Crimson Rose: The Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat

Chapter 4: The Heroic Encounter

It was a quiet peaceful night. The stars twinkled softly in the night sky. Everyone was in their beds, sleeping peacefully without a care.

Annette was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Suddenly, a loud crash pierced the silence. Annette leapt awake. "What was that sound?" she thought. She climbed out of bed and listened carefully.

"Robbers? Thieves?" she thought. Her eyes narrowed. "Well, I won't let them steal anything from my family." She placed her hands on her drawer, opened it and reached for a flashlight. She found the flashlight and went downstairs. She cautiously crept towards the kitchen. Suddenly she heard the same sound coming from the dining room.

Annette looked around and saw a large frying pan hanging on the wall. She grabbed it and crept to the dining room. She reached for the light switch and turned on the light. She held the frying pan high above her head, ready to strike the intruder.

But when she saw the intruder, she stopped. The 'intruder' was an enormous mouse chewing at the broken cookie pieces on the floor. The cookie jar was smashed and shards of it were scattered all over the tile floor.

Normally, Annette wasn't afraid of mice or rats. But it was the size of the mouse that made Annette pause. It was the size of a normal rat, with patchy fur and a crooked tail. The mouse looked up at Annette and bared its ugly, crooked yellow teeth. It hissed at Annette and it ran towards her, screeching like a banshee.

Frightened, Annette jumped on a stool. She looked at the mouse with wide-eyed horror as it jumped on the stool.

The mouse suddenly grinned at her, baring its ugly, crooked teeth. Before she knew it, the mouse bit her ankle. "Oww!" Annette yelped in pain.

She kicked the mouse off the stool. Annette watched as a steady drop of blood snaked its way down her foot. The pain was so hard it nearly drove her to tears.

The mouse, unfazed by her kick, crept its way toward the stool. But then, suddenly, a cat leapt out of the shadows and pounced on the mouse. Annette looked at the cat in surprise. It was the same black cat she rescued earlier!

Annette watched as the cat tackled the mouse. But the mouse scratched and clawed at the cat. The two animals fought, hissing, screeching, and clawing at each other.

The cat swiped his claws that the mouse, but missed. The mouse leapt on the cat's back and bit the cat's shoulder. The cat yowled in pain. Annette, seeing the cat in pain, grabbed the frying pan and conked the mouse's head. The cat, seeing the dazed mouse, took his chance. With his claws, he ripped at the mouse's ear. The mouse screeched in pain and ran towards the open window.

The cat limped towards Annette's ankle and gently licked her wound.

Annette gently stroked the cat. "Thank you." she thought.

"Annette, are you all right?" a voice said. It was Helen. The ruckus woke her and she noticed the light in the dining room was on.

She rushed into the dining room and was shocked at the sight before her. Annette was sitting on the floor with a bleeding ankle and sitting next to her was a filthy, stray black cat.

"What happened?"

"There was an enormous mouse raiding the cookie jar. It was big and it had ugly, crooked fangs. Then this black cat came along, the same cat I rescued earlier and it saved me from that mouse."

Annette spoke in such a fast way that Helen had trouble trying to understand what she was talking about.

"Slow down, honey. You're too quick for me." said Helen. Annette calmed down. "Sorry, I was in shock after the mouse bit me...." Helen stared at her in shock. "The mouse bit you?!" she almost shrieked.

Annette clamped her mouth shut. She knew her mom is overprotective of her, which is very annoying to her. "Mom, it's no big deal. It just nipped me. Quit making such a fuss over it." The last thing she wanted Helen to do was treat her minor injury like she came from a war zone.

"Mom, we'll just put a bandage on the bite and it'll be fine." Annette said. Helen paused. "All right, all right. We'll put a bandage on it." she said. "Sorry, you're right. It's no big deal. But still, you could get a disease."

"Don't worry, I disinfect it first."

The cat meowed, catching their attention. "How on Earth did that cat get in here?" asked Helen.

"I think he climbed through my window. I left it opened because I was hot and needed some cool air." Annette said, petting the cat. "By the way, can he stay here?" she asked.

Helen shook her head. "Absolutely not! I won't allow a dirty flea-bitten stray cat into my house! And what's worse, that cat is black! He'll bring bad luck into my household! I simply won't allow it." The cat growled at her. The truth was he didn't have any fleas at all. He just looked dirty and mangy. "But Mom, that black cat saved my life! He's not flea-bitten! He's a hero!"

"If he hadn't intervened, that giant mouse would have attacked me. He deserves to spend a night here!"

Helen's face softened. She looked at Annette's wound. "It's true. The cat did save my daughter's life." she thought.

"All right. But just for tonight. In the morning, we'll put him up for adoption."

Annette smiled joyfully. "Thank you, Mom! Thank you so much!" That night, after Annette disinfected and wrapped her wound in a bandage, she found an old box and placed an old blanket in it.

"This used to be my favorite blanket when I was little. You can have it." Annette said. The cat sniffed the blanket, and then it looked at Annette. He meowed as if he said, "I don't want to sleep here."

"What? You can't sleep on my bed. Mom would make a fuss if you leave cat hairs on my bed."

The black cat looked at Annette. Then it hopped onto her bed, sat down and faced her. Annette looked at the black cat. "What?" she asked. His eyes seemed to glow bright. Annette stared at them, mesmerized.

"Whoa! Those eyes are impressive. Just like the cat's eyes in my book." The black cat then tilted his head, as if he didn't understand what she said.

"Here, let me show you." said Annette as she reached for her nursery rhyme book. She opened the book and showed the cat the "Crooked Man" section.

Once the black cat laid eyes on the picture of the Crooked Man, he rubbed his cheek against the picture and meowed sadly. Annette was confused.

"He seems really affectionate towards that picture. I wonder why?" she thought. Then, she realized she was tired. She yawned. "All right. You can sleep with me tonight." said Annette as she crawled into bed.

The black cat kneaded on the left pillow beside her. Then, he settled down and purred contently.

Annette stroked the cat's head. "Good night, kitty." she said as his purring lulled her to sleep.

They both fell asleep underneath the starlit night.