A Home for Penelope

On a stormy night in Walterboro,

A story of rescue, love, and second chances.

rain poured, wind howled,

and a tiny kitten tumbled from a car.

She scrambled under a van,

her belly spotted like a cheetah,

a faint “M” on her forehead —

for Monkey, Mischief… or maybe Magic.

She let out a tiny sound—

meep.

Lisa heard it. Pops heard it.

They looked. They listened.

And they found her.

“Oh, you poor little thing,” Lisa said.

They wrapped her in a towel.

They gave her food.

They gave her warmth.

But what she needed most

was a home.

Lisa thought of her brother, Tripp.

He had loved a cat named Calliope

with all his heart.

When Calliope went to Heaven,

his heart hurt for a long, long time.

Lisa brought the kitten to him.

“I don’t know,” Tripp whispered.

“I’m afraid to love and lose again.”

The kitten looked up with her green eyes,

climbed into his lap,

and meeped.

Tripp smiled.

“This is Penelope,” he said.

And Penelope knew—

she was home.

Penelope made herself at home.

She slept tucked against Tripp,

hidden between pillows,

or burrowed into blanket “clouds”

with her stuffed monkey, Magilla.

She became best friends with Tutamas,

the chunky older cat,

and Sirius Black,

who she treated like her baby.

They played.

They snuggled.

They wrestled like siblings.

Penelope meeped instead of meowed.

She purred like a motorboat.

She perched on Tripp’s shoulders,

earning the nickname “Penelope Parrot.”

She loved to lie in the sun,

make biscuits on warm laps,

and watch squirrels and birds.

She tried to sneak bites of chicken,

milk, cheese, ice cream,

and crème brûlée.

Sometimes she got “cracky” —

pulling herself along the couch upside down,

then dashing in wild kitten laps

around the house.

She cackled at squirrels on the big TV,

swatted at birds,

and chimed in when Tripp and his sisters talked—

“Meep!”

She loved Christmas—

climbing the tree,

nestled in the tree collar,

gazing up at the lights.

One year, she was Santa’s tiniest reindeer.

She greeted Tripp when he came home,

followed him to his room,

and “told” him to nap.

She made biscuits on him

until his eyes closed.

Then she slipped away… quietly.

Once, she went to Gigi and Papa’s farm.

On the way home,

she perched on Tripp’s shoulder,

watching the world fly by,

before curling up in his lap to sleep.

She loved Lisa.

She loved Katie.

She loved Maddie.

She loved Oakley-Mae—

even before she was born.

One day, as she lay in the sun,

Tripp smiled.

She had come so far—

from a stormy night under a van

to a warm, safe home.

And maybe—just maybe—

Calliope had sent her.

Penelope had a home.

And so did Tripp’s heart.

THE END