**Lizzy and the Open Door**
Its dark and frightening outside My heart aches. Why did this happen to her? Lizzy sat quietly beneath the shade of an old oak in the garden. The biting wind cut through her fur, turning her tears into icy droplets on the autumn frost. She pressed her frozen paws to her belly and remembered
How warm it had been beside her mother, curled up in a pile of brothers and sisters. Mum would lick them clean one by one, purring a soft lullaby. So safe, so loved Then, as her legs grew stronger, shed wriggle free from that cosy nest to explore the bright flat.
One by one, her siblings were taken awayuntil it was Lizzys turn. A man and a woman cooed at her, cuddled her, even kissed her. But Lizzy squirmed. She wanted to run! They brought her to a new home, and run she did, darting through every room, sniffing every corner.
At first, everyone played with the tiny kitten. So many toys! Mice, balls, fluffy feathers. Best of all was chasing the red dot from the laser pointer, though it always slipped away. But Lizzy grew into a dignified lady, losing interest in gamesexcept when she heard the jingle of the laser pointers chain. Then shed bolt after that elusive dot.
Evenings were spent “helping” her mistress cook. Mornings, shed see her master off to work. Lizzy was happy.
Then it ended. Suitcases and bags appeared. Lizzy pounced on them, delighted by the new game. But her owners were grim, avoiding her eyes. A sour-faced woman with pinched lips arriveda relative, they said, to watch the flat while they were away.
Lizzy sat by the door, listening for familiar footsteps. They never came.
The flat grew cold and uneasy. Food was forgotten; Lizzy was too timid to ask. Shed sit by her empty bowl, waiting. Only when the woman nearly tripped over her would she grudgingly fill the dirty dish.
No more sofa (too much fur), no more windowsill (the plants!). Lizzy was banished to the hallway, lying on a gritty mat. She missed warm handsthe woman recoiled from her touch. Lizzy groomed herself carefully, keeping her coat flawless. It didnt matter.
One day, the woman shrieked at finding fur on her suede boots, waving a tea towel like a whip. Lizzy cowered, terrified. No one had ever shouted at her before. And still, her owners didnt return
So when the door cracked open, Lizzy left. She glanced back once, then fled downstairs, running until the flat was far behind.
Now she was alone in the cold, exposed. No shelter, and somewhere nearby, dogs roamed. For a moment, she regretted leaving. But she couldnt bear that flat, that woman. Maybe the open door hadnt been an accident.
Inside, the woman stuffed Lizzys toys into a bin bag. She emptied the food bowl, tossing it in too.
Hearing barks, Lizzy hunched and limped onward. She didnt know where she was going. But one thing was certainshed never be happy again.
Days blurred. She found refuge near a bakery, where the night guards didnt shoo her away. They noticed the once-pristine cat, now gaunt, refusing food. Desperate, they tried to catch her, but Lizzy dodged their net and bolted.
Wandering led her back to the flat. The front door was ajar.
She stared into the dark stairwell, then crept inside. The climb to the second floor took forever. The flats door was shut tight. Why had she come back? To say goodbye?
Behind the door, voices clashed. Her owners had returnedno cat, no toys. The mistress was furious.
“She ran off!” the woman snapped. “What was I supposed to do, leash her?”
“Ran off?” the mistress hissed. “Then where are her things?”
The husband held his wife back, glaring at his sister. He knew her cruelty too well.
A neighbour spotted Lizzy. “Lizzy, love! Oh, youre skin and boneswait, Ill buzz you in.”
The door flew open. The pinched-lipped woman stormed out. “Im never setting foot here again!”
Thenher mistress appeared. Lizzy yowled, scrambling up her trousers, clinging.
“You came home,” the mistress whispered, tears welling.
Lizzy rubbed against her, shedding fur on clean clothes. For the first time in six days, she felt hunger.
That night, curled between her beloved owners, Lizzy realised shed been wrong. She was happy again.
