A Tiny Almond in a Big World

It was a pretty winter night. Pretty as in, a clear night, as in the stars out shining and shining. As in the snow of the day before still there, forming a soft and white blanket, as in cold and too much cold for tiny child paws. And specially as in not a good night for a little kid to be lost. Lost lost and hungry and cold and a bit scared of being so alone. Worst of all: they could hear a sound approaching them. The sound of paws, not as tiny as the little kid’s paws, getting closer and closer and closer and closer and closer to them. The kid didn’t think twice before diving into a bush, only their ice cream cone horn poking out of their hiding spot. In the dead of the night, it didn’t look so noticeable or out of place. They waited, trying to look at whoever (whatever) could be the owner of those steps. Maybe it was

a dog a wolf a lion a vampire A MONSTER

only a normal cat, trying to enjoy the outside. A bit of positive thinking wouldn’t hurt them, right? Whatever it was, the kid could already see their round shadow approaching and approaching them. Heavy paws bringing it closer and closer. “Oh, god, I can’t believe people just throw their ice cream like that in the grass. There’s a trashcan right there!” the shadow said.

A normal cat? Not a monster, not a monster….

In their relief, the kid didn’t notice a big paw reaching for their horn and grabbing it, bringing them up and up and up. “Ow! Stop that! Let me go!” they said, their voice small and high-pitched. Fear as clear as the bright stars up above. The monster (not monster?) let their horn go immediately, gasping in horror. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know there was someone attached to this cone, I’m really sorry.” The kid just dove more into the bush, trying to stay hidden. The cat (definitely not a monster) poked their head in the bush, a soft smile coloring her mouth. “Hello, there. I’m really sorry for it. It’s ok, I promise I wouldn’t hurt you again. You can come out, darling.” The kid hesitated, looking curiously at cat. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go out, this cat seemed so nice. But the other cats, they also seemed so nice and

Were mean mean mean with yelling and staby staby staby horns

they didn’t were what they looked like. Before anyone could decide anything else, huge drops of rain fell from the sky. The first on the kid’s little nose, the second on the cat’s open paw, and then more and more and everywhere. “Oh, no. Darling, you really should come out now, if you stay here in the rain you will catch a cold!” the cat seemed genuinely worried (just like the others). The kid didn’t move, the cat didn’t move, they just looked at each other and waited. “I can’t force you to leave, you really need to come out on your own. But at least stay with my hat, so you will not get so wet.” A straw hat entered the bush, being left centimeters away from the kid. The kid waited a bit, but soon enough put the hat on top of themself. They were still small for such a big hat, but it just meant more cover to their body. “Thank you,” the kid whispered back, still unsure about this mysterious cat. “You’re welcome, it’s nothing, really!” The warm smile was back to the cat’s face and the kid couldn’t help but smile back. This cat really seemed nice. “I’m Ursa, by the way, you can use she pronouns for me. What’s your name, little one?” “I don’t know, they always called me kid,” they answered, a sad tone creeping on their voice. “I don’t really care about how you’ll call me.” Ursa took some time to talk again. “Well, what about I call you Fudge until we can find a name you like?” Her tone was sweet, almost as sweet as her smile. Ursa waited until the kid nodded to her. “I don’t know about you, Fudge, but I’m soaking wet and feeling really cold. I would really appreciate if you got out of this bush so I could take both of us into a cozy and dry place.” As if to prove her word, Fudge felt a shiver, suddenly more aware of how much rain was pouring from the sky. “Okay,” their voice was still small, but they slowly walked outside the bush, Ursa’s hat almost falling from their head. Even with their vision half covered by the hat, Fudge could see Ursa’s clearly expression of relief. “Thank you, Fudge, I’m really glad you decided to join me.” Ursa approached the kid, adjusting the hat so it wouldn’t so easily fall from their head. “How about you walk with me to my house? Once there we can talk about getting you home, what do you think?” Fudge froze, eyes wide. Go back home? To that place, with the

Mean mean mean cats screaming and looking for more horns

not so nice cats. “Please, no! I-I’ll do anything but don’t take me back there!” Fudge begged in an almost crying tone. They didn’t know much about puppy eyes, but anyone seeing it could tell they were already a professional at it. “It’s alright, it’s alright! I promise to not take you back there if it’s so bad, I promise you!” Ursa reassured them, another sweet smile in her mouth. “But, can we please go to my home? I really would like to get us both dry, so we don’t get a cold.” “If you promise….” they murmured, slowly following Ursa. “Why are you doing this?” “What? Taking you to my house?” Fudge gave a small nod. “I wouldn’t ever leave a poor kid alone at the streets, especially when it's raining and even more because….” Ursa hesitated a bit, but soon continued. “You’re very special and some people might want to take advantage of you, so I couldn’t just leave you here alone….” “Am I special because of my horn?” Fudge asked bluntly, like kids usually do. “Well, uh, yeah, some, uh, some people can look for for cats with unicorn horns to to use them, uh, for things,” Ursa tried to answer, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. “Like stabbing?” Fudged suggested with such innocence that Ursa felt herself fighting back tears. “Y-yes, did, uh, did s-someone try to, to make you, uh, do something like, like that at home?” Ursa asked, a bit teary. Well, Fudge’s horn was really pointy, like not naturally pointy, like someone clearly wanted it to be pointy. And some mean humans were known to wear down unicorn horns to keep it pointy, so it was easier to use the cat as a guard cat. And worse, some mean cats were known for doing it for those humans. “Yeah, and try to teach us to read thoughts, but I don’t like to do it either,” Fudge muttered, looking at the ground. “Oh, alright, yeah, it, uh, it sounds really bad. I’m, I’m really sorry you had to go through it.” Ursa wasn’t sure how to talk to kids, even more when they didn’t come from a good place. She was naturally awkward and it sure wasn’t helping. “Oh, there is the street I live on! Thank god they never fixed the lamps. I d-don’t think anyone w-wil see us.” Fudge nodded, and let the awkward silence follow them to Ursa’s house. That actually was a tiny apartment, very small, not so clean, but absolutely safe. Ursa let Fudge enter, locking the door behind. Fudge found their way into the two-places couch, resting their head in their tiny paws and waiting. Without prior warning, Ursa moved a big wardrobe in front of the door, making Fudge make a tiny “yelp”. “S-sorry for scaring you, Fudge, but we, uh, need t-to take all t-the precautions.” Ursa gave a tired half smile. Fudge could tell nothing of this day was being easy for her. “Let’s just rest a bit, let’s see w-what to do tomorrow, alright?” “Ok,” Fudge answered in a small voice, yawning and making the straw hat fall from their tiny head. “C’mon, let me get you dry and I’ll show where to sleep, alright?” Ursa gave a better smile, with a softness she wasn’t used to. Fudge only followed in silence.

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Fudge was so warm and they didn’t want to move, not even a bit. It was so long since they had a nice bed with comfortable blankets. All the memories from last night were coming back to them, little by little. They really liked Ursa, she was nice, a very nice cat. Even if she

Oh, god, what I’m going to do with a kitten? I’m no mother, I have no money, I can’t keep them safe. It was a bad idea bringing them to here….God, Ursa, what are you even thinking? You couldn’t just leave a cat barely out of kittenhood in the streets! In the rain! You did the right thing, probably, maybe. What am I going to do now?!

wasn't so sure of it. Fudge couldn’t help but wince. They were rested now, so their powers were back, at full force. They hated to hear thoughts from other people, but it just came naturally to them, and it was hard to stop. The powers were almost missing the last night, when all the thoughts their heard were their own. Fudge sighed. It was better to wake up and maybe distract Ursa a bit. They just hoped she wouldn’t throw them on the streets again. They really liked having a bed and blankets. They fluttered their wings, making the blankets fall into the ground. They walked to the kitchen. The kitchen followed the tiny and poor apartment vibe. Definitely nothing that Fudge would complain about, way better than anything that they had before. The kitchen had no more than the essential, a fridge, an oven, some countertops, and a table with two lonely chairs. Ursa was taking care of the oven, preparing something that Fudge could only guess it was an egg. “Oh, you’re awake!” Ursa smiled and her thoughts calmed down, just what Fudge was hoping for. “I made some eggs, I hope you like it. I have some bread too but there’s nothing to put on the bread.” She offered an apologetic smile, serving the eggs on a plate for Fudge. Fudge sat at the table, looking at the eggs, not very sure what to do. Wasn’t Ursa going to eat something? They had a feeling she had saved all the eggs for them. Fudge thought about asking it to Ursa but

What if they don’t like eggs? What if they’re allergic to eggs? Why didn’t I ask before? Maybe they will hate me for it now. And I don’t have anything else to give to this kid. What even do kids eat?!

maybe it was better just to play along for now. “It looks delicious, thank you,” Fudge barely whispered, starting to slowly eat the eggs.

Thank god. One less thing. Now to think about what to do with them. I need to fix it by nighttime, I can’t explain a sudden kitten to my job. And even if I could, they can’t ever know about Fudge. Never.

“Weren’t you going to give me a name today?” Fudge decided to interrupt Ursa’s train of thought, while he still slowly ate their eggs. “Oh, yeah, t-that’s true. Uh, what, what kind of na-names do you, do you have in mind?” Fudge didn’t need to look at Ursa’s mind to feel the instantly relief of having a distraction. “I don’t know. How did you get your name?” Fudge didn’t break eye contact with their eggs not even once. It was not like they needed to look at Ursa to understand how she felt or what she was thinking. “Uh, I, uh….” I got them from my parents, but you don’t have parents. I can’t just tell it to a kid. Should I just lie to them? It feels so wrong, oh, god, what am I even supposed to do?! “Did you got it from your parents? I know that’s how most people get them.” Serious and blunt. Fudge knew it was making Ursa more and more nervous but they couldn’t help it. Adults were dumb and just tried to lie away, Fudge was just trying to follow the conversation. “Yes, one of my ma’s favorite animals was a bear and Ursula has some bear meaning or something.” Ursa gave a fond smile, remembering her parents. And Fudge could see two beautiful cats, both as big as Ursa. One of them was a farmer, the other one, the one who liked bears, came from a rich family. And Fudge could see all the memories were tinted with sadness of days she couldn’t get back. They could tell that both parents were dead, long gone. Fudge just tried hard to concentrate in their eggs, it usually did the trick and no more stray thoughts from others. “What is your favorite animal?” “I, uh, I-I don’t think I have one?” Also, I’m not your mama, I’m so sorry. And Fudge wanted very much to add But you could be. Please. “Well, but let’s, let’s try to find a name for you a-anyway. Uh, what, what a-about Bastani? Or Sonnati?” “I don’t know….” The eggs were done and Fudge wasn’t sure what to concentrate on. “Yeah, they are kinda weird...” Oh god, I’m so bad at this, the kid just wants a name and I can’t even help them with it. “Uh, Caramel? Almond? Sorbet?” Fudge’s ears perked, and a little flutter of their wings denounced their interest. “Did any of those names caught your attention?” “I like Almond...” Fudge murmured. “Great, so you’re Almond!” At least one thing I did right! Ursa picked Almond’s now empty plate and started washing it. “But would you mind if I kept calling you Fudge too?” “It’s fine.” Almond had a tiny smile in their mouth and their small tail would move right to left, and back to right again in a quick motion, not stopping for a second. It was the most excited Ursa had ever saw Almond, and she couldn’t help but to irradiate how glad she was. “I’m going to c-call in sick today to my work and we….we will f-figure out what to do with you, alright?” What to even do with a unicorn?! Would there even be a safe place for them? Maybe with you. God, no! I can’t even take care of myself, let alone a kid! I wish I could take them to Aldora, but I don’t have the money for that. But there’s this orphanage two blocks down. They seemed nice, even if they took very seriously worshiping Falena. Well, they did talk about how Falena would always help the ones who most need it. Maybe the cats on the orphanage would think the same? Unless there was any human there too…. “Please, don’t!” Almond almost yelled, quickly getting out of the chair. “The bad cats always go to orphanages to get us! Don’t take me back there, please! They are all bad!” Ursa turned to face Almond quickly, a very surprised expression on her face. Did I say anything aloud? How would they know?! With that, the plate she was washing almost slipped from her grasp, ready to shatter with the impact, but Ursa was fast enough to not let it happen and used this grateful distraction to look away from the kid. “I’m, uh, I, uh, how would, would you know that? I, I didn’t say a-anything, d-did I….?” “No,” Almond looked to their tiny paws, feeling a bit ashamed. They knew it was wrong to look at anyone’s mind, but they couldn’t help it, it just happened! “I was reading your mind, sorry.” “Oh.” And because there was nothing else she could say, Ursa said it again: “Oh.” “I told you last night about it, I sometimes can hear other cat’s minds, but I swear I try not to! But it keeps happening, I’m sorry!” Almond said with sparkly teary eyes, and a sad face that made Ursa almost cry too. Oh, no, please don’t cry, little tiny Fudge. And another thought passed by Ursa’s mind, just a tiny second before it vanished again, but Almond had no intention to ever forget it: Mama is here for you. “It’s fine, I’m, I’m not mad at you, darling,” Ursa said with a soft voice. She let the plate go and dried her hand at her own fur. Soon she pushed Almond to a hug. “I’m not taking you to the orphanage, I promise. But we still need to find a place for you, Fudge.” “Why can’t I just stay here with you?” Almond sniffed, soon burrowing their face on Ursa’s leafy mane. “I’m, oh, darling, it’s, uh, not safe. I, I don’t think I have wh-what it needs to take care of a kitten, I’m sorry.” What am I even supposed to do? Ursa kept stroking Almond’s head. “I’m not a kitten anymore!” Almond complained in a teary tone. “I know, I know, but you’re still a kid.” Ursa sighed. “I promise I won’t leave you anywhere you don’t want, but we need to find you place where you will be safe and have everything you need, alright?” “Alright.” And Almond didn’t add what they couldn’t stop thinking about: This place could be with you, mama.