C04-Angel Candidate Catherine

Dedication: This story was inspired by Noah Redondo, who requested that I continue Carson and Penelope's story.

Authors Note: Angel Candidates are everywhere. They come in all ages, sizes and every other categorization. They see a need and choose to help.

Angel Candidate Carson met Penelope one fateful day at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when the giant Snoopy balloon that she was helping to handle began to go out of control. He risked his life to try to hold her from soaring into the sky with the balloon when a number of other handlers let go of their ropes, but she was tangled and could not do so also.

They became great friends and then more, eventually marrying in a beautiful ceremony during which many individual sized balloons, Snoopy and other kinds, were released as a symbol of their chance meeting.

Life was good for the young couple. They flourished at their jobs, had many friends and no complaints.

But this story is not about them. It is about their little daughter Catherine.

Catherine was a happy, well adjusted little girl of ten years. You could say that she was the product of a happy family life, free from poverty and the everyday struggles that afflict so many, but it was more than that. Maybe it was DNA or maybe it was just that she was a generally good and happy person. Whatever the reason for her bubbly personality, she was adored by her parents, and grandparents, as well as most everyone who knew her.

This morning, she had her slightly longer than shoulder length curly golden blonde hair pulled back into a floppy ponytail and was wearing worn jeans and a tee shirt. She was eating a bowl of Captain Crunch at the table when Carson, her father, came into the room.

“Hey Pumpkin,” he said. “Wha’cha got planned for today?”

“Not much,” Catherine told him. “I’m ‘sposed to meet Bernice and Janice at the park.”

“Should be a good day for it. Only in the seventies. Good weather for an adventure!”

“You never know if the goblins will be running amok!” Catherine quipped.

Smiling at his precocious daughter, Carson grabbed a piece of toast from the plate on the table and took off for work. Over his shoulder he said as he left, “Don’t forget to tell your mother where you are going and take your phone in case you need rescuing from the goblins.”

Catherine did share her plans with her mother, and then was off to meet Janice, who lived all the way next door. Together, they went to the next house on the block and collected Bernice, who brought her soccer ball, then the three friends walked across the street to the park.

Mason’s Park was a busy neighborhood hangout. There were several families cooking hot dogs and burgers and a community soccer team practicing on the field. The space between the numerous trees was well manicured and a hedge of red-tip photinias ran across the rear boundary, setting a barrier along a small stream. There was just enough open space and vegetation for both family gatherings and make believe adventures.

The three friends spent a while playing chase and hide-and-seek before settling into a three way soccer match.

*. *. *

Bernice gave the soccer ball a good kick trying to get it past Catherine’s guard. When Catherine moved to block the ball, it bounced off her hip and went ‘out of bounds’ under the red-tip hedge. It had seemed like the ball would be right there, but the girls could not find it.

‘Oh no!’ Catherine thought to herself. ‘I’ve made a mess of this.’

Not wanting to let her friends down, Catherine wiggled under the branches where she thought that the ball had gone into the hedge. Slipping out the other side, she looked around and saw the ball a few yards away, perched on top of a small hill of rocks, on the edge of the stream that ran along this side of the hedge.

“Did ya find it?” Janice shouted from her side of the bushes.

“Yeah,” Catherine answered. “It’s on some rocks. Give me a minute!”

She scrambled down the stream bank and started toward where the ball sat atop the rocks. As she picked her way carefully because of the uneven footing, she thought that something was odd about how the ball rested. As she drew closer, she thought that the ball was moving.

As she reached out, the ball definitely moved. It rocked side to side twice , then came to a rest again on a bed of what looked like a dark, fluffy pile of moss. Moss it was not. Moss does not make any noises beyond an occasional rustling. This ‘moss’ let out a distinctive and positively unhappy “Meowww!”

Catherine pulled back her outstretched hand as if she had touched something hot. The moss resolved itself into a little black kitten with a white patch on its chest which stood up shaking itself indignantly. As it did so, it dislodged the ball, which bounded down right into Catherine’s hands.

Ignoring the ball, which she had caught easily, she focused on this new discovery.

“Not a goblin,” she declared.

“Meowww,” the kitten seemed to agree.

“What are you doing out here , all alone?” Catherine wanted to know.

“Mew, Mew.”

Setting the ball down in a steady spot, Catherine reached up and lifted the kitten down, enfolding it against her chest, in the protection of her arms.

“Aren’t you the cutest thing!” She said. “Are you lost?”

The kitten looked up at Catherine and their eyes locked. For Catherine, everything around her faded into an out of focus haze in which only the bright green eyes of the little kitten existed. She wobbled a bit unsteadily.

It seemed as though there was not a sound around her. She could no longer hear the water of the stream bubbling over rocks, nor the chirping of the numerous birds that had filled the area with their happy calls but a moment ago.

What she did hear seemed to be in her head instead of coming in her ears.

“I’m Kreesalapurr,” the kitten seemed to say, her chest rumbling with a vibrating sound.

“Catherine,” she said in response, as one often does during introductions, but in thought also, rather than words.

That was all the verbal communication that was needed for a few moments. The girl and the kitten just stared into each other’s eyes. Catherine felt a little lightheaded, almost tingling.

“Cathy!” Her friends called. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she managed to get out in a croak, then more firmly, “Yes, I’m coming.”

Retrieving the ball and holding the kitten closely, she made her way back up the slope to the hedge and wriggled under.

Of course, the appearance of their friend, accompanied by a cute little kitten caused an instant stir. Both Janice and Bernice wanted to know everything.

Play was over. Everyone wanted to pet and hold the adorable kitten. The girls headed home buzzing with comments and questions.

*. *. *

When Catherine walked into her kitchen with the kitten, Penelope had questions too.

“And what do we have here?”

“I found her by the stream. I think she’s lost. Can I keep her?”

“We’ll see. Her mother or another little girl might be looking for her. We’ll see what your dad says when he gets home.”

This was a conversation, variations of which had occurred many times in other households before.

When Carson came home, it was decided that the kitten could stay while a search for lonely momma cats and little girls was conducted. When none were discovered in a few days, it was decided that the kitten should stay.

“What will you call her?” Carson asked.

“She purrs all the time so I think I’ll call her Shepurrs,” Catherine said.

“That’s a unique name,” Penelope chimed in.

Of course, Catherine knew that the kitten’s name was really Kreesalapurr, but she did not want to be questioned about how she knew. Shepurrs was close enough and did not require additional explanations.

Catherine and Shepurrs became inseparable, the kitten frequently going along in Catherine’s backpack.

*. *. *

It was on another sunny afternoon, about a week later that the three friends and Shepurrs were again at Mason’s Park. As they frequently did, they were playing 2 on 1 soccer. Catherine noticed another girl, about their age, standing near, but not with, a group that seemed to want to have nothing to do with her.

As she watched, the girl edged closer to the others, words were exchanged, and the group walked away, laughing and chattering as they looked back at the girl who was rubbing what was probably tears from her eyes.

Catherine’s heart went out to the little girl. She had been in that position before in her short life and knew the feeling well.

Hurrying over, she stopped next to the girl and said, “Hi! Are you free? We need another player for our game.”

The girl jumped in surprise but then a huge grin spread across her face. “Yes, I can play!”

Following Catherine back to where Janice and Bernice waited, the girl was introduced. Her name turned out to be Haley. She lived only a few houses down and had recently moved into the area with her family. Shepurrs came over and rubbed her approval on Haley’s ankles.

The threesome became a foursome from that day forward.

*. *. *

In the ethereal realm, somewhere across the cosmos, in a location that was not real in the solid or visible sense, but was The Place where such things were done, Josephus opened his massive ledger and made a note. Another new Angel Candidate had appeared on planet Earth in the Sol system, and she had bonded with a Myrrthrym.