Intermediate Short Story - Second Place

The South Simcoe Arts Council has been shining a spotlight on up and coming writers of all ages, in all genres through its Creative Works Writing Contest since 2016.

We are excited to share the winners writings with you. Enjoy!

This award is sponsored by
John Williams.

Master Carver

I fluttered my eyes open, yawning drowsily. I stood up and walked over to my food bowl, crinkling my nose in disgust when I saw it's unfilled. I plop down next to the bowl, meowing sharply as I swing my head around in search of my person. Humans. Their minds are as blank and empty as my bowl is right now. My ears perked up when I heard a groan, and my human shuffled into the room, blinking the sleep from their eyes. As soon as my human spotted me glaring up at them next to my food bowl, they let out another loud groan of annoyance. My tail tip twitched and I meowed again, this time more demanding. Oh, the insolence! With a sigh my human pulled out a bag with a fancy cat on it, their fur fluffy and eyes bright. My whiskers twitched in irritation as my human poured the brown chunks into my bowl. I used to think that if I consumed those dry pellets, I too would look as pretty as the cat on the bag. But no, for many moons I ate those flavourless pieces of garbage for nothing. The least my human could do after deceiving me is serve me the food that is wet and refreshing! I glared at my human once more before turning away and walking through the flap door, rolling my eyes.

My tension disappeared at the sights and sounds of the great outdoors as I padded around the grass. The air was crisp with the changing season, the wind whipping my nose and chilling me to the bone. Yet the sky was a brillant, pure shade of blue. Outside truly is nice. Suddenly something bright orange flashes at the corner of my eye, and I stopped in my tracks, turning to see a large circular plant. My head cocked to the side in confusion as I suspiciously drew nearer to it. I got close enough to the plant that I could see the bumpy texture of its orange skin, and smell its earthy scent. I whirled around the new thing curiously, allowing my fur to brush against it. What was this? Perhaps it was edible? I hadn't eaten the food my human presented to me and I was pretty hungry.

I hesitantly reached out a paw to it, trying to stab all four of my claws into its orange skin. But it was harder than I predicted, and I had to really dig into it. Finally I penetrate through, flinching as a cold, slimy substance sticks to my claws. I recoiled my claws out of the plant, and they were coated with the gooey, pale orange slush. I let out a hiss of horror, frantically swinging my paw in the air to get it off of me. Luckily the goop flings off my nails. I suppose I can't eat this thing. I looked back at the plant, narrowing my eyes at it, but my expression fell to interest when I noticed the marks my claws had left in its skin. It was only four arched holes, but it looked so intriguing. My tail curled in delight when I realised it sort of looked like a rainbow. Although whenever I saw a rainbow, there was also grass and clouds and trees in the landscape. So I pierced my claws into the plant again, this time etching out blades of grass, puffs of clouds and tall trees. It took a long time, as each time I wanted to add more holes I had to push with all my might to impale the orange thing's skin.

By the time I completed my masterpiece, the sky was dark. I stepped back to admire it with a purr. I bet the elegant dry-food cat couldn't make something like this. Suddenly my human stepped into the clearing, their eyes widening once spotting me. I merely glanced at my human before returning to my art, waving my tail dismissively. They didn't need permission to clean my box which contains sand. But my human lingered, gawking at the plant I had carved into. After a few moments I couldn't take it anymore and I looked at them, mewing with surprise as they scooped me up and chattered like a chipmunk. I slowly purred as they stroked me, nuzzling into them as they carried me to our home. My human is dumb, but I really love them. I'm expecting the moist food later, though.