Onyx the Cat

There once was a cat named Onyx.
Onyx was a beautiful black cat.
Onyx lived in a lovely neighborhood filled with friendly people.
There was only one problem: Everyone in the neighborhood thought that black cats were bad luck. So, everyone was afraid of Onyx.
This made Onyx sad.
He was always lonely.
Anytime the adults saw him, they made sure to avoid him. They told their kids to stay away, not to go near him.
No one ever petted him.
One day, the lonely black cat was looking for food when he came upon a couple of children.
The children didn’t see him.
They were playing in their back yard.
The black cat had accidentally wandered up to the edge of the yard, and now he sat down and watched the two children play.
The children both had shiny brown hair. The boy’s hair was short, but the little girl had long hair, past her shoulders.
The boy was taller than the girl. The black cat guessed that the boy was the girl’s big brother.
The little girl looked back and saw the black cat, sitting at the edge of the yard watching them.
“Alex, look!” the little girl said as she pointed at the cat. “There’s a kitty!”
The little boy—Alex—looked up and saw the cat.
The little girl stood up and started walking toward the black cat.
“Carolyn, no!” Alex said. “Daddy said to stay away from black cats!”
“But I want to pet him,” Carolyn said. “He won’t hurt me. I’ll be careful.”
Alex though for a minute, then said, “Well…okay. But be careful.”
“Yay!” Carolyn said, and she went to pet the black kitty.
The black cat was a little scared. No one ever petted him. People were afraid of him. But he stayed where he was, very still, and let Carolyn come and pet him.
Carolyn sat down on her knees and petted the black kitty very carefully. She smiled, and she turned to Alex, who was standing behind her, and said, “He’s soft. Pet him. It’s okay.”
Alex, who was still a little unsure, sat down beside Carolyn, and held out a hand to the cat. The black cat sniffed Alex’s hand, then rubbed his head on Alex’s fingers. Alex smiled and petted the pretty black cat.
Every night, the black cat went back to that same back yard. And every night, Alex and Carolyn would go and pet him.
One night, while Alex and Carolyn were petting the cat, Mommy came outside.
Mommy saw the black cat, and she said, “Alex! Carolyn! What are you doing?!”
Carolyn turned to Mommy and said, “We’re petting the kitty. Isn’t he pretty?”
Daddy came outside and said, “Get away from the cat! Come here!”
Alex looked at Daddy and said, “He’s not hurting us. Come here. Pet him.”
Daddy’s face turned red, and Mommy looked scared. Mommy didn’t like when Daddy got mad.
“Alex, Carolyn, please come here,” she said.
Carolyn stood up, ran to Mommy, grabbed her hand, and pulled her over to the kitty.
Carolyn smiled and said, “Pet the kitty, Mommy. It’s okay. He won’t hurt you.”
Mommy very slowly started to pet the cat. Daddy watched for a minute. Then he came over and sat next to Mommy. He looked at the cat, who didn’t seem scary at all, and started to pet him.
The black cat started to purr. He’d never been so happy. Everyone had always been so afraid of him, and now he was surrounded by people.
Carolyn scratched the kitty under his chin. Then she had an idea. “Mommy, can we keep him?”
“Well…” Mommy said. She looked at Daddy. “What do you think?”
Daddy thought about it. “I don’t know. That may not be a very good idea. You know what they say...”
For a moment, the cat felt his heart drop. He’d heard it, before. “Black cats bring bad luck.” “Black cats are bad omens!” “Don’t let a black cat cross your path.”
But the children didn’t care.
“Please, Daddy? Please? He won’t hurt anyone. He’s a good kitty,” Carolyn said.
Onyx looked at the man, hopeful.
“Well…” Daddy smiled at Mommy. “Okay. We can keep him.”
Mommy smiled and said, “I guess that means he needs a name.” Mommy sat there, thinking, and then said, “How about…Onyx?”
Daddy smiled, Alex said, “Yeah!” and Carolyn said, “That’s a pretty name.” And they all started petting Onyx again. They took Onyx inside, and they all lived happily ever after.

~~~The End~~~