[Novel] Part 1. episode 1 - The talking cat

 It was a chilly day in early spring, just as the forsythias were beginning to bloom.
 In front of a flower bed lined with yellow blossoms in a quiet neighborhood, a cat with gray stripes on its back and head sat with its eyes closed, dozing peacefully.

 

 "A cat!"

 

At that voice, the cat slowly opened one eye and murmured,

 "...What-eow?"

 "Huh? The cat talked!"

 The child gasped in surprise.

 Standing in front of the cat was a little one—barely taller than the cat itself. The child was so young, even their words weren’t fully clear yet.

 The cat, curious whether the child really understood its words—or perhaps just surprised by this tiny human—opened the other eye and spoke again.

 

 “What an unusual thing. What are you doing out here—ow?”

 "Nursery."

 

 The child said, pointing across the street at a small kindergarten.

 

 "...Are you allowed to be out here-ow?"

 

The cat asked in a slightly worried tone, thinking perhaps the child had wandered off without permission.

 

"Mommy said I’ll go to nursery school."

 

 The child replied.

 The cat thought to itself, Ah, so you’re not going yet.

 

 "Are you starting soon-eow?"

 "Yeah. But I can’t go. Mommy has to work, but it’s too expensive..."

 "...?"

 

The cat tilted its head. The child was so young, their words were still clumsy, making it hard to follow.
The cat paused, thinking deeply to try and understand.

 

"...I don’t really get it-eow. What are you talking about-eow? That’s hard to understand-eow."

 

 Still, the cat figured it had something to do with money—perhaps the nursery was too expensive.

 But whether that guess was right or not, there was no way to be sure—because the child, not really paying attention to the cat's reply, suddenly asked,

 

 "Where do you live, kitty?"

 "That house over there—with the big round trays on top."

 

 The cat turned its head to the right.
 There, among many similar-looking houses, stood one with large, dish-like satellite dishes all over the roof—making it stand out.

 In the yard beneath a cherry tree just starting to bloom, someone was wandering around, looking for something.

 

"What about you-eow? Where do you live-ow?"

"Over there."

 

 The child said, pointing behind them. Across the street was a dense row of modern, piloti-style one-room apartments(studio). The child was pointing at a building called 「Shelter One-room」 next to one called 「Happy One-room」.

 The cat instantly understood and asked,

 

"「Shelter One-room」? Right-eow?"

 

 The child nodded.

 Just then, a voice filled with worry rang out from somewhere nearby.

 

 "I-der~!" (Annotation:Korea original version pronunciation is similar to E-da)

 "Mom?"

 

 The child responded immediately.

 It must have been their mother calling.

 

 "Is your name 'I-der', meow?"

 

 I-der’s mother came rushing over, looking flustered and out of breath.

 

 "I’ve been looking everywhere for you!"

 "Mommy! Mommy, It's the Cat! Cat!"
 

 I-der pointed excitedly at the cat.

 And just then, another voice called out in the distance.

"Cat~"

"Oh no."

 

 The cat murmured, as if it knew what was coming.

 

 

 As soon as I-der’s mother spotted her, she ran straight over.

 

 "I’ve been looking everywhere for you!"

 "Mommy! Mommy, It's the Cat! Cat!"

 

 Relieved to have found I-der safe, her mother let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
 It was only when I-der pointed that she finally noticed the cat sitting right there in front of them.

 Some sound echoed faintly from deeper within the neighborhood, but I-der’s mother was so focused on her child that she didn’t pay it much attention.

 

“Meow.”

 

 The cat meowed faintly.

 But I-der’s mother was still entirely absorbed in her daughter. Whether the cat meowed or not, all she could see was I-der.

 

“Meeeoow~”

 The cat sounds again, this time a little longer.

 

 “Mommy, the cat says it lives over there,”

 

 I-der said, pointing toward the houses beyond.

 

 “It’s just a stray cat.”

 

 Her mother replied.

 

 “Meow.”

 

 The cat sounds again, turning its head in the direction I-da had pointed.

 

 “No. Cat said, lives there.”

 I-der mumbled, her voice a bit whiny. As if she couldn’t understand why her mom didn’t believe her.

 

 “Alright, alright. Let’s go home now,”

 Her mother said casually, taking I-der’s hand and starting to walk.

 The cat watched them as they turned to leave, and once again, the cat said softly.

 

 “Meow.”

 

 I-der was gently pulled along by her mom’s hand, but as she walked, she kept glancing back at the cat, her eyes fixed on it.

 

 “…It’s not just a stray…”

 

 Her voice was barely a whisper, and her face looked like she might cry at any moment.

Just then, a loud voice rang out from the neighborhood:

 

 “Cat~!”

 

 I-der’s mother stopped in her tracks.

 This time, she heard the voice clearly too.

 She turned and walked back toward the cat.

 

 “It must’ve run away from home.”

 

 she murmured.

 

 “Meow?”

 

 The cat suddenly felt the ground lift from under its paws.

 I-der’s mom had scooped it up.

 

 The cat wore an expression like, 'Well, I guess I’ve been caught', and didn’t resist at all. And then the cat allowed itself to be held without a fuss.

With the cat in her arms, I-der’s mother headed for the house with the trays and blooming cherry blossoms.
And She gently passed the cat into I-der’s arms. And I-der's mother said.

 

 “ My sweetie, let’s go return it to cat's owner.”

 “Meeeoow~~~”

 “Cat.”

 

 I-der said as she walked toward a person watering flowers in the front yard of a nearby house.

 The person looked up, turning toward the sound of her voice.

 

“Meow.”

 

The cat had returned home.

 

 

 

The next day, the sleeping cat’s ears perked up at the sound of the person who owned the house.

 

“Time to eat~”

 

The cat, roused by the call and the clatter of a ladle, stepped out of the room and into the living room.

It munched on the food served in a bowl marked 「MEAL」.

 

The person who prepared this food was known as the “Meal Maker.”

While the cat was eating, the Meal Maker sat at the small table nearby and spoke, resting one elbow on the tabletop.

 

 “You can’t keep repeatedly running away. Yesterday, I didn’t know where you were for a moment. it could’ve been dangerous.”

 

The cat kept munching—eyes half-lidded, unimpressed—thinking to itself,

 ‘Might as well chew through the Meal and the words too.’

 

 With an arm propped on the table, the Meal Maker kept talking, whether the cat listened or not.

 

 “If that little kid hadn’t brought you back…”

 

 At that, the cat paused mid-bite, looked up, and said,

 

 "About that little kid-eow… you know, she-"

 “Don’t change the subject.”

 “She said she can’t go to nursery.”

 

 The Meal Maker dropped her resting arm and raised her voice just a little. But the cat went on, utterly unfazed.

 

 "She brought me home yesterday. Don’t you think we should return her, meow?"

 “YOU ran off. Why should I?”

 

The Meal Maker replied curtly.

 

 "If it weren’t for that little kid, you might not have found me-ow?

 

 Silence fell over the Meal Maker—brief but telling. Perhaps the cat’s words had struck home.

 

 “Hm.”

 

 The cat continued.

 

“Her name is I-der.” (Annotation:Korea original version pronunciation is similar to E-da. In english pronunciation:ɪdə(r))

“I-der?”

 

This time, the Meal Maker listened more carefully.

The cat nodded and, just as he’d heard it the day before, added where she lived.

 

“She said she lives in the  「Shelter One-room」 over there.”

“Hmmm.”

 

The Meal Maker leaned her chin back on her hand, looking pensive once again.

 

 

 

 A few days later, in the early morning, the cat was lying on the dewy grass in the yard, lazily rubbing its back against the ground.

 

 “Kitty~”

 “Wha,What-eow!?”

 

The cat leapt to its feet in alarm. The cat hadn’t heard anyone coming, and was so startled its fur stood on end, its back arched, and its whole body stiffened like a coiled spring.

 

“Hello, cat?”

 

 Smiling brightly from beyond the yard’s fence stood I-der.

 

“Oh, it’s you—eow.”

 

 As soon as the cat recognized her, all signs of tension melted away. It sat back down and spoke calmly.

 

 “You really are a curious wonder—eow.”

 

 With a clear, gleaming smile, I-der shared her joyful news with the cat.

 

 “I go nursery tomorrow!”

 

 Hearing that, the cat lit up with a grin and said— 

 

 “Congratulation-eow!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This chapter was translated gently, with ChatGPT.