Starting the Magical Adventure: Read the Beginning of 'Cat and Chick in the Fairy City'

Cat And Chick In The Fairy City

To my sister Masha and my Mum and Dad

Chapter I

Cat and Chick, like most twin sisters, always got the same gifts from their parents, Papa Cat and Mama Hen. Every time, their parents would do the same thing: while the sisters were asleep, they snuck into their room, placed a little stool by their beds, and on top of each stool placed a gift. On Cat and Chick’s twelfth birthday, they did the same thing, but instead of presents in the usual sense of the word, this time there was something incredibly surprising. 

Waking up that day was particularly exciting, like waking before dawn knowing that you are about to go on a journey to unknown lands. Even while still dreaming, Chick began to anticipate. She flew over a vast green field, calm and without a single soul, heading towards her favourite spot – the mouth of a small, clear river, with tall grass partially covered in its water. She turned left and right, controlling her speed as if she was riding a skateboard or snowboard through the air. Then, suddenly, she thought that soon – already at the door – she would be flying not in a dream, but in real life. That maybe right now, on the stool by her bed, awaited the doorway to a world where everything was possible – not just flying, but anything at all. She hurried so much that she flew as fast as she could, blurring the scenery into a green-grey nothing. She shot out of her dream, sitting up in bed with her eyes wide open.

At that moment, Cat, who always woke up with both joy and mild anxiety – a new beautiful day of this world was beginning, where there was so much to get done — stretched her paws and, feeling the special gaze of Chick, turned around. No way! She immediately understood everything by looking into Chick’s eyes – her sister was waiting for her so they could do it together. 

Cat shot upright. Beside her ordinary bed, on the most ordinary stool, carefully placed by her parents at a distance of an outstretched paw, there it was: glowing blue-violet, made of miracles, multi-page (which was especially exciting), in a hard amethyst cover tightly wrapped with dried ivy, bursting with newness and mystery – the book of her life.

Inside, it held every turn, every fateful detail: where to go, what to do, and who to meet in order to live the brightest, fullest, and simply the best life possible.

Cat and Chick had never seen anything more magical. And nothing less magical either. It was the first magical thing they had ever seen. A call from another world – the Fairy City, where they had hoped to go in their dreams, where there would be so many adventures, enough for a thousand lives – and where they would have to go today. This time for real.

They looked at each other and grabbed their books simultaneously. The books were exactly the same from the outside. Chick looked at hers closely. The book would only open by itself once they were in the Fairy City, so for now they had to be content with the cover, which was securely protected by a tightly wound (very tightly – Chick checked) dry magical ivy. Cat and Chick heard Mama Hen in the kitchen talking to Papa Cat: “Just two tiny bundles of soft blankets… only twelve years ago.” Cat and Chick looked at each other.

“It’s time to let the bird... and the kitten, leave the nest,” replied Papa Cat.

So it was true. Time to get ready for the Fairy City! Cat jumped out of bed into her slightly worn blue slippers, going over the lists she’d made four years ago in her mind – which one to start with? The list of things to take? The list of all the people she had to say goodbye to? Definitely best to start with the list of lists.

But Chick stayed still, holding her book. It was believed that these books were brought at night by flocks of emerald parrots. And although Chick had heard a less romantic version from older friends, saying that the books had long since begun coming by regular mail, she didn’t believe this was true. Once, when she and her dad went to the forest for mushrooms, and Chick had almost purposely gotten lost, she saw a flock of birds in the dark forest sky between the trees. They swirled like tea leaves in a glass, only from left to right, all while speeding along. Marvellous technique! Perhaps, on that day, she’d seen those mysterious book-giving birds. Chick tested the ivy again – tight. Something absolutely wonderful was under the cover of her book, and her heart fluttered with excitement.

Meanwhile, Cat was already ticking off the list of things she had put in her suitcase. It was important not to forget anything, and she wouldn’t; that was just Cat. Warm night-time socks to keep her paw pads soft – done. Favourite mug in the shape of a strawberry – done. Salt lamp for reading in bed – done. Unicorn stickers she awarded herself with every evening for doing everything she had planned in the morning – inserted into the netted pocket of her suitcase lid. And, naturally, her most favourite item – her collection of appliance instruction manuals. Reading them from time to time gave Cat peace of mind, knowing she was doing everything right. 

There were so many things, and all of them had to fit into two small suitcases. No one could take more than that to the Fairy City. Neither could she bring her most precious Moonstick, her elderly pet snail. Every time she passed Moonstick while she was packing, Cat gently stroked her shell, saying things like, “You’re my bunny-gunny” or “You’re the prettiest snail in the world.” As she sorted through her necklaces, she even made up a song, the main words being “snail” and “Moonstick,” while the snail wiggled her little shell in time to the tune. 

Recently, Cat had decided to write down in a notebook her various nicknames for her snail, from “bunny-gunny” to “figgy-piggy,” and one notebook wasn’t enough. In fact, she’d stopped after filling the fourth one. In the last hour she must have gone through all the names from those notebooks. Snail was already six years old, out of the seven given to them to live, and Cat was going away, probably for a long time, and it was impossible to predict when she would return. Taking Moonstick with her would be too risky – such an elderly snail might not be able to bear the long, arduous journey, so Cat had made the responsible decision to leave her at home. Mama Hen would look after the snail, of course, but still, it was all very sad. Cat wanted to cry, to run and hug her mama. For two minutes she persuaded herself not to do it, repeating that she was an adult cat now, and then she did.

When Cat reached the kitchen, she saw Mama Hen reading a ten-page instruction manual written by Cat on how to take care of the snail. That helped Cat get her paw on herself a little. After all, she was going to the Fairy City — it was time to behave like a grown-up cat. 

Cat knew how to calm herself down – she should make herself a tea with mint and wild strawberries, sit, clear her mind, and think about nothing. But this time, even tea didn’t help; she still felt uneasy. So uneasy that she ended up reading the kettle’s manual while it brewed.

Even that didn’t work, and before she realised what she was doing, Cat began to tear the little fabric bobbles off the kitchen towel and lay them out on the table in the shape of a daisy. 

“Cat. Cat,” she heard Mama Hen’s voice.

“Huh?”

Mama Hen came up to her and said, “Let’s listen to the silence.”

She sat down next to her, took Cat’s paw with her wing, and then they closed their eyes and listened to Papa Cat banging on the roof with a hammer.

“I’m so sad,” Cat cried.

Mama Hen teared up too and hugged her.

“When you feel like crying, you should cry,” Mama said, stroking her head with her wing. “You won’t fill a ladle with your tears, but when they run out, something new will begin. Something that couldn’t start until those tears were gone.”

Cat cried it all out and sniffed.

“That’s better. You need to learn to find peace, Cat. Books in the Fairy City only open when they sense peace.”

“Mama, can I take my roses with me?”

Mama Hen thought about this. Had the luggage inspection become stricter since the time she snuck in her hydrangea?

“Just make sure you hide them well.”

Chick, who by then had already stuffed all her belongings into her hiking backpack, was helping Papa Cat fix the roof of their two-storey treehouse. 

“Hand me the chisel,” Papa said.

Without looking, Chick felt around, found the tool, and passed it over. Down below, she heard Cat’s soft purring. 

“You are the most beautiful roses in the world,” Cat was saying in the garden, wrapping small pots of miniature roses in paper.

Chick turned her gaze back to the roof. She looked at the tiles, the sky, the trees, and Papa; everything inside her was bubbling with excitement. It was so wonderful – so many new things she would learn, so many interesting adventures to look forward to!

“I’m going to live in the Fairy City!” she shouted. Papa grinned proudly. 

The roof was finished, and now they had to carefully walk along the top to slide back into the window. Papa went first and turned to Chick:

“Scared?”

The roof wasn’t dangerous, but it was scary.

“Well, not really. It’s not frightening, if you don’t get scared,” Chick said, just as she always did.

She tried not to be scared, and it worked – the fear vanished. She reached the window easily and jumped in, pleased with herself.  

“You are something special, Chick,” Papa said, patting her on the shoulder. It was only his third sentence today, after “Come help me on the roof” and “Hand me the chisel,” but that was enough. 

“And remember,” Papa suddenly added as they stood in the attic, “if things ever get too hard in the Fairy City, think of me often, and I’ll come.”

Chick hadn’t considered that it might be hard for her. She got along well with everyone and was known for her ability to solve any conflict peacefully. For other emergencies, she had her favourite battle crossbow packed.

“Do you think it will be tough out there?”

“Well, it is the Fairy City,” Papa said mysteriously.

“But how will I recognise you? They’ll put the spell of oblivion on me.”

“I don’t think you’ll find a cat with ears this big anywhere else.”

It was true, Papa’s ears were huge.

“Let’s come up with something else too, just to be sure.”

Papa thought for a moment.

“Let me eat a grapefruit.” 

That made sense too; nobody ate grapefruit like Papa Cat. Whether he peeled them with his paws, cut them with a knife, or scooped them out with a spoon, his patience was always overcome by his love of grapefruit, and he always ended up covered in juice and sticky to the ears.

It took Cat a whole day to tick off all the lists. In the end, only one thing remained: “Sit for a moment before leaving.” The whole family sat quietly in the kitchen, in a very deep silence. Then Papa clapped his knees and said, “Time to go.” Cat finally ticked the last empty box and stuck a unicorn sticker on her calendar for the day. Done. Now they could leave.

Bye-bye, treehouse, Cat thought as they walked down the path.

She turned around and looked at the house. Cat felt that no matter where she was, some part of her would always be here, in her parents’ house. Not a big part. Just a tiny little cat. But it would always be here. Cat even knew where that part would be: on the kitchen shelf between the ketchup bottle labelled “cinnamon” and the carafe of water. In a yellow dress – looking just like her, only many times smaller. Cat smiled and hurried to catch up with the others.

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