PROMPT: write a story that follows a white cat

With matted fur and a sore limp in one leg, the once-white cat sulked in an alleyway. Rain enveloped her, a personal storm set to overshadow all of her nine lives, it seemed.

The howl of dogs in the distance sent her quivering behind a large rubbish bin. The scent of refuse made her delicate pink nose wrinkle in disgust. It'd almost been a year that she'd been on the streets, though it didn't seem like she was getting used to it any time soon.

Perhaps this fact was due to how this cat had known a life before the rain and the cold and the misery of being a stray.

Lilah, for that was the cat's given name, was given to a human family and torn away from her own at a mere 8 weeks old. How they adored her, that human family; perhaps because she'd yet to fully appreciate the love and care of her mother – how she'd grow to miss the gentle nuzzles and brushes of her mother's tongue at the fur just above in between her eyes.

The adoration of the human family did not last longer than a paw-ful of months. The daughter, a spoilt and insolent child, had fallen out of love with the white kitten once she realised that Lilah would not remain a kitten forever. A few pounds of healthy, yet clearly repulsing, weight gained by Lilah was what changed the family's mind.

Have we fed her too much? David, you promised me she'd be easy to take care of. Daddy, why is the kitty all fat now?

Lilah quivered at the memory, even now. Shame had crept into her fur and settled there, tainting the once pure white.

The rehoming shelter was a horrendous experience, though at least she was still fed and given water. The cage was less than ideal, of course, but at least she wasn't out in the rain day and night. The other cats in the shelter were vicious, so much so that Lilah cowered at the back of her cage to ensure their mangled paws with unreasonably sharp claws couldn't get at her.

These were deranged cats – everything Lilah hoped to avoid.

The shelter didn't last long; they were shut down by the authorities for something or other – 'maltreatment' was the single word Lilah caught as they shoved her in a crate and threw her in the back of a van.

As her hope had not yet been entirely extinguished, Lilah dreamt of a warm home with loving humans the entire journey. Not even the potholes and erratic driving could shake her of her optimism.

It was the jolt as she was expelled from her crate and onto the hard, cold concrete pavement – straight into a dirty puddle – that finally wakened her from her pointless aspirations. She'd landed on her feet, though as the months passed by, it was clear her new situation was no more fortunate than the previous one.

She quivered and curled into a tighter ball, tears of rain crawling down her matted greying fur.

(512 words)