The Kitty Oracle

You find yourself in a plush apartment somewhere on your favorite side of town. You’re there for a gathering and everyone else is saying hello to each other, but you’re admiring the host’s adorable baby cat as it lounges, its eyes closed in that pleasant cat-at-rest kind of way. It even has a little kitten smile on its face as it sits on its perch, unbothered next to the crowd.

This is what you’re still doing when a man in a ball cap says, That’s a cute little kitty! He is already mid-stride across the room toward the cat perch when the cat opens one eye, then closes it again and resumes its nap.

The man has his finger out like he’s going to poke the cat and you have your mouth open to say, Uhhhh I wouldn’t do that… But you stop yourself. You’re going to let this one play out. You can’t explain it, but you can sense that something about this is important for you right here, right now.

The room is silent, everyone watching what will happen next. Nothing, nothing, nothing as the man’s finger draws closer to the cat’s face. Maybe it will be a harmless boop on the nose, you think. But nope, he jabs his finger at the cat and YEOW! Quicker than anyone can blink, the cat jumps forward, embedding eight claws and many teeth in the offending finger.

As the finger’s owner howls in pain, a cloud passes over the sun that was shining through the window seconds before. The cat flashes its eyes at you and stares an extra long moment before withdrawing its claws and returning to its slumber.

You have found The Kitty oracle, and it has a story to share with you today.

The Kitty oracle says:

People have no idea who they are messing with when they try something with you. You seem so amiable, so affable, so dang friendly. You have that heart-melting energy that gets even the toughest out there laughing along with you, telling you about their day, and asking if you want a snack. There is just something about you that makes people feel like they can let their guard down and enjoy themselves.

Energy like that manifests on the outside. You can’t even help it. Your voice has a lilt. You smile easily. You love playful banter. It might even show up in your physicality: your hair, your outfits, your vehicle, your home. If you’ve ever tried to hide it, you know how difficult that actually is.

All of that makes you a serious crowd pleaser. Not by trying, just by being. Have you ever been in a room when someone brings a kitten in? Nothing else going on stands a chance. That’s you, catnip to others. EVERYONE loves big kitty energy, purr.

Everyone, that is, except the kind of person who stands in the shadows, literal and metaphorical, wanting to be the one in charge. They see the sway you have and they want to have it, too. But not by cultivating their own inner kitty, oh no. They make the mistake of thinking they can take your influence from you. They confuse your warmth for weakness, and your friendliness for being easy to control.

And so they try it. They cross the line. They leap across it, with glee. They invade your personal space. They start petty arguments to try to make you look bad. They go on the attack to knock you off your pedestal. They try to convince you and everyone else that they are lorge and in control, and you are a smol little nothing in the world.

What they never expect is how you can go from friendly to fearsome in the flip of a switch blade.

It takes incredible self-possession to be the way that you are. It doesn’t come easy, being a kitty, and this person is far from the first person who has tried to taunt you.

All they think is: What a nice, sweet little kitty. I bet I can mess with that kitty.

Ahem, no.

You are so chill because you are comfortable in your own skin. You are so open because you hold the line where you end and someone else begins.

They’ve been on this planet how long? But they still haven’t learned that many of the world’s fiercest creatures make cute first impressions. You know, the ones you do not fool with and think you’re going to come out the other side bragging to your friends. Bears come to mind. And moose. Oh, right, and kitties.

They’ll learn though. Mid-evisceration, if need be. In front of everyone at the party, if that’s how they want to play it. The minute they show their hand, your blades come out and apex predator mode activates.

People love to watch this, by the way. It only increases your adoration, the way you rip someone to shreds who very much deserves it, all with that famous smile on your face.

Because it’s happened before and it will happen again. It’s not even that big of a thing to you. It’s just someone who effed around and found out. They will become another one who will never forget: Kitty’s got claws, and you’re not afraid to use them.

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About the Author
Bailey Lewis is an award-winning fabulist author and interactive storyteller (MFA, University of South Carolina). Her stories experiment with formatting, object-based interactions, and narrative design to create story encounters where the mystical suddenly arrives in your everyday world. Bailey has been featured in The Wigleaf Top 50 and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Recently, her object-based storytelling project, The Gumball Machine of Great Fortune, was selected to receive a public art grant at ArtFields Festival 2026 and ongoing installation in Lake City, South Carolina.

Visit the Bailey Sends Word Story Studio site for more about Bailey and her work.