Secret In The Shed
Laura peers inside the shed, with her heartbeat pounding in her throat. It seemed the darkness inside had swallowed her cat whole. Where was he? She shouted out to him, but he didn’t come. Laura had to be quick. Her mom would flip out if she saw her in there. You see Laura wasn’t allowed in the shed. Her mom made sure of that.
She steps inside the shed and flashes her phone around. Then, adrenaline floods her system, and panic sets in deeper as she notices a box in the corner. What was in it? She feels the urge to run, escape, and hide. It’s no different from when she was a child fearing the ‘monster under the bed.’ But she wasn’t a child anymore. And this wasn’t a make-believe monster. This was real life. She walks over to the box and a terrible feeling hits the pit of her stomach.
The Perfect Life
Laura Robinson thought she had a perfect life. She had incredible parents, a gorgeous house, and fantastic friends. Not to mention she was about to start university in the upcoming months.
Yes, it was safe to say that Laura was loving her life. Nothing could have phased her in this new chapter, she was eager and ready. But little did Laura know how wrong she was.
A Secret Conversation
One Monday morning, Laura got out of her bed and made her way downstairs for breakfast. But before she entered the kitchen, she heard her mom Ronnie and dad Adam whispering.
She peered around the corner and tried to listen out. They both looked flustered - as if they were holding in a secret they didn’t want anybody to know. What was the matter with them? Little did Laura know her world would soon come crashing down.
What Were They Hiding?
“We can't tell her,” Laura’s mom said. “She’ll be devasted.” A feeling of panic crept up Laura’s spine as she listened in. What were they on about? Why would she be devastated?
Laura had to find out the truth. But it wasn’t like her parents would tell her. Far from it. Laura had to find it out for herself. But what she would soon uncover would leave her doubting everything she ever knew.
Something Didn’t Sit Right
You see, for as long as Laura could remember she always felt like her mom and dad were hiding something.
And after hearing their conversation, it just proved Laura’s suspicions correct. Her parents were hiding something, but what? And more importantly, why were they hiding it?
She Had To Find Out The Truth
Laura knew she wasn’t just going to sit down and stay quiet. Families are supposed to tell each other everything right? She had to find out the truth.
She had the right to know whatever secret her parents were keeping from her. But little did Laura know, she should have just kept quiet.
Cleaning Out Her Closet
Later that day, Laura decided to clear out her wardrobe. So, around 4 hours later, she had managed to sift through hundreds of clothes. She wanted to take the bags of clothes to a charity shop, but for now, she was going to leave them in the shed at the bottom of her garden.
As Laura made her way to the shed, suddenly she heard a scream. “Don’t go in,” the voice yelled.
Don’t Go In There
Laura’s mom came rushing out, “don’t go in there,” her mom said. “Why?” Laura questioned, her hands on her hips. “Just don’t please,” her mom’s expression was flustered, as if she was trying to come up with a legitimate excuse.
“There are rats,” she said swiftly, “and you don’t want to let them out do you?” With that, she picked up the bag of Laura’s clothes and walked back to the house. But something felt strange about this situation. What was her mom hiding?
What Was Inside?
“We can just put these in my wardrobe,” Laura’s mom shouted back. Laura hesitantly agreed and walked back to the house. But with each step she took, another question popped into her head. What was inside the shed?
Before she entered her house, Laura turned back and looked at the shed. And a terrible feeling hit the pit of her stomach.
She Had To Get To The Bottom Of It
A few days later, Laura’s mom and dad had gone out to the city. Laura was home and was halfway through making a smoothie when she glanced at the shed at the bottom of the garden.
What was in there that was such a secret? Laura knew she had to find out the truth. Even if that meant going against her own parents.
Letting Her Cat Out
As she took a sip of her smoothie, she saw her cat, Nibbles, was trying to get out of the house through the back door.
Laura went over and opened the back door for him, but something inside her told her to follow the cat. She had no idea why, but she knew she had to follow.
Following The Cat
Laura followed behind Nibbles as he made his way through the garden, then he came across the shed. The cat turned around to look at Laura and let out a meow as he scratched the front door of the shed. The cat wanted to go inside, but why?
It was just a shed. It had gardening tools and rubbish in it. Laura had no idea what was coming.
Inside The Shed
She opens the door to the shed and Nibbles slips in, disappearing into the darkness. Laura then attempts to find a light switch but to her dismay, it doesn’t work.
She can feel her heartbeat in her throat and panic brewing like tea in a pot. She had to be quick and she had to find whatever it was her parents were keeping from her. But time was running out.
Looking Around
She whips out her cellphone and loads up the flashlight app. She carefully scans the room with her eyes and flashlight, trying to find something that looked strange or suspicious.
A few seconds later, Laura saw something. And it was something that would turn her world upside down.
Someone’s Home
Just as Laura was about to gasp, she heard a car pull up, followed by the sound of a car door slamming. Had her parents come back already? Laura looked at her phone; they had only been out 20 minutes, surely it wasn’t them?
Either way, Lara stood frozen in her tracks trying to listen out. If it was her parents she was going to be in deep trouble. But time was running out.
That Was Close
A few moments later, Laura realized the sound was from her neighbor's opposite. Phew. That was close. She carries on looking inside the shed.
As her eyes scanned the dusty and cluttered shed, suddenly, Laura notices a large box in the corner. And a terrible feeling hits the pit of her stomach.
A Random Box
Hidden in the corner was a massive box covered in fabric. What was inside? Slowly, Laura made her way over and ripped the fabric off. She had to find out why her parents didn’t want her in here. What were they hiding?
She opens the box and right there and then, Laura’s knees drop to the floor. She couldn’t believe it. Was this legitimate? Was this the reason why her parents had been so sneaky?
Truth Is Revealed
You see, it turned out that inside the box was a top-of-the-range computer with a note stuck on it saying “To Laura,’ she was speechless!
She had been wanting this computer for years and as she was starting university in a couple of months she dropped a few hints to her parents, but she never expected them to come through!
Back Inside The House
Laura knew she couldn’t let her parents know she found the computer. They would be heartbroken. Quickly, she leaves the shed and heads back into her house.
She sits down on the sofa and looks out the window waiting for her parents to come back. She couldn’t believe it. They had got her such an incredible computer!
Grateful
Her parents arrived back and Laura kept her lips sealed shut. She was going to wait for them to surprise her, after all, she didn’t want them to know she went against them. When they walked through the door Laura went over and embraced both of them. She said nothing, but her affection said a thousand words.
Laura had learned of her parents’ generosity because she had followed her cat. But another woman learned about motherly love and devotion when she decided to follow a tabby who was acting strangely.
A One-Of-A-Kind Cat
She was speechless, and a swell of emotions flooded her mind. It had taken a lot of effort to follow this cat and figure out the reason for her strange behavior. And now that she knew the truth, she almost couldn’t believe it.
In all her years of taking care of stray cats, she had never seen something like this. But, despite her incredulity, she knew she had to do something about this bizarre situation.
Cat Lover
But this old woman had never imagined that her love of cats would lead her to this wild adventure. Living in Seoul, South Korea, she has been around cats her whole life, and she took to them since she was really young.
Five years ago, she moved to an area of the city with many apartment buildings close to each other. The large number of back alleys and terraces makes it a perfect spot for stray cats to congregate. The woman became acquainted with them pretty quickly.
Their Caretaker
The old lady started feeding the stray cats soon after she moved in. The other neighbors didn’t mind, because it meant the cats would stay away from their windows and not poke around in their trash.
It didn’t take long before all the cats in the neighborhood knew her, and she knew them. But cats are furtive, and she didn’t know all their secrets. There was one cat who was especially intriguing, and it soon caught the woman’s attention.
The Mysterious Tabby
The woman started to take notice of one particular cat – a female tabby, who started acting differently from all the other cats. When the old lady approached with bowls of food, she would come near and sniff around but didn’t take any.
The woman thought she might have just eaten, but she did the same thing the next day. Then the old lady realized she’d seen that cat before. It wasn’t strange for stray cats to disappear for a while and come back. What was strange was this cat’s behavior.
A Mother’s Loss
The woman remembered that the tabby, whom she had named Dong-Sook, had given birth not long before in one of the buildings’ basements. A neighbor informed her that she’d had five kittens but that none of them made it.
The old lady felt sad thinking about that and assumed maybe the cat was still grieving for her kittens. Could it be that Dong-Sook was so heartbroken that she didn’t even feel like eating anymore?
Hatching The Plan
The old woman decided to try and cheer up the tabby. She bought wet cat food, something she only brought out on special occasions. There was no way that Dong-Sook would refuse such a tasty treat.
She opened the can and placed it on the ground in front of her. The cat stared at the food, looked up at the woman, and meowed. But she didn’t touch the can. Then she did something unexpected.
Taking What She Wanted
As she stood there watching Dong-Sook, the old lady held a bag of dry cat food that she would later give to the other strays. She knelt down to pet the tabby, still bewildered at her refusal to eat.
The cat then reached out with her paw, trying to knock the bag out of the woman’s hand. The woman let the bag drop to the floor. Dong-Sook grabbed it with her teeth and darted away, leaving the old lady scratching her head in confusion.
Crazy For Bags
The woman was still in disbelief at Dong-Sook’s behavior. In her five years feeding strays, she’d never seen one act like that. The next day, she came out armed with another bag of food, wanting to see if Dong-Sook would try to take it from her again.
Just as the day before, the cat took the bag and ran. The old lady still had no idea why, but she was determined to find out.
Giving Chase
The old woman had decided to follow Dong-Sook to see where she took the food. She came outside, as usual, with a plastic bag of cat food. She waited for the tabby to appear, and placed the bag on the ground.
As soon as the cat took it, the woman followed, camera in hand. As Dong-Sook led her through narrow alleys, she realized it would not be easy to keep up with her.
Almost Lost Her
The old lady almost lost track of the cat when she jumped up on a ledge onto a terrace. But the woman climbed the stairs and found Dong-Sook, who had now stopped climbing and was instead pacing around the terrace.
She still had the plastic bag still in her mouth. It was almost as if she was waiting for something. Then she saw it: a kitten.
Hungry Kitten
Climbing up the ledge was a small tabby kitten. It walked up to Dong-Sook, who promptly dropped the bag of food at its feet.
The kitten proceeded to rip the bag open with its teeth, with such ease that the woman figured it had done it before. It then ate the food inside, as Dong-Sook watched closely. The old woman realized what this meant.
The One Survivor
Clearly, not all of Dong-Sook’s litter had perished. This one kitten survived, and its mother was doing everything she could to keep it alive. The woman was brought to tears by this realization and decided she had to do something to help.
While Dong-Sook was clever and resourceful, the old lady wanted to ensure her efforts would not be in vain so she contacted a local animal rescue group. She wanted to give the tabby and her kitten a better life.
Trying To Catch Her
Staff from the animal group saw the woman’s video and were left in awe of Dong-Sook’s actions. “After suffering, she was attached to the kitten,” said one of them. They sent rescuers to the woman’s neighborhood to find and catch the cats.
It was not an easy task since they were not familiar to Dong-Sook. As a lifelong stray, the tabby would not give in without a fight.
Together And Safe
The rescuers trapped the kitten first since it was smaller and more docile. They picked it up with extreme care, to show Dong-Sook they meant no harm. When the time came to catch the mother, she was wary but eventually let them take her.
She knew it was the only way to be reunited with her kitten. The woman was sad to see them go but rejoiced at the thought of what they were gaining.
A New Life
The group found a home for Dong-Sook and her kitten and bought them a brand new house for them to sleep in. The kitten was excited about all the new, warm blankets, jumping playfully around its mother.
Dong-Sook didn’t show much emotion, but when feeding time came, she finally accepted a bowl of food. It was as if she knew she no longer had to worry about finding food for her little one.