Born on New Year's Eve on the quay in the fishing port, there was the cat still without hair on its skin.

On the fourth day, out of nine siblings only five remained. Survival was not easy for stray cats. Mommy cat went out several times a day to feed and came back to nurse its cubs.

Looking for dry and safe places the cat had moved several times. It carried its children one by one to the new place and there cleaned them with its tongue, nursed them with its thin, worn-out udders until they fell asleep.

One afternoon, mommy cat didn't come back. It is not known how much time had passed since its birth because human age is different from cat age. They were alone and it was mandatory to learn how to provide food for themselves.

With its blue eyes, white hair and perfectly proportioned body it is came out of its cardboard box. It was alone in the world. No siblings and no mother but with a good attitude to discover the world around its self.

While trying to steal a fish to eat a child saw it and approached lovingly. He was Justin of 10 years old. When he came close he put his hand over its head. It was the first time that a human treated its well.

Justin was gentle. He placed it between his arms while his fingers caressed its belly. It was a moment of great tenderness.

Justin told it:

your name will be PrettyEyes and you will live with me forever.

When Justin got home, he showed his adopted stray cat to his parents. There was no empathy for Justin's parents.

PrettyEyes was surly because she learned it to defend itself in the lonely life. But, with Justin it was different.

It's good to have a cat in the house because they are good rodent and vermin hunters.

Justin's parents said. PrettyEyes was scared; it was still young and hadn't learned to hunt for food.

PrettyEyes' life changed radically. It is had a bowl where they put its food. Also it had a comfortable sleeping pad, and a child who loved it and whom it loved.

PrettyEyes was growing cognitively faster than Justin but the love between them was the same size.

One day Justin put a beautiful necklace around its neck with a rattle. PrettyEyes agitated to take it off but he couldn't do it. Its legs still small were tearing the necklace and the bell was ringing. It was uncomfortable but it ended up getting used to it.

In the house, the life of PrettyEyes was to play, eat and sleep. Everything was beautiful until a filthy sewer rat showed up one day in the kitchen.

Justin's mom was screaming in terror. PrettyEyes went to the scene and met its enemy. The blue eyes of PrettyEyes first opened wide and then sharpened. The rat's black eyes did not blink as they met.

The two animals were almost the same size but the rat was stronger. A fight to the death broke out between them. PrettyEyes did not have the cunning of its rival but the cat instinct came out immediately.

The agitation of the humans was not perceived by the animals that rolled together while pawing each other.

The rat managed to slip away and hid behind a box on the kitchen floor. PrettyEyes felt triumphant. Moving quietly it saw the rat's tail behind the box and was determined to attack but the rattle on its neck discovered it and the rat jumped on it biting it on one of its legs.

PrettyEyes felt the pain of the bite and collapsed. In a life-and-death reaction, PrettyEyes bit the rat's neck in a deadly way. The high-pitched, agonizing screams of the filthy animal were horrible. Its filthy body twisted violently as PrettyEyes continued to clench its jaw on the rodent's stinking neck.

Losing its strength and about to die the rat made his last attempts to escape from PrettyEyes. Five strikes went directly into the cat's left eye. Finally, the rat's body hung motionless in PrettyEyes' mouth.

Still shaken by the fight, it went out into the street with the dead animal between its teeth. It threw in the garden it, walked away and looked; as if waiting for its resurrection to kill it again. But the rat did not move.

In the fight, PrettyEyes lost the left eye and a scar would mark his new life forever. Now it knew what was capable of and was willing to do it.

With this story I want to participate in the fiction challenge week 9 organized by Hive account@theinkwell. To know the conditions of entry you can check the rules in the following link Theinkwell fiction challenge | Week 9.