother didn’t like the Cat Lady, either. She liked the Cat Lady even less when the Cat Lady showed up at the front door in her bathrobe and demanded $1,000 to buy a new cat. My mother suggested that she go to Siam and get a stray cat off the street for free. From the living room, my father suggested that she go to Hell.

But the Cat Lady did not go anywhere. Ignoring the suggestions, she sat down on our front steps and settled in for a long stay. She removed one of her slippers and began massaging her arthritic left foot right there on our porch, in the rain. We watched through the curtains and my mother didn’t stop us because it is perfectly all right to stare at someone when they massage their old, veiny feet on your property.

My parents adopted the same principle for dealing with the Cat Lady as they used with my brothers when they did something they should not have: they ignored her. But as with my brothers, it didn’t work. When it started to pour, I decided to bring her a cup of tea. It was herbal tea, which meant that it was grass-flavored, and the first cup of tea I ever made. The Cat Lady invited me to sit with her while she sipped it, and she cried because I was such a dear and because her cat was dead and because rain was getting into her tea and because she did not want to go home to her empty house with Pansy’s blood on the kitchen floor.

Pansy was the cat.

It was drizzling the day we named our dog Curiosity after he killed the Siamese cat that belonged to the lady down the street. My father sent my brothers and me to clean up the Cat Lady’s house, so she would go away. Pansy lay in the Cat Lady’s backyard, very bloody and very dead. The dog tagged along behind the boys as had become his habit, and he barked loudly when he saw the cat. My brothers crouched over Pansy’s body, poking and prodding to see what she would do. Nothing. I went inside to assess the gory situation.

As I mopped the Cat Lady’s kitchen floor, I decided I would rather my death be bloody than boring. I did not want to lie in my bed fading into the pillow until I disappeared into a pile of wrinkled white blankets and sheets. The portly matron at the old age home would shake out the sheets forcefully and then toss them into the laundry crate. “Guess she’s gone,” she’d say to no one. No. I wanted there to be color and excitement in my death. Life is a struggle; it seems only appropriate that death should be, too.

My brothers planted Pansy in the backyard. As they lowered her into the ground, alongside some drooping azaleas, I thought that maybe if the Cat Lady watered her enough, Pansy would grow come springtime. Before the boys covered the cardboard box that was Pansy’s coffin with dirt, I noticed the words printed on top of the box: Handle With Care. Too late.



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This article has 43 comments.


i love this !

This is great. Excellent. I love it.

on Apr. 9 2017 at 1:22 pm
HereSheIs BRONZE, Wellesley, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 187 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." -Plato

This was awesome in every way, and that's all there is to it :)

on Nov. 1 2016 at 6:47 pm
Palindrome PLATINUM, Reedley, California
39 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If there's a reason I'm still alive when so many have died, I'm willing to wait for it."
-Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

"Crazy people don't know they're crazy. They think they're getting saner."
-John Locke, Lost

This was the first story I ever read on Teen Ink and it is to this day my favorite piece on the entire site. I reread it very often. You're an extremely talented writer. How I would love to be able to write stories like this one!

on Jul. 19 2016 at 1:09 pm
anonymous06 PLATINUM, Northbridge, Massachusetts
35 articles 5 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison

Absolutely amazing! Glad this was published in the magazine. Keep writing...Please

on Jun. 5 2016 at 4:13 pm
sassy_scribe_777 BRONZE, Bellingham, Washington
3 articles 5 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families.

The humorous undertone was what drew me in, but the story would have been good without it, as well. You have so much talent! I can't wait to see what you post next.

StewieStu said...
on May. 20 2016 at 9:41 am
StewieStu,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
ANIMAL ABUSE! CALL PITA

StewieStu said...
on May. 20 2016 at 9:34 am
StewieStu,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
Who am I? Guess now!

KaitlinRoze said...
on Mar. 31 2016 at 8:01 am
KaitlinRoze, Grandville, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
This was really good!

on Nov. 10 2015 at 11:20 am
Brian110 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
8 articles 1 photo 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
if life gives you lemons..... squeeze them back in life's eyes!

Yeah. but I just got mad because if someone corrects someone about something that they did themselves, it just.... ugh it's hard to explain.

wilds PLATINUM said...
on Jul. 11 2015 at 9:58 am
wilds PLATINUM, Newfane, New York
22 articles 0 photos 92 comments

Favorite Quote:
Brave is not being fearless but being able to overcome those fears you have

Good Job. It is a really good story. I also like the Handle with care part. It added a touch of humor.

on Apr. 14 2015 at 10:46 pm
Erinwolf1997 PLATINUM, San Carlos, California
37 articles 4 photos 4 comments
I liked this story, especially the exposition. Don't listen to everyone criticizing the factual errors - it is fiction, anyway. Keep writing!

on Mar. 25 2015 at 5:38 pm
TheBellroseFairy BRONZE, Miami, Florida
1 article 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The only things that are infinite in this world is the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former." -Albert Einstein
"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." Don Marquis

Whenever you begin a paragraph, you must indent. The story has some logical problems. If a dog kills a neighbor's cat, it would usually be put down, especially if it was a homeless dog.

on Mar. 25 2015 at 5:35 pm
TheBellroseFairy BRONZE, Miami, Florida
1 article 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The only things that are infinite in this world is the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former." -Albert Einstein
"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." Don Marquis

Yes. Yes, you did. When someone creates a piece of work, it must be edited and buffed until it shines. A story is not your baby; you have to used to people critiquing it.

on Feb. 7 2015 at 8:37 am
jennag4 PLATINUM, New City, New York
27 articles 1 photo 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
I write to be the characters that I'm not.

very very nice. good tone and a little sarcastic to;)

on Dec. 3 2014 at 12:40 pm
Brian110 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
8 articles 1 photo 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
if life gives you lemons..... squeeze them back in life's eyes!

Sorry about that.         I gues I got just a little carried away there. 

on Dec. 3 2014 at 12:38 pm
Brian110 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
8 articles 1 photo 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
if life gives you lemons..... squeeze them back in life's eyes!

First should be capitalized, a okay to an okay, the should also be capitalized..........                   See, how do you like being corected.

on Dec. 3 2014 at 12:35 pm
Brian110 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
8 articles 1 photo 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
if life gives you lemons..... squeeze them back in life's eyes!

 Who cares about punctuation? The storry was great. and who are you to correct this persons work. you didn't even spell doesn't correctly yourself!

on Oct. 20 2014 at 5:31 pm
Ineedsleep SILVER, Marshfield, Massachusetts
8 articles 0 photos 13 comments
This is an amazing piece! You are an old soul, I mean it. Really nice work.

zebonline said...
on Apr. 27 2014 at 3:13 pm
first of all it was a okay story. their were a few punctuation mistakes. the story dosent make much sense as the dog would have been put down if this actually happened.