In the attic of a small apartment building lived a cat with her little ginger kitten. They had no owners, so the mother cat had to find food for herself and her little kitten on her own. It was hard for the mother cat, because in the big city it's not easy to find food independently. It was good that sometimes kind people brought bowls with various food. Or she could catch a bird. And sometimes they had to go to bed hungry.
As she lulled her kitten to sleep, the mother cat washed his fur with her tongue, and the little furry bundle purred.
Mum, tell me a story!
The kitten asked.
About a brave prince and wizard cats!
And the cat began her story in a gentle, unhurried voice.
Once upon a time, in a grand castle lived a young prince who was very curious from birth. He was interested in everything, loved to ride horses and play with the court dogs. But there was one thing that upset him greatly—his father the King and mother the Queen would not allow him to leave the castle grounds. And he was curious about what was out there.
The little prince would climb to the highest tower and look into the distance, where he could see a forest, and beyond the forest was a small river. Many birds and animals. And the young brave hero so wanted to visit those places and see everything up close, to hunt rabbits, to touch the cold water in the river.
And so one day, a castle worker left the gates open after himself. The prince couldn't resist and went through the gates. Only it was already getting dark outside, but the brave boy was not stopped by this. He headed towards the forest, waving his wooden sword, running and happy to be free, breathing in the scent of fragrant meadow grasses. The prince was enjoying what seemed to him like freedom.
But before the boy had gone far into the forest, a large black raven swooped down on him. It flapped its wings, cawed loudly, trying to peck the frightened prince with its mighty beak. This was no ordinary raven, but an evil sorcerer who had long been waiting for the young prince to leave the castle grounds.
The boy ran deeper into the forest to hide between the trees from the enraged bird, but the raven didn't give up. The prince ran out into a small clearing deep in the forest. In the centre of the clearing sat two large cats on a big tree stump, and it seemed to the boy that their eyes glowed with green light. Surprisingly, he wasn't even frightened, but rather delighted when he saw them.
The cats looked intently at the black raven, and it seemed to freeze in mid-air.
Little prince!
Said one of the cats in a velvety voice.
Hide quickly behind us, and don't peek out.
It turned out these were no ordinary cats, but wizard cats. Grandmother had once told the little prince about them. She said these cats help everyone who gets into trouble.
The boy hid behind the stump where the cats sat, and felt thin twigs like cobwebs wrapping around him, appearing from nowhere. The boy became completely invisible against the green forest background. The evil sorcerer, coming to his senses, didn't see him and flew away from the clearing.
The prince spent the whole night with the cats, who kept him warm. And in the morning, when it dawned, the brave boy decided to head back to the castle. He decided he would never again leave the gates without adult supervision.
The wizard cats were afraid to let the boy go alone, so they went to escort him all the way to the castle gates. The King and Queen saw their son from afar, ran to meet him, for they hadn't slept all night and had worn themselves out searching for the little prince.
The boy hugged his mum and dad, asked forgiveness for leaving the castle gates without permission, thus breaking their rule. He swore that from then on he would always listen to their guidance, because they only wanted the best for him.
The boy told about his adventures in the forest and how the wizard cats had saved him from the evil raven-sorcerer. The King offered the kind cats to stay at the castle, promising to feed them well with delicious food and to pet them in the evenings. The cats agreed to such a pleasant offer and stayed to live with the people.
Listening to his mother's story, the kitten fell asleep, purring in his sleep. He was brave and fearless, afraid of nothing, because his mum was with him.
In the morning, when it wasn't quite dawn yet, the little ginger kitten woke up, his mum wasn't beside him—she must have gone to find food. The curious little one peeked out of the attic window, stepped his paws over the grating, and found himself on the roof, which was wet and slippery from the night dew.
His paws slipped, and the kitten rolled down. Fortunately, there was an old oak tree near the house, whose branches reached the lower floors. The kitten miraculously grabbed onto a branch and after some time found himself on the ground.
The little bundle found himself on the street alone for the first time. All around was hustle and bustle, people rushing about their business, the noise of cars.
The kitten was frightened, he didn't know where to go, and from fear he ran across the courtyard, nearly being stepped on several times. He sat down beside a bench and was completely bewildered. He was lost, the little one was scared, what should he do, he had completely forgotten the way back to his home.
Seeing a multi-storey building across the street, the kitten decided that must be his home and his mum was there. He ran in that direction, but as he ran onto the road, he nearly got hit by a passing car. Fortunately the driver noticed in time and stopped.
Running into the courtyard of the building, the kitten sat down beside one of the entrances, wondering what to do next. Then the entrance door opened, and out ran a large dog, rushing loudly barking towards the fluffy creature, about to attack him.
The poor kitten, frightened even more, ran away, and not far away in a car park stood a car with its door open, and our hero jumped into it, beside himself with fear. And the dog ran around, continuing to bark loudly.
The car owner, who was loading things into the boot at the time, heard the dog barking and looked towards the car interior. He looked inside and saw the little ginger kitten huddled on the seat, hiding from the angry dog.
Well, this is an unexpected find!
The man smiled.
Well then, since you've jumped into my car, I suppose I'll have to keep you! Besides, today is my granddaughter's birthday and she'll be thrilled with such a gift!
Masha, look at the present I've brought you!
Grandpa called to his granddaughter.
He jumped into my car himself, hiding from the dog!
Grandpa, all my dreams are coming true today!
Masha cried out excitedly.
This is the best present I could ever have dreamed of! I'll call him Ginger!
And so the little curious kitten found himself an owner and came to live with people. The mother cat searched for her disobedient son for a long time, but when she learned that he had found a cosy home and caring owners, she was very happy. After all, her little kitten would always be well fed and warmed by love.
