"Bravo" The Warrior Prince

Bravo was a sauntering kitten. A rather large but normal looking tabby with bad eyesight and a pedigree that would strike fear into any ordinary pampered house cats’ heart. He had been the only offsping of a backwoods experiment by a trapper who wanted a wild cat for a pet. This trapper had had a lynx for awhile, who actually stayed nearby for the food the trapper would share. The trapper had developed a respect for the young lynx, but as a true to form trapper and backwoodsman, he knew that a lynx’ fur was worth more than her friendship.

But something tugged inside of this grizzled trapper’s heart. He wanted a pet. Not just an ordinary pet - he wanted a cat that had attitude – big attitude. When one of his friend’s male kittens grew to an extraordinary size, he came up with a brilliant idea (for a backwoods hunter). He would mate his large male with the young female lynx.

It took quite awhile for the missy to reach her moment of rapture, but, it did occur. Since, the large tom was the only male available, as the hunter had put together a rather elaborate honeymoon suite for just the two of them - nature took over. The trapper was the proud owner of a clynx as he dubbed the sole kitten that came from the coupling. Once the kitten was born, the female lynx would have nothing to do with him. The male tom ran away to seek other wild women, and the trapper was forced to find someone who knew how to care for a kitten.

The trapper called him “Bravo” for the brave and fearsome soul that would take over once his bottle-feeding stage was complete. Unfortunately for the trapper and for Bravo, Bravo turned into a docile, sweet, rather large tabby.  He would thrust his head into his bowl of kibble with relish, knowing the food was there, but unable to adequately gauge how far away it was. He was considerably farsighted!

To say the least, the trapper was disappointed. He didn’t want a docile, bottle-fed tomcat lolling around his trapping grounds.   The trapper was fond of the kitten, but, this clynx would get eaten by the first hungry coyote that travelled past.

He asked around, casually, to see if anyone wanted to buy a bonafide clynx. There were no takers as when the prospective buyer came to see Bravo, he would head -butt the fellow and act the perfect gentleman.  The trapper was embarrassed by his ill-fated attempt as a breeder. He put Bravo in his truck and drove him into the city. The trapper figured someone would find a cat that was so friendly. Bravo would walk up to anyone!

At a local hospital, the trapper hid food & water in some bushes and gave Bravo one last petting, “Good luck ya old housecat… why couldn’t’ve ya been a real fighter!”  With that, the trapper dragged the sleepy Bravo under the bush where the food and water was and sped off.

Bravo didn’t fret. He just stretched out under the bush taking in some of the sun that leaked through the leaves and fell asleep. Little did the trapper know what dreams Bravo had that day.  As his lynx blood began to stir in his now nine month old body, Bravo dreamt grand dreams, fabulous dreams. He felt his mother’s ancient lines calling.

He was to become a great warrior of the Abbottsford Cats.

"Bravo's Mom" @2011 Kim Yvonne Cady

Pencil & Digital