#24B
Finding Chubs
By Kimberly Ulishney
“Meow, meow, meow,” was all Kelly Brio, a 13 year-old-girl with straight, long, dirty blond hair and a tall structure; five feet even, could hear.
“Where is that coming from?” she wondered out loud. Her cat, Chubs, ran away from her, and she was desperately looking for him.
“Meow, meow, meow,” she heard again.
“Am I going crazy?” she questioned herself in a self-conscious way. Kelly was a girly-girlthat loved shoes, the color pink, and makeup. She was a seriousgirl that didn’t get along well with others and thought she was perfect. Then, all of a sudden, a bush started shaking violently, and she approached it very, very slowly. Was it her long lost cat, Chubs?
It all started on a cold, crisp, snowy, January day. Kelly came home from a long, hard, Friday school day looking forward to enjoying a three-day weekend with her one year old cat; Chubs. She loved to do this because she had no friends, she lived in a remote area, and she also wasn’t very kind. Her sister, her mom and dad, and she, a very tight family, all lived in a two story home smack-dab in the middle of North Dakota. Kelly’s middle class family lived on Zelue Avenue, in house number 408. When she walked through the door waiting for her cat’s afternoon greeting, it all hit her.
She had walked in and her smalltabby, narrow green eyed, cat was gone!
“Mom, dad, you guys home?” she shouted into the house.
“Yeah, we’re here!” her parents called back.
“Have you seen Chubs anywhere?” she questioned once Mr. and Mrs. Brio entered the room.
“Nope, haven’t seen him.” they replied calmly.
“Momma, will you please help me find him?” Kelly pleaded.
“Yes dear, we’ll search the house after dinner.” Mrs. Brio replied to her round, ocean blue eyed daughter.
Two hours later, after all of the roast beef, potatoes, and carrots were eaten, the family started tearing apart the house looking for Chubs.
“I’m taking the downstairs!” Nelly, Kelly’s seven year old sister, protested. Nelly had dark brown hair and wide green eyes. She was very short for her age, so people called her shorty. She absolutely hated it.
“Dad and I will take upstairs! Kelly, how about you go with your sister?” Mom asked.
“I’m goin’, I’m goin’!” Kelly replied in a rude tone. The Brio family searched and searched, but there was no sign of Chubs.
“Can we pleeeease search outside and ask the neighbors if they’ve seen him?” Kelly and Nelly asked together.
“We’ll check tomorrow, since it’s going to be Saturday.” their dad answered.
The next morning, Kelly and her family ate a quick breakfast and bundled up. Kelly wore a white tank top with a pink tunic, faded blue jeans, pink high-tops, and her warmest winter coat. She made sure that she wore her favorite gold hoops and even painted her long nails pink.
“Nelly and I call the woods!” Kelly shouted.
“As long as you stick together.” Mrs. Brio replied.
“Fine, but you guys have to check the neighbor’s houses.” Nelly declared hotly. The sisters headed into the woods, and their parents took off down the street, all hoping they would find Chubs. Mr. and Mrs. Brio walked up to a house and knocked gently.
“Hello,” answered a friendly old lady.
“Hi,” replied Mr. Brio in a serious voice.
“Can I help you? My name is Ms. Dangler.” she asked.
“Yes, have you seen our cat, Chubs?”
“No, I most certainly have not.”
“Thank you and goodbye.” Mrs. Brio finally added after a long pause. They moved on to another house feeling very disappointed while the girls investigated the woods.
“Yo, Nelly, you seen him?” Kelly questioned.
“Nope!” Nelly replied sharply. They were nearly at the end of the woods when a fork came up on the narrow pathway. They knew the trail very well because they went for nature hikes nearly every day.
“I’m taking left! I can feel that he is down that path.” yelled Kelly.
“I want to go right, but mom said we have to stick together.” Nelly contradicted.
“I don’t really care what mom said, so I’m going left!” she muttered rudely as she was staring at her locket with a picture of Chubs in it.
“Fine!” Nelly shouted.
Several minutes later, snow started to fall quickly. As the snow began to get deep, Kelly was grateful for her long, strong arms and legs. “I give up!” Kelly screamed into the empty forest. “Nelly, where are you? I want to go home!” There was no reply. Kelly had limits. Whenever the going got tough she would quit. Then Kelly heard it.
“Meow, meow, meow,” that was definitely Chubs. His high pitched voice was unmistakable.
“Meow, meow, meow,” she heard again.
“Here Chubs, here kitty, kitty!” Kelly shouted. All of a sudden, a bush next to a huge tree started shaking. She approached it slowly and carefully. Then, a lightning bolt of fur attacked her.
“Chubs!”
When she got home, her whole family of four greeted her.
“Where have you been, missy?” mom asked.
“If it wasn’t for Nelly, who knows how worried we would be.” Dad added.
“Yeah, I was really worried!” Nelly admitted.
“I…I…I’m sorry!” Kelly stammered.
“You better be!” dad shouted.
“Hey, at least I got Chubs back.” Kelly stated defensively.
“You do have a point,” mom declared.
“You’re grounded for at least one week!” Dad finally blurted.
“But for what?” Kelly asked.
“For leaving your sister in the woods!” Dad answered.
“I’m sorry, goodbye!” she yelled on her way up to her room.
In the end, Kelly realized that no matter how much you love an animal, you never put other human lives in danger for their lives are valued more. After losing her cat once, she made sure it would never happen again, and it never did.
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