This post is part of StoryADay May (https://storyaday.org/) #StoryADay #StoryADayMay @storyadaymay #freeshortstory #Caturday #cats #catsofinstagram #cats_of_instagram #blackandwhitecats #Chickie #MamzelleChickieLaSilk

Simple Truth

Once upon a time, there was a cat named Chickie who started a business telling the truth. She saw her brother telling lies, like, “I didn’t bite a hole in the mermaid tail toy.” She saw her sister telling lies, like, “I didn’t get onto the nail station and play with the stuff and wake EverMom up at five in the morning.” She saw her mommy telling lies, like, “This treat does not have medicine in it.”

So she decided there was an unserved need for honesty, and she determined to fill it.

She got herself a box and sat in it. She practiced what she would say if somebody asked her for the truth:

You are vain. You have white fur. Get over yourself.

You have a flat face. Like, really, really flat.

Yes, that shirt makes you look fat. All the shirts make you look fat. You are fat.

She didn’t mean for any of this to be hurtful, but she couldn’t help it if it was.

She had heard that most businesses didn’t turn a profit for several years, so she wasn’t discouraged that nobody came to her business box. She just waited and practiced.

Actually, she only waited for a few hours. Then she got a customer! Mommy came in and asked, “Are you having fun, sitting in that box?”

At last! But it wasn’t a question she had practiced an answer to, so she didn’t have anything to say.

“Well, hop out,” Mommy said. “You don’t belong in there. That’s for groceries. Good thing everything’s bagged and boxed these days.”

That wasn’t a question, so Chickie just hopped out and walked away, and Mommy folded up her business box and took it off somewhere.

She decided truth-telling wasn’t a profitable business model, so she would just do it for free, as a public service. But nobody asked her the questions she had practiced answers to.

Her brother asked, “Wanna play tag?” And she did, so she said, “Yes.”

Her sister asked, “Let’s be enemies, okay?” And she didn’t want to, so she said, “No.”

Her mommy asked, “Who wants to go into the bathroom with me and watch me brush my teeth?” And Chickie did, so she said, “I do!”

She still thought it would be fun to tell the truth and get paid for it but, after all, what would she buy? She couldn’t honestly answer that.

MY PROMPT FOR TODAY: Sitting inna grocery box.