When I was in first grade, my class and each of the two others “published” their own collection of fairytales, fables, and pourquoi tales. I’ve recently uncovered this rejected story on my elementary school usb flash drive, conveniently guarded by a rubber pink monkey, only lightly dusted with dirt. I was 7 and it was 2012 and clearly I was too ahead of the times for even myself to see. This story did not make the cut, as I instead chose to be represented by a mediocre puff piece about a girl called Meredith traveling to New Orleans with hopes of catching a GHOST in a JAR(???). This is much better.
Once there was a sphynx cat. Her fur was as bushy and full as a cloud.
She was spinning and playing and she got hungry.
She went into her little cottage and saw no food. “I must go into the forest and get some fruit. “ She said. And I’ll bring my red flag in case I get lost.
The cat got a basket and went off to the forest. She saw some ripe oranges ahead and started running. She soon realized she was lost.
She picked up her flag and started waving it. Sad for her there was a bull nearby.
The bull started running for the red flag and its horns got stuck in her fur.
It tried to run away and pulled off all her fur. From that day on, sphynx cats had no fur.
By Nita Kourkouliotis.