Dad said to go crawl under the barn and put the new kittens in the gunny sack. The momma cat wouldn’ta let me near them, but she was off mousin’ in the field, so I crawled into dusty crack on my elbows but quick and eared my way toward the pitiful mewing. I shone the flashlight on ‘em, all blind and pink like baby rats. Everything is so weak when it’s born. No teeth or nothin’. I coulda held three or four of ‘em in my hand, but I didn’t want to hurt ‘em, so I put them real gentle in the sack, one by one. Even though I knew what was comin’ – no need to be cruel.
I shuffled out with the squeaking bag bundled in one hand and the flashlight tucked under my belt. I didn’t need it ‘cos I could see the light from the hole I came in through. I was careful not to squash any of the kitties while I dragged the bag out. I blinked at the bright sky. It was one of those white skies where you knew the sun was there somewhere, but it seemed to take up the whole sky.
Annie was on the porch bawlin.’ When she saw the squirmy sack she mouthed “NO” like she was screamin, but no sound came out. Momma had to come out and grab her arm to keep her from runnin’ after me. I watched Momma squat down to talk to Annie as I crossed the dirt road to the river. I knew she was explaining about how there were too many cats and they’d all get sick, and how every few years we have to thin out the population if we want any of them to survive to kill the mice. I know ‘cos she had to tell me when I was little and crying just like Annie.
So I found a good rock to weigh the sack down, and I wrapped the ties from the bag around it a few times, then tied a good knot like Dad shown me before. I made pretty sure the rock couldn’t slip out. The kitties were still screamin’ as loud as they could, which wasn’t very loud. The sound of the river almost drowned them out. Then I walked to the dock and tossed the sack as near to the middle of the river as I could, with the rock. I watched it til the bubbles stopped.
Later in the evening I saw the mama cat pacing by the barn, howlin and screamin and lookin for her babies. I threw rocks at her til she skeedaddled.
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