In a dark street lived a stray cat named Cadensa. She had no home except an old carton, which was surprisingly cosy. During the winter, she gave birth to three kittens and named them Lily, Chubby and Mittens.

All three were very playful. However, as time passed, Lily and Chubby got lost. Mittens felt lonely and spent most of her time with her mother because she did not want to be apart from her. Soon summer arrived, and Mittens was now six months old.

Sometimes Mittens would go and play in the wide, open fields. Her mother, however, had grown old and sick. Mittens was deeply worried because she did not want to lose her. But destiny had other plans, and one day her mother, Cadensa, died.

By then, Mittens had become experienced. She had learnt all the hunting skills from her mother. Life continued with hunting, playing and sleeping. However, she was always scared of humans. Every night she feared that someone might harm her. Yet her mother had taught her to face her fears and never hide.

One day, the street was cleared of all the trash, and the box she lived in was also taken away. Mittens decided to leave the area. It was painful, but she had no other choice.

As she walked along the street, a little girl came out of a nearby house. The girl immediately fell in love with Mittens and gave her some food. Mittens was surprised. For the first time, she realised that humans were not always bad.

She continued wandering from place to place. One day, in an abandoned corner of a street, she saw a sad little kitten. When she asked about her, Mittens learnt that the kitten’s name was Lily and that her entire family had died. Mittens felt sorry for her.

Then she had an idea.

“Do you want to come with me on a journey?” asked Mittens.

“Yes,” Lily replied.

“Then let’s go,” Mittens said, and together they began their adventure.

During their uncertain journey, another kitten named Chubby and a puppy also joined them. Soon the four of them became good friends. They cared for one another and protected each other, because they had all lost their families and had now become each other’s family.

One day they wandered into a forest. The forest was dense, but they enjoyed playing there. Suddenly, they saw a lion lying beside a bush. It seemed to be in great pain.

Mittens slowly walked closer. The lion only groaned weakly. She realised something was wrong. After carefully inspecting its paw, she saw a large spike stuck in it, causing it to swell badly.

Without wasting time, Mittens used her sharp teeth and strong grip to carefully pull the spike out.

From that day onwards, Mittens became known around the forest as a courageous young cat. She spent her days protecting the weak, helping the helpless and proving that even a small and ordinary cat can be brave.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026

Have you ever noticed that when you play with shapes and colours, even simple things can turn into something you didn’t expect?

This week, I thought, why not make something with shapes and give your wall a fresh new look? Let’s create this bright sunburst art using just a few items that you can easily find around the house.

Things you need:

1. One black chart paper, or black A-4-sized paper

2. Red or (colour of your choice) glitter sheet

3. 6 Bar-b-cue skewers or sticks

4. One circle mould (you can use any bowl)

5. Scissors

6. Ruler

7. Pencil

8. Hot glue or glue stick

Directions:

1. Draw a circle on the glitter sheet with the help of a mould and cut it out. The circumference of the circle should be about four inches or smaller, depending on the size of the background sheet you are using; picture 2.

2. Cut this circle in half; picture 3.

3. On the remaining glitter sheet, draw and cut teardrop shapes in different sizes. Each teardrop should be no bigger than one inch; pictures 4 and 5.

4. If the barbecue skewers or sticks are too long, break or cut them into smaller pieces, such as 1 inch, 2 inches and 3 inches. Then paste one teardrop shape on the end of each stick piece; pictures 6 and 7.

5. Take one long skewer/stick, place and paste it in the middle of the black sheet. Now, paste the two half-circles on the right and left sides of the stick, leaving about 1 centimetre of space at the top and bottom of the stick, as shown in Picture 8.

6. Start pasting the teardrop sticks around the circle, beginning with the short stick. You don’t have to follow the order; just paste random-sized sticks so they resemble sun rays, pictures 9 and 10.

7. Once one side is complete, repeat the same steps on the other side; picture 11.

8. Your sunburst wall art is ready! You can make a border with sticks around it or leave it as it is. Either way, it will look beautiful once you hang or stick it on the wall.

The writer can be contacted at ithecraftman@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026