Page 6 - My FlipBook

A hand touches me! I am awake and, without looking or even thinking, I dart left right
left right and run right some more into a dark place. It is the edge of a pile of carpets,
very thin carpets. Nothing is coming towards me.

I look around and see the greyer man smiling at me.

He speaks slowly, calmly. “You are safe here, my little mavi fare. No terrified women.
No brooms. No cats. Only my carpets.”

I stare at him, wary. The cats say nice things, too, but they want to eat me.

He continues to talk. “You can stay here, my little mavi fare, for as long as you want. I
have left out some water and bread for you.” He points to a bare place on the wooden
floor. I see a tea saucer full of water and a small piece of bread.

“You are hungry, I can see, my little mavi fare. I will leave soon so you can eat.” His
face gets closer to me, so I back up more tightly against the pile of carpets. His warm
smile becomes a slight frown. “But you must promise me one thing, my little mavi fare.
You must promise me that you will not nibble on my carpets.” He slowly moves his
hand towards me. I try to back up further, but I am pressed against the carpets as far as I
can go already. His hand stops and he opens it. There is a pile of wool threads in his
hand. He turns his hand over and the threads and small wool pieces fall, ever so gently
and slowly, like tiny leaves, like tiny feathers, to the ground. “Here is enough to get you
started on your nest. I will bring more after your dinner. But you must promise to use
only the material I give you.” He looks me in the eyes. I nod my head up and down until
he smiles. “That is a good little mavi fare,” he says. “Now I will leave so you can have
your dinner.”

The man stands up and leaves the room. I do not move an inch. I hear a door close and
still I wait. I wait as long as my hungry stomach will let me and then I slowly, slowly
inch towards the water and bread, keeping to the edges of the piles of carpets the entire
time.

I fill my belly with bread and water. I eat as much as I can. For the first time in my life, I
eat until I can eat no more. Tomorrow, I will eat only as much as I need. I do not want to
get fat or the cats and brooms will catch me. But today, today, I eat. Today, today, I am
safe and can rest.

Exploring the room, I find a small place where the carpets do not quite touch the wall and
decide to make my nest in there. Piece by piece, I bring the threads and small wool pieces
to my nest. It is not much, but it is like a palace to me. Just in case, I go back to the bread
and nibble off a large piece. I bring that back to my nest.