Three Black Cats

Charlie had volunteered and he was only two months old. But nobody seemed to mind. He had asked for the job and he was to have it and no one envied him. So, on Friday evening, the thirteenth of November, Charlie left for the O’Donnell’s with his little green ladder and two extra nightgowns. Trotting in the grass with his ladder dragging in the dirt, Charlie came upon the O’Donnell’s small house. His only instruction: never blink at cats.

The O’Donnell family consisted of Mr. Donald O’Donnell, Mrs. Claire O’Donnell, thirteen children (all born on Fridays) and three black cats. It was one of these black cats that had done away with Charlie’s eighth cousin six times removed. And Charlie had come to take his place.

Charlie’s eighth cousin six times removed was so experienced in his business that not one of the clan had imagined anything remotely dangerous in the situation. He had already been at the O’Donnell house for seven years. He had been there for every tooth that each of the first six children had lost. There was no danger. And then a cat had eaten him. Deliberately. There was no excuse for the cat.

Since his cousin’s death it was now clear to the clan that a house with three black cats and thirteen children all born on Friday was a house of serious bad luck. But Charlie was too young to care. This evening was an evening of emergency. The seventh of the children had lost a front tooth and Charlie’s eighth cousin six times removed was not there to perform his duty. Panic had ensued among Charlie’s very large family (at least two million six hundred and thirty-three members) and Charlie had volunteered.

The young tooth fairy waited in the tall grass till the lights went out in the small house. Taking a deep breath with a small gasp at the end of it, Charlie buttoned up the top button of his small blue hooded nightgown and crept toward the front door on tiptoe. He went through a rosebush, careful not to scrape the paint off his beautiful green ladder. Despite his caution, his nightgown tore on a thorn. Finally, after tiptoeing through the prickly expanse of the welcome mat (horrible thing) he struggled up the one step onto the front porch, pulling his ladder along behind him. Everything was as still as everything could be. Except the crickets. The crickets could have been quieter. Charlie pushed his ladder through the cat door and then slipped through himself.

His heart stopped. Right in front of him, glaring with awful calmness, were two bright yellow eyes. A cat. A cat with no excuse. Something must be done. Charlie stood to his full height of three inches and scrunched up his nose. The eyes glared without blinking. Charlie glared back. In all his two months of life Charlie had never experienced anything so intense. And then the eyes blinked and Charlie relaxed. He’d won that face-off. He was now master of one and there were only two left.

The tooth fairy shouldered his green ladder and trudged across the floor. There were puddles all over as if each of the thirteen children had spilled their water glass at supper. Charlie concluded he was in the kitchen and began looking anxiously about. And then he spotted it, the small white door right above the trim. It was a tooth fairy door which every house has in the kitchen. Wading through a puddle, Charlie reached the door, propped his ladder against the trim and hastily climbed up. The little white door opened into one cozy room — his own room. He heaved the ladder up, shut the door, and changed nightgowns. The ripped one wouldn’t do for such an important moment. Now he was wearing his purple hooded nightgown, the one that was fuzzy inside. And now he was ready for business. Picking up his ladder the fairy opened his door. Two eyes glared at him. It was the second cat without excuse.

Charlie was ready. He drew himself up, scrunched his nose, and glared with all his might. Without a sound the eyes drew closer. Without a sound Charlie lifted his green ladder. A nose poked inside the door and Charlie brought his ladder down with all his strength. The second cat let out a submissive yowl, and Charlie knew he had conquered again. With the night going fast, the purple robed figure scrambled down his ladder and crossed the kitchen floor to the opposite room.

The house was so small that Charlie never worried about finding the children’s room. Past the kitchen was a small hallway with three doors. One led to the parents’ room, another led to a small bathroom, and the third led to the children’s room. All thirteen shared one room but they didn’t seem to mind. Charlie decided to try the first door. It was the bathroom, and he almost slipped on a patch of unruly shampoo which had been dropped on the floor. The second room proved to be the one he wanted. An enormous mattress covered the entire floor and thirteen heads of curly brown hair were resting quietly on thirteen puffy pillows.

Charlie knew exactly which pillow he sought, because a faint light came from under the pillow at the far corner of the mattress. Teeth, as all tooth fairies know, glow in the dark. Holding his breath, the fairy climbed his ladder to the top and began the hike over the humpy terrain of the mattress. Not a child stirred. In a minute and a half Charlie reached the glowing pillow and reached for the shiny tooth. He held it in his hands for a few seconds, and then he stowed it in his hood to be carefully carried back to his room in the wall. He turned to cross the lumpiness again and stopped. Two more eyes. The third cat with no excuse. Both glared. Both stared. Both wouldn’t give up. After a solid five minutes, the little tooth fairy decided to use his last hope. He took the shining tooth from his hood and held it up above his head to shine right at the cat’s yellow eyes. And then the two yellow eyes blinked and backed away, defeated and ready for bed. Charlie deposited the tooth back in his hood and yawned. Looking toward the door he saw all three pairs of yellow eyes peeking in. And then they all turned and disappeared around the corner. Charlie yawned again and trotted lightly back to his ladder.

Love,

Hannah Jo <3