{"id":5291,"date":"2014-04-30T23:40:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T03:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5291"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:12:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:12:53","slug":"kittens-in-the-hayloft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5291","title":{"rendered":"Kittens in the Hayloft (by Cinderella)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/span>\u00a0 Joe finds a litter of kittens who, unbeknownst to them, help him understand Marie’s death.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K+ (1,120 words)
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Kittens in the Hayloft<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright sat in his favorite arm chair reminiscing.<\/strong> Today was Marie\u2019s birthday. His youngest son drank his coffee silently, obviously remembering too. \u201cHey, Pa?\u201d he set down the empty cup. \u201cHuh? Did you say something?\u201d Joe smiled at his father, \u201cYou were thinking about her, weren\u2019t you? So was I…do you remember that time in the barn with the new kittens?\u201d Ben stared into the glowing embers of the once roaring fire. How could he forget it?<\/p>\n

Joe had heard the mewing long before he found the kittens. They were nestled in a little hollow in the hay. One was all black, the biggest was a red-brown color, the smallest was black and white, and the last was a dark brown and white. He picked up the little one, wondering at how tiny his claws were. The kittens\u2019 eyes were still shut. They couldn\u2019t be more than a few days old. \u201cWhat do you have there, son?\u201d a tall, man knelt beside the boy. His chocolate brown hair was streaked with gray and his almost black eyes shone at his youngest. \u201cJust some kittens, Pa. Ain\u2019t got no mama,\u201d he stroked the soft fur of the red one. \u201cYou sure?\u201d the older man knew that the mama cat would be back soon. Joe bit his bottom lip, \u201cWell, the mama ain\u2019t no where \u2018round. Maybe she \u2018bandoned \u2018em.\u201d \u201cMaybe, son, maybe. Why don\u2019t we just wait and see, hmm?\u201d Ben picked up the six-year-old. \u201cYes sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week later, Joe went into the hayloft to find his kittens: Blackie, Red, Paint, and Coffee. He found them right where he left them, except the mama cat was with them. The kittens purred as they suckled on their mother\u2019s sweet milk. She was purring herself, looking at her kittens through slanted eyes. Her tortoiseshell coat shone in the sunlight. Coffee finished quickly and yawned as he drifted of to sleep. Calico (Joe dubbed her then and there) licked him and his brothers clean. Joe patted her head, \u201cYou\u2019re a good mama, Cali. I\u2019ll take care of your kittens, you wait and see.\u201d She responded by nuzzling his hand with a white cheek. He giggled and petted her some more. \u201cJoseph? Joseph, Where are you?\u201d Ben had looked all around the barn. \u201cUp here, Pa!\u201d a small voice that Ben could recognize anywhere called down from the hayloft. He climbed up the ladder and sat beside his son. \u201cSee? I told you the cat would be back,\u201d he picked up the red one. \u201cThat\u2019s Red, Pa. The black one is Blackie, the brown and white one is Coffee and the black and white one is Paint,\u201d he took Coffee from his mother and rubbed his velvety fur. \u201cThose are some good names, son. They\u2019ll make good mousers when they grow up,\u201d the older man tickled Red\u2019s tummy. \u201cPa?\u201d Joe suddenly set the kitten down. \u201cYes, Joe?\u201d Ben did the same with Red. \u201cCali\u2019s a good mama, ain\u2019t she?\u201d he looked into his father\u2019s dark, dark eyes. Ben smiled, \u201cIsn\u2019t, Joe. Yea, I suppose she is. Why?\u201d Joe turned away and looked at Calico. \u201cAnd my mama was a good mama too, wasn\u2019t she?\u201d he continued. \u201cYes, son. Your mother was the best mother anybody could want. Just ask Hoss or\u2026,\u201d his thought immediately of his eldest son, Adam, who was in his sophomore year at Harvard in Boston. He blocked out those reoccurring memories and placed a hand on his son\u2019s skinny knee. \u201cThen why did she have to leave, Pa?\u201d his small question pricked Ben\u2019s slowly softening heart. He thought for a while, then pulled his littlest boy to his chest. \u201cBecause God willed it. Your mother was a truly beautiful and wonderful person. I don\u2019t know why, but God called her back. But I do know in my heart that one day we\u2019ll get to see her in Heaven, my Joseph. Cling to that, and you won\u2019t have to worry,\u201d he cried inside for his youngest. It had only been a year and a few months since his Marie died. Life was getting back to normal, but they all missed the bright woman missing in their lives. \u201cI didn\u2019t want her to leave, Papa! Why couldn\u2019t she stay with us?\u201d Joe shed big, rolling tears that kept coming. \u201cI don\u2019t know son, but I do know this: she wouldn\u2019t want us to carry on like this. Just after Adam\u2019s mother passed away, I found a slip of paper in her Bible:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don’t remember me at all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Joe stopped crying long enough to hear his father\u2019s words. \u201cI know Pa, but it\u2019s real hard not to miss her,\u201d he sniffed. \u201cIt\u2019s not bad to miss her, Little Joe, but don\u2019t carry her around with you. Keep a soft spot in your heart for her, son, and know that she is looking down on you. She would want us to remember the good times. Do you understand?\u201d he lifted Joe\u2019s chin to meet his face. \u201cYes sir, I think I do.\u201d Calico rubbed her cheek against his hand again to get some more rubbing. The boy giggled in spite of his tears. \u201cCome on now. Hoss will be needing some help eating all that good food Hop Sing made for lunch,\u201d he tousled Joe\u2019s dark brown curly hair and led the way down the ladder. Father and son walked back to the house hand in hand with some salty tears still streaming down their faces. Ben stopped to pick up his young son. Joe rested his head on his father\u2019s shoulder as they tried to remember the happy times with Marie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve written that poem down so many times\u2026whenever I missed her, it would always lift the burden, though mostly only it only eased the pain a little,\u201d the boy\u2019s vision blurred as he touched the beautiful face of his long-dead mother. The photograph was old and weathered, but it was his greatest treasure. Ben leaned over to put his hand on his son\u2019s knee, like that day in the loft. He sighed and quoted her one last time. Joe smiled, \u201cHappy birthday, Mama.\u201d The candle in the center of the low table was burning steadily, like Marie was there with them.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 Joe finds a litter of kittens who, unbeknownst to them, help him understand Marie’s death. <\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K+ (1,120 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":6846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,30],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-5291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-prequels","tag-joe","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1369,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ponderosa-lj.jpg?fit=640%2C475&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12513,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12513","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":0},"title":"Je T’aime, Ma (by pulitzer2016)","author":"pulitzer2016","date":"January 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Eleven-year-old Adam never wanted another stepmother, but now that Marie is on the Ponderosa - and six months' pregnant - there's little he can do but be polite and try not to think of the beloved stepmother he lost. 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