Finally, the long-awaited cat’s day has arrived. Luiza and her parents were extremely agitated and with good reason. Luiza was to receive a long-awaited gift: a black cat with a single white spot on its forehead. The cat had to be playful and friendly. For the little girl’s parents finding such a gift seemed like a piece of cake. However, they soon realized the task was more difficult than expected.
They searched all the pet shops in the city, all the animal shelters, and even the places where stray cats used to hide, but they did not find the dream kitten anywhere.
“What if we put out an ad in the local newspaper or on the internet?” the girl’s mother suggested.
No sooner said than done.
Once the ad was published, they waited and waited for a call ... in vain.
Why such a cat? Luiza’s granny told her that a good witch lived a long time ago in her little far away village. She had a cat, a black one who had a spot on her forehead. The spot was changing its color, and sometimes it was white, yellow, or red. Nobody knew why. What everybody knew was that the cat could shapeshift into any animal she wanted. Many times, this magic little cat saved lives when wild wolves were attacking people in the forest. Shapeshifting into a huge dragon, she was chasing the wolves away.
When they lost almost all hope of finding such a cat, Luiza’s parents got a phone call from an old lady living on the outskirts of their city one evening. With a hoarse voice, the lady told Luiza’s father that she had a cat corresponding precisely to the description, and she was happy to give him away, to get rid of him.
Intrigued and a little anxious, the father asked:
“Why do you want to get rid of him?”
“He’s too curious, sir. He’s too curious. This kitten wants to know everything, goes everywhere, opens all the doors to see what’s behind them, and he doesn’t care when I ask him not to do that anymore. Maybe I am too old for such a young cat. He’s only three months”.
“Is he friendly”?
“He is very friendly. He has plenty of friends. All my neighbors adore him.”
“I can come tomorrow, Saturday, in the morning, to pick him up. Is it all right with you”?
“Of course. I’ll be waiting for you”.
The car stopped in front of the house. It was raining outside, but a few drops of water couldn’t stop Luiza from running towards her father, who, in a cat box, was bringing the long-awaited gift, a gift she should have received two months ago on her seventh anniversary.
Luiza and her parents were sitting down on the big carpet in the living room. Her father carefully opened the door of the box. From inside, two large yellow eyes were staring at them.
Suddenly, the kitten jumped out of the box, stopped for a moment near Luiza, then leaped over the girl. For a moment, he stopped again as if trying to understand where he was, started to run around the living room, jumping on the table, on the chairs, on the sofa, and even on a windowsill. Luckily for him, the window was closed. Who knows, he would have disappeared in the rain.
The kitten stopped and, approaching Luiza, began to purr. The girl took him in her arms and hugged him, happy.
Both parents seemed to have fallen into a state close to shock. “What kind of cat did I bring into the house?” The father wondered. “I wonder if the lady we took him from was a witch,” Luiza’s mother said to herself.
“Magic,” cried Luiza, “his name is Magic.”
“Magic”? managed to repeat the parents.
“Why, Magic”? Mom asked.
“Because he turned around the dining-room like a Magic.”
So, Magic kept his name. For Luiza’s parents, the name didn’t matter. The important thing was to please the little girl.
The day went on, the rain stopped, and Luiza was still playing with Magic.
After lunch, everyone, even Magic, agreed that a nap would not hurt. Luiza’s mother showed the cat a new and soft pillow specially bought for him the day before to sleep on. Magic looked at the pillow, looked at the parents, and, approaching the little girl, began to meow and stand up on his hind legs as if asking her to take him in her arms.
“He’s going to sleep with me today. After that, we’ll see”.
After that, he slept only in Luiza’s room.
With all the parents' fears to see Magic jumping on the chairs and the sofa, the afternoon passed quietly, without surprises.
Luiza tried to draw Magic while the little cat was sleeping on the sofa. When she finished the drawing, it was difficult to say if the animal on the paper was a cat or a dog. The important thing is that Magic did not seem at all affected by the possible confusion.
Little by little, time passed, and, after having dinner, Luiza’s parents decided to watch TV and, as always, when they used to take such a decision, the eternal discussion “I want news, I want a movie” began. Nobody knows who won the dispute because, unfortunately, a fly entered the living room. Usually, in such a situation, the house’s mistress would quickly get her hands on an anti-fly spray, and after a few sprays, no buzz would have been heard. Unfortunately, the news-movie dispute was too heated for anybody in the room to hear the sound of a tiny fly. But not Magic, who, without exception, has always declared war on everything that was flying, be it butterflies, bees, flies, or birds.
With a single leap, the cat landed in the middle of the living room and tensed to the limit; he was scrutinizing the ceiling in search of the faintest movement. The insolent intruder flew over his head. The cat made an insanely high jump, with a rarely seen strength trying to grab the fly. Chased incessantly, the insect felt probably tired and took refuge between the folds of the curtain—wrong tactic.
Magic was staring at the black fly on the light-colored silk curtain. The kitten seemed like a mini panther lurking for prey. Magic approached the window with safe and graceful movements, and with a high and precise jump, the cat landed on the curtain. In his right front paw, he was holding the fly. Undoubtedly, poor thing, she was no longer part of the world of the living.
Feeling that he was losing his balance, Magic clung to the curtain with his right paw, and, in the delicate sound of the tearing silk, he began to slide toward the floor.
“It wasn’t free after all,” Luiza’s father said in the suddenly quiet living room.
