The dog found the kitten scared and shivering, not even old enough to realize
she was trapped inside a paper bag.
The dog whimpered outside but the kitten was afraid to come out.
(She knew what dogs do to kittens.)
But the dog would not give up. He picked the paper bag up in his teeth, and took it where he wanted.
Soon the kitten felt the dog's warm tongue
searching inside her paper bag, and even though she was still afraid, she liked it when he licked her fur. So she emerged from her paper bag, and looked up with respect at the dog's large dark green eyes and long sharp teeth.
They say that nobody can train a kitten.
They are wrong.
She learned that when she did something right, he would pick her up in his mouth by the scruff of her neck. He lifted her up to the angels in Heaven, and her soul felt light as a cloud. At the same time the action reminded her of how small she was,
but she loved being small. As his long sharp teeth dug into her skin, she purred.
He liked having something so small and innocent to nurture. He liked that she fit in the palms of his two paws, or that when she curled up beside his beating heart,
he felt her purring. And she learned to be playful and wash his soft fur with her sandpaper tongue, and to spell his name backwards. Her fear had turned to worship, and his pity to love.
~ra