Three Itty Bitty Kitties

   Early this morning, when I was in the bathroom and trying to find my boots while stressing about my Govt. final, I heard a mewing noise, like a kitten. I stopped, but the sound didn't, and I went out to my backyard to investigate, but there was no noise. Not only that, but when I went back to the bathroom, it was silent. I frowned and walked into the hall. "Mell," I asked, puzzled. "Did you hear that, or am I just losing my sanity?"

   "You have to be sane to actually lose your sanity," was her reply.

   "No, seriously. I think I heard a cat meowing."

   Mell glanced over at me as she tried to figure out our corded phone. "I don't know. I've heard it before, but not for months..." she muttered, before suddenly becoming distracted by our caller ID. I was irritated, but went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth, grabbed my coffee, and got into the car. I had forgotten about it by the time finals were over and I was back home.

   Dancing to Adam Lambert, I cleaned our kitchen that now only gets cleaned once a week 'cause its mostly just Mell and me. I grabbed an empty Sprite can from the counter and opened up the back door to toss it in our garbage can that held soda containers, when a flash of something black caught my eye. Curious, I peeked around the corner to see... a black mama cat and her three adorable kittens. I blinked, confused, though I probably shouldn't have been. I mean, the cat lady only lives two blocks away.

   I slowly set the can on the concrete steps, and sat myself down to watch. The cat looked agitated and paced back and forth, and went under the car before hissing at me. I decided to go back inside before I got a claw in the eye.

   "Hey, Mell?" I whispered, since Tony was asleep in his chair.

   "Hmm?"

   "We've got kittens."

   "Huh, what?" She looked so confused, but I would, too.

   "I mean, there are some kittens out back, beside the house." After a second, and a muttered, "Ah, crap," she got out of the chair and followed me outside.

   "Aww, aren't you just so cute?" Mell cooed, and I grimaced. She wasn't exactly a cat person, but she loved baby animals, even kittens. (Who doesn't?)

   After a second, the mama cat ran away under the house. "Um..." I started.

   "No, we're not feeding them."

   "I know, I mean, um, what are we going to do about them? I don't want them to die..." I took a quick peek at the kittens, hidden under a mess of black berry vines.

   "They won't. The mama cat's feeding them, and probably teaching them how to catch mice. I mean, with all the mice around our house? Psht. They won't starve." She walked back inside, and I stayed out for a minute before doing the same. I grabbed a small, salmon colored plastic bowl and filled it with water. She said don't feed them, but there was nothing about water in that sentence. I went back out and put it next to their spiky home, and waited.

   Finally, three itty bitty kitties crawled out and drank.