Snap! A noise woke up Rose.  “What was that?” She muttered. She heaved herself out of her fluffy bed and walked into the kitchen.

          Rose was a grey she-cat. She lived with her owners in a housefolk nest on the edge of the woods.

          Snap! What is that? She thought. She pushed through a flap in a door that led to her backyard.

          Outside Rose felt free. Snap! It sounds like it is coming from over the fence! She thought. She clawed her way up the fence. The forest stretched out in front of her. She longed to go out there and explore but she was afraid of getting lost. She sat there thinking until her curiosity took her over. She leaped down the fence and started to walk into the woods. She glanced up. The sky was growing darker. 

She would have to find out what the noise was before dark. Snap! There it is again! This time, Rose bolted after it. She ran and ran until she halted in front of a shaking bush.

          Snap! The noise was coming from the bush! Rose knew there was something big inside of it because she heard it all the way from her nest, which she had come very far from. Rose felt scared. Back at the housefolk nests she heard stories about huge orange creatures called foxes that had jaws strong enough to snap a cat in half!

Suddenly, a cat burst from the bush! A mouse scuttled out from under her paws. “I was so close…” She muttered. Then she noticed Rose. “Hi!” she said.

          “Hi.” Said Rose

“I’m Kiwi! I’m a bit lost. Do you happen to know the way back to the housefolk nests?” Said Kiwi.

          Rose glanced over her shoulder. For the first time she realized how far she had gone.” I’m a bit lost myself…”

          “Oh… Bye then.” Said Kiwi as she walked off.

          “Wait!” Called Rose “Do you want to stay with me tonight?"

          “Of course!” Called Kiwi.

          A while later, with no luck of finding their way back, they climbed into a nest in a tree that they had woven out of brambles.

          “Good night.” Said Rose.

          “Good night.” Said Kiwi. 

In a few minutes they were asleep.

          In the middle of the night, Rose woke to a light shining through the walls of the nest.

          She heaved herself out of the nest and scrambled down the tree. When Rose got to the bottom, she was amazed at what she saw. She clawed her way back up the tree to wake Kiwi.” Kiwi!” She called. 

          “Yes?” Kiwi mumbled.

          “I can see the lights of the housefolk nests!”

          Kiwi jumped from her bed to follow Rose down the tree. When she saw the lights, she bolted toward them. 

Rose ran after her. They ran and ran until they neared the housefolk nests. They split up at a point near the nests. “Want to meet each other at my nest in two sunrises?” Called Kiwi.

          “OK.” Said Rose.

          As Rose climbed over her fence, she whispered,” I will go back into those woods someday. They gave me an adventure that I will never forget.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Calliya Hallgren is a middle-schooler who loves warrior cats and eats a lot of sushi.