Cats in the Hood (from 22nd Street Stories)

The Mural Cat
By A. A. (6th grade)

One day, a girl named Jasie was wandering around the Mission District with her mom, Catrina. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tip of a tail go down an alleyway. She dragged her mom over and saw a pretty cat. It was a mix of chocolate brown, light brown, and black. It also had pretty hazel eyes. She walked slowly over to it, holding out her hand. The cat came up to her and rubbed its face against her hand. She started petting it, and realized it was a stray cat. She also noticed it had a spot that looked like dried blue paint on the end of its tail. She picked up the cat and went over to her mom.
“Please, can we keep it, Mom? It is a poor stray cat, and it could die!”
Catrina replied, “Okay, we can keep the cat.”
The mom and her girl put the cat in their car, drove to the pet store, and got supplies. Then they made a stop at the veterinarian, and got the cat its shots. They named the cat Sophia.
About a week later, Jasie was bored and decided to paint. She got out green, pink, yellow, and purple paint. The cat stood on the table next to her and watched as she poured green paint into a shallow cup. Sophia came over a dipped her tail in the paint and panted a slightly curved line on the paper. Jasie looked up at the cat in surprise, and it painted stems and leaves. Sophia walked over to the sink and flicked up the lever with her paw, turning on the water. She cleaned her tail and repeated this after she used each color. When the cat was done, she had painted a painting that had amazing details of flowers. Jasie went to the Mayor and asked him to let them paint a mural. He agreed, and the cat and the human got to work.
A month later, the mural was done. It was an Earth, with humans and cats encircling it, inscribed with the words "If animals and humans are friends, humans can bring peace." The cat was then loved by all of the Mission District.

The End

Inside the mind of a cat named Dixie...