A stray cat

Once upon a time, there was a cat. It had strayed from friends and family and after many years, it had resigned itself to self-preservation in the shadows. It was a sleek and pretty kitty with a mild manner, so many times an eager child would spot it slinking around an alleyway and be delighted at how docile this feral was. Until it disappeared the morning after, every single time. The cat left behind it a trail of tears and frustration, but those human emotions did not affect it. It was a cat. 

Yet, there was a single child- an awkward milkmaid. Despite the child's best efforts to gain love and laughter from her peers, they continued to shun her to the fringes of their giggly gossip. This didn't stop her though. Was it determination or stupidity? In actuality, it was most likely desperation. One day, the milkmaid spotted the cat. Just like all the other children, she trotted over and scooped the flaccid animal up, cooing over its sleek coat and docile manner. When the milkmaid snuck the pet into her chambers, the cat slipped out by morning. 

But then, the milkmaid would somehow find the cat and scoop it up again. And again. And again. 

It didn't matter where in town the cat scampered off to, this milkmaid somehow would track it down and carry it back it her chambers on a daily basis. Determination or stupidity? It was most likely desperation. 

And despite itself, the cat eventually found itself relaxing in those familiar arms. A lone cat and a lone milkmaid. Before long, the milkmaid would no longer have to go searching for the cat- the cat would already be curled up on the same sunny step, day after day. 

But, as the milkmaid child grew into a young woman, she grew bored and petulant. A pet cat was GOOD, but it wasn't good ENOUGH. She would express this to the cat even as she stroked it, damning it for not being a friendly giant or a prize cow or a lad to sweep her off her feet. That last idea soon became the milkmaid's main obsession. 

The cat was a perceptive creature and recognized the resentment pouring out from the young woman like a miasma. Reasoning that it was more of a bother to weather the subtle hateful tide than it was to leave, the cat once again ran off. The smug animal predicted that the milkmaid would soon fall back into the throws of her desperate loneliness and would come chasing in no time at all, all resentment replaced with new found love and gratitude. But, that didn't happen. 

Instead, the cat watched from the shadows as the milkmaid somehow found a new circle of like-minded young people. And it was so easy. 

There was a shortage of vermin and trash as the town declared a new cleaning initiative. For the first time in the cat's life, it began hissing and growling in its desperation and hunger. But, it refused to give in and return to the stupid milkmaid who the cat now realized had only been holding back its true potential. 

It was only now, on its own, that the cat could strive to rule the twilight alleys and sink its teeth into birds and lizards, fish and rats. The fields were aglow. The night shone with opportunity. The cat was free! 

But, for all of the animal's dreams and ambitions, the prey remained scarse and the town lights only blazed brighter into the darkness, an invasion. Shrinking territory. Death threaded its long fingers through the cat's ribs and spine as clumps of hair slumped off from malnutrition. Fleas invaded as well. Every passerby became a threat, distorted through cataracts and fever. 

One day, a young woman spotted a dead stray cat in an alleyway and was suddenly struck with the terror of metaphor. The choice was an illusion: choose to be a pet or choose to a loner, they were all just different flavors of death in the end.