Chapter One

A dreary, hot day in the Singh household, Tiger and Lakshmi are up to their usual mischievous selves. Dashing around, knocking over everything, they spot something unusual today.

Tiger stared sullenly at the ceiling as she lay on the chair in the prayer room, her lime-green eyes balefully tracing the movement of an annoying fly that had just entered the room. Circling round and round about the light bulb, the fly then proceeded to fly close to Tiger. She snarled, and tried to swipe it, raising one fat paw in anticipation of the fly's trajectory. The fly just kept moving, undisturbed by the plump cat's eternally slow attempt to catch her. "She probably hasn't seen exercise since the dawn of flies" muttered the fly as it flew out of the prayer room and into the comfortable chintz armchair in the hall. Time to search for some good leftovers in the generous Singh household, chuckled the fly sneakily.

"SWIPE!" The fly was pinned to the floor by something small. "Oh gosh, who is this?" thought the fly as it slowly wriggled itself and turned around. There stood the undisputed Queen of the house, Lakshmi. Lakshmi was a full year younger than Tiger, but made up for it with her extreme playfulness and ferocity in play fighting. The ants whisper that her mother was an antelope, and her father a lion, since she could run like the wind, yet have such great strength. Even her running style mirrored that of an antelope, as she loped gracefully throughout the house, sending everything in her way flying.

Her meow was like a roar, and it became apparent to the fly that it was in serious trouble, as Lakshmi stood over her, a towering shadow blotting out the Sun behind her. Uh oh.

Fixing the fly with a blazing glare reminiscent to Tiger's baleful stare, Lakshmi squeaked "Didn't I tell you that I would eat you the next time I saw you in this house? You pesky fly!" She swatted the fly with her right paw, as she held it down with her white left paw. Her olive-green eyes, normally soft with adoration towards her masters, had taken on a hardness like never before. This is the fly that irritates Master Lavanya and Master Tejash, thought Lakshmi, and it is my duty to protect them! She swatted the fly again with her paw, causing an alarming bruise to throb madly on the fly's eye.

"Please, forgive me! I have a family that I need to feed. I don't wish you any harm, I just need food for my family" begged the fly. Lakshmi stopped in her tracks,  her paw raised in the air, uncertain of herself. Compassion is something my masters have always thought me, she thought. I cannot begrudge this fly the opportunity to feed it's family. Yet, I cannot trust him. He has disturbed my Masters before. Dilemmas raced through Lakshmi's mind as she stood frozen on the spot, unable to reach a decision congruent with her conscience.

Tiger peered, interested, at the struggling fly trapped below Lakshmi's paw, her pig-like nose quivering with anticipation. She licked her jowls, pausing only to give a huge yawn that displayed all of her perfectly groomed and whitened teeth. Normally, Tiger wouldn't help Lakshmi in anyway, but the fly was one bothersome thing after all. Someone needed to cajole Lakshmi into the ETHICAL decision.

"Why not let him go this time?" yawned Tiger as she eased her heavy body down to the floor, causing the chair to swivel slightly. She fixed Lakshmi with a beady look. "Who are we to take life over such petty matters? Why, even our Masters let them go" Tiger said.

"I guess you are right, Tiger. It's just that this isn't his first trespassing. That got me worked up" Lakshmi said to Tiger, who nodded in apparent understanding.

"As for you, you will be spared today" Lakshmi squeaked to the fly, who nodded with great difficulty while being pinned to the floor. "Count your lucky stars that my Masters are merciful, else I would have devoured you in one fell swoop. Scram along now!" Lifting her paw, she allowed the fly to hurriedly make it's way to the window, mopping its bruise as it went along.

Reviews

[B]

I see a writer here with great amounts of forgiveness in his heart
the story here is covered with it
and i think that is stunning
that you can deliver the importance of letting anything go
that is beautiful

[Ishita Dixit]

Hahaha!
This was such a simple and hilarious mood lifter, Master Tejash!
If Lakshmi and Tiger are for real; give them a paw-five from my side! :)

[Leviathus Fortes]

This story put a smile upon my face.
Thank you.

[....................]

There is a great lesson here and I could picture this as a children's book, fully illustrated in colour. You have a good imagination and an ability to draw readers in. You tell this story well!!!

[Tks]

Thank you, Ledrew! Yes, I do intend to turn this into a small book for children, for their smile can make anyone's day:) Have a good day ahead!

[....................]

That is absolutely awesome! You have a great day too!

[Lav]

Wow, this is indeed a cute piece of writing, Tks! Keep up the good work, I foresee quite a few bestsellers from you.

[dan]

This piece about cats discussing and deciding the fate of a fly in their area is fascinating. At first I must admit I was skeptical how this would play out, but your writing is so well-phrased and complete that this stage-play in the animal kingdom works on so many levels. My only thought, other than how good this is, is that no cat (and I have had many) considers any human housemates their "master." If you yell at a dog he skulks away with his tail between his legs, whereas if you yell at a cat it looks at you as if to say, "Are you talking to ME?" Hence the term for lions, "The King of Beasts." Cats take no crap from anyone. I can't have cats now because they don't like ferrets, and I have one of those, one of 'nature's clowns.' Very good write! take care...dan

[Tks]

Hahaha I do find ferrets to be quite adorable, Dan. Yes, my cats are pretty responsive, especially the younger one, Lakshmi:) thank you for your long, informative reviews:) they are appreciated more than you know. However, you know the saying about how a lion can be tamed too;)

[dan]

Tks, I do like, when I review, to write more than "good writing." I think any writer deserves more than that. But hey, good writing! 8^) take care...dan

[~]

Aha, now I understand why you have the lions on your profile. I liked it!! Keep up the good work.

[Tks]

Thank you for dropping by, moonskittles:) yes, that is one major reason why, hahahaha.

[Mary Bradley]

Very good story Tks . Keep on the good work and publish your book ! :-)

[Tks]

Thank you so much, Mary! Hope this made you smile a bit, have an awesome day ahead!

[Lexyeff]

Alright just to step out of professionalism for a moment; That was freaking awesome, I seriously dig your style, dude. No really though, I was hooked after the first sentence. I like how detailed you can go into things and then still handle your dialogue very well, all while keeping the story going and adding background info. to the characters. Very impressive in my opinion. Thanks for the request!

[Tks]

Hey Lexyeff! Thank you for your genuine and kind words:) I'm happy that you were able to enjoy my little story, and yeah, thanks for stepping out of professionalism for awhile hahaha. Thank you once again, have a good day ahead!

[Cool Girl]

This is really really good! Im not good at writing stories, but I see that you have talent:)

[Tks]

Hi cool girl! Thank you for the words of encouragement! I'm sure you are being humble, for I've read your writing, and I look forward to more:)

[Cool Girl]

Hello! You did an amazing job with writibg this chapter! I will be posting some more poetry soon, maybe some later today! You're welcome, my friend:)

[Tks]

Thank you! Waiting eagerly to feast my eyes on some good writing!

[Cool Girl]

Haha, you're welcome:) and thanks!