In a small village cottage lived a kitten. He had reddish fur with dark spots, just like a jaguar. He loved to run around the yard chasing sunbeams, but he especially enjoyed playing with grandmother's woolen ball of yarn. She was always forgetting to put the yarn away.
The kitten lived a carefree life, only the yard dog would sometimes bark at him, making him run into the house quickly. But something did worry the little one: he was afraid of the dark. As soon as night covered the earth with its dark blanket, the kitten couldn't be coaxed out of the house by any persuasion.
He shared his fears with his mom and dad. His parents were very caring and attentive and always showed empathy toward their little one. Empathy is when you want to understand someone so much that you try to see the world through their eyes.
Mother cat and father cat explained to their son where his fears might have come from. They also told him that cats see very well in the dark, much better than many animals and even people. But this didn't help.
Then mother told the kitten that one day he would forget all his fears, because something special would happen to him in the summer. The kitten immediately became curious—would it be scary? Mother said the event would be special. From that day on, the kitten waited for the mysterious event impatiently. Early spring was here—it wouldn't be long.
Summer arrived. One day mother approached the kitten and said that at night they would go into the forest. The kitten was very frightened, but then he became curious about what would happen in this dark forest? It was so scary and mysterious, yet intriguing.
When the journey began, mother explained that cats are made for nighttime life: they walk on their own, peer into the darkness, hunt, and climb trees. And their big eyes with narrow pupils help them see even when there isn't a speck of light. And from that moment on, the little kitten would begin to learn all the feline secrets.
Suddenly the kitten felt that something was happening to him—something that was meant to occur. Something inside told him that he didn't need to be afraid of the dark; there was nothing bad in it.
Unfortunately, mother cat and the little kitten couldn't catch a mouse, although they tried very hard. But the kitten learned a lot from his night lesson.
Day after day, the cat taught her little one to be himself, not to fear difficulties, and to overcome them. Of course, this doesn't mean the kitten wasn't afraid of anything else. But fear of the dark no longer visited him. Darkness had become his friend.
