'Jenny's Cat' by Tilly Greenland

It was Jenny’s 3rd birthday and all she wanted was a cat. She’d never met a cat, never held one, but she’d seen pictures and her friend at nursery had one. And that was all she wanted.

Mummy and daddy as their cat had recently had a litter of kittens who were now ready to leave.

Jenny was so excited, she would get to choose the kitten herself. They were all in the kitchen and Jenny walked around the kitchen table looking at them. There was one black and white one who was sitting all alone, next to the table leg. “I want this one.”, she said as she grabbed it and picked it up. “This is Fluffy Cat.”

They put Fluffy Cat into a box and drove home, stopping briefly at her grandparents.

“I’m staying in the car with Fluffy Cat,” Jenny said. With windows and doors secured Jenny let Fluffy Cat out of the box. She had very sharp claws but a pretty smiley face. Fluffy Cat wandered around the car, followed closely by Jenny who made sure she didn’t get into any trouble. Then they sat on the back seat together, Fluffy Cat settling down on Jenny’s lap. That’s when Fluffy Cat started making a very strange sound. Jenny hadn’t heard it before and was frightened. She didn’t know what it was. Plopping Fluffy Cat back in the box, Jenny quickly left the car and ran up to her grandparent's door.

Safely inside Jenny burst out crying “I broke the cat!” she sobbed.

“What on earth do you mean?” asked everyone, concerned.

“She’s making a funny noise. I didn’t do anything, I promise. It sounded like rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”

Then everyone started laughing. “Oh, my dear Jenny, the cat is purring, she is happy she likes you,” said Gran.

'Only In Dreams' by Suzanne Hicks

You don’t remember the first time you walked because your memories don’t go back that far. And you don’t remember the last time you walked because the ability slipped away so slowly. That last time, a memory never captured, but one you relive over and over in your dreams. 

'The Driving Lesson' by Francesca Leader

Dad stopped the white Ford F-150 in the middle of the Arizona desert, and said, “Time you learned to drive.” Or maybe he was gentler, phrasing it as a question, such as, “How about you try driving?” Or maybe he just said, “Let’s switch places.” I really couldn’t tell you, not remembering what kind of mood he was in that day. We’d come all the way down from Montana to visit my stepmom’s snowbird parents, and Dad’s back used to hurt him on long car trips, messed up as it was from firewood-splitting, horseback-riding accidents and the like. So I’m guessing he might’ve been terse. Then again, I was his only child, from whom he’d been separated for most of the past five years, and we were together now—really together—on a family trip into the harshly beautiful landscape that inspired Georgia O’ Keefe, one of the painters he most tried to emulate. So I think it’s likely he was feeling reflective. Maybe pondering how soon I’d be leaving for college, and how unprepared I was for adult life. I remember the red and gold blade of the road out in front of me; the steering wheel juddering between my nervous hands; the F-150 swerving each time I struggled with the stick shift; the gears grinding, and the brakes jerking, in response to my inexpert movements. I know Dad snapped at me for nearly burying the truck up to the axle in sand; I know he soon apologized for snapping at me; I know I fell asleep that night in the truck bed under the camper top, nestled in blankets and sleeping bags, while Dad and my stepmom took turns driving, talking all night beneath the clear-aired, star-blazing sky. And I know I felt loved, and happy, and safe.

NFFD 2023 Prompt #22: There's a First Time for Everything

 

 There's a First Time for Everything

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2023 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of time.  Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one time-related prompt on the hour every hour from now until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until midnight on Sunday (BST) to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In.  We'll start posting responses on Sunday, 25 June 2023....

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Write about your first time doing something.  You can write from the point of view of yourself or a fictional character.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 22: There's a First Time for Everything.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 25 June 2023 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 2 July 2023 by going to the here (hosted by the NFFD website).