[ Robin, at seven moons old, was not supposed to leave the barn. Papa's rules, not hers. But papa was gone. No matter how hard she looked, the cream-and-red Turkish Angora mix could not find her father. It brought her to the point of breaking those rules Richard had put in place. Leaving Hay behind sitting atop a bale of her namesake, Robin slipped out of the barn. And walked. The gentle 'cluck'ings of the chickens in the barn slowly faded until they were gone. Until the molly was alone. Completely. Alone. "Papa?" She called. Her voice bounced off the pine trees that sprawled out in front of her. It did not come back. "Papa?" Robin called again, her voice weaker this time. No response. Turning away from the border of.. whatever lived there, in that large and scary forest, Robin began to trace a path further from the barn she called home. "Daddy?" Robin made her voice as loud as possible, hoping that her father would be in the area. So what if he found out she'd broken the rules? She was less than a moon under the required age of eight moons. Robin could leave the barn if she wanted to. Robin didn't care that he might be mad at her. When she found him, everything would be okay. Robin didn't care, because he'd been gone for too long. Robin cared that the sun was setting, and her dad wasn't home. Worry wormed through her chest and tightened its grip on her heart. Anxiety made her feel sick as her small paw pads, soft and unused to the outside world, became rough and torn by the dirt and rocks outside. Each pawstep became weaker. Robin didn't know how long she'd been gone for. But in her panicked attempt to find her father, night had taken the place of the day. It was cold. Robin was alone. Away from home. No food. No Hay, her little hen who lived on the haybales, who was probably trying to get back to her friends. No Harmony to comfort her. No Uncle Scotty to cheer her up. They weren't there to reassure her that her papa would come back home, safe and sound. Robin didn't want to give up her search for her father, and she wouldn't. Looking back in the direction she'd come, the young cat, barely more than a kitten, realized that she was lost. Hunger gnawed at her belly- how long had she been gone for? Tears burned in her eyes. She'd never felt this scared before. As Robin wandered off in search of her father, she ventured further and further from her home. Who knew when she would come back? When her papa would come home? When she would find him? ]
I'm going to make a couple of these over the next few days. Hopefully she'll get back before Richard gets home, but she'll be hungry and tired when she does.
