Smokey's adoption trick

The pitter patter of the rain meant he wouldn't be able to play outside with his friends and he had made such grand plans for the two-day Deepavali vacation... he pressed his nose against the glass pane and made funny faces in the hope of entertaining himself when a loud thump against the window sill shook him out of his blues. A fluffy, grey ball of fur seemed to have settled on the window sill and was proceeding to lick what seemed to be an injured leg. Yet the injury didn't deter it from leaping onto the roof above their house, and meowing away plaintively. Their adjacent neighbour crossly opened a window to shoo away the kitten.

'Shoo, shoo! You will ruin my baby doll's studies with all that noise...' 'Oh! Please, aunty ... I promise the kitten won't disturb anyone. I promise to take care of her', pleaded Chunmun.

'Oh alright', grumbled aunty K., and shut the window tight.

'Oh yippee! 'squealed Chunmun as he ran inside to let his mom know about the little kitten. 'Amma, amma, see what I brought... and showed his mom the kitten. 'Chunmun you can't keep that... we have no idea what kind of disease or dirt it might bring with it...' 'Amma, please... I promise to take it first thing in the morning to the vet, and get the kitten inoculated and get its check up done....' 'But what about the other people in the block. You know Mrs. K is allergic to cats, and our other two neighbours might not take to a cat coming and mewing away at all odd times...' 'Amma, I will explain away everything to them so please say yes...” Ok ok ... 'sighed Chunmun's mother wishing he were an easy boy to look after like Mrs. G's Bunty.

'Yawn!' The next morning Chunmun woke up to a whole new day wishing every day was a holiday. 'Sigh! I have so much homework to do ...' he thought to himself when he suddenly remembered the kitten! It was waiting out there by the window sill, in the basket he had whisked away from the loft by the garage.

'What do I call this cute bundle of fur,’ squealed an excited Chunmun, as he gently picked up the kitten. He examined its beautiful grey-white-black colouring, and decided immediately to name it 'Smokey'. Waking up every morning with Smokey was truly a beautiful experience not just for Chunmun but also for all the people in the neighbourhood. Though initially they were cross with it, they soon found themselves looking on with rapt attention as Smokey kept them busy with her antics. In the end, it looked more like Smokey had adopted all of them rather than vice versa, and yes Smokey had clearly found a home in Chunmun's heart and hearth!