The Bat Prince

April 24, 2008, 11:20 AM

This is a little story about a girl and her pet bat, who seems to be more than just that. It isn't yet finished but it will be soon~

Cara slowly trudged home after a grueling day of day of school, her shoulder length breaking from its bun and blowing in the harsh wind made by cars zooming by. On the sidewalk bits of the skeletons of roadkill littered the way and made it smell truly awful in the August heat. She’d already gotten sunburned from walking to school in the morning, and from being outside at lunch, but now, it was even worse on account of her clothing choice. She wanted to make a good impression on the new freshmen and potential friends on the first day of school, so she wore a black bandshirt of her favorite band, comfortably tight dark green pants, and green sneakers.

Unfortunately, the only thing happened was that she got odd looks since no one had heard of that band, and by 1st period, she was soaked in sweat. The makeup she’d put on ranoff and her once neatly brushed was a frizzled mess that she threw into a bun.

While Cara walked home, a loose cat swatted at a small, furry, white creature with large ears that was apparently dead. When it moved, the cat ran away scared. Cara didn’t notice the furry creature until she saw its pure white fur stained with blood. She grabbed a stick and gently poked at it. It rolled over and a white leathery wing wrapped itself around the body. It took Cara a few minutes to put two and two together. When she did, she ripped the sleeves off of her shirt and wrapped the cloth around the creature then went quickly the rest of the way home. When she made It, she went into the bathroom to dress the bat’s wounds. There were deep gashes on the bat’s strangely blue belly. She cut away the clotted fur and dabbed at the wounds with an alcohol swab. It twitched in pain.

She dug into the medicine cabinet for bandages and carefully wrapped then around the bat’s body, cutting slits for its wings, then took it upstairs into her room. She emptied a shoebox and lined it with an old sweater. She put it inside then went about her business. A hour later, the bat was awake and hungry. It crawled out of the box and onto her desk, near an apple that was placed there.
“You’re a fruit bat? You’re a little out of place.” Cara went into the kitchen to get a knife and some cantaloupe. When she returned, the bat was laying on her bed with its wings wrapped around itself. She placed the bowl of cantaloupe she’d cut up on her desk and chopped up the apple into small cubes. The bat gorged itself on cantaloupe, and Cara ate a couple pieces of the apple herself. After it was done eating, it laid on Cara’s bed and was soon asleep.

“This is weird. Why aren’t you in my closet, hanging upside down from the hangar pole?” She asked out loud, starting on her homework. After a while she got a call from a friend asking to hang out. “No thanks, I have a few things to take care of.” She said, looking at the sleeping bat. The bat’s behavior bothered her. She opened the window in case it wanted to fly out later, and found a gold bracelet to put around its neck, almost like a collar. She then sat there and pet the soft fur between its ears. She knew very little about how to take care of a bat. From what she saw, it liked fruit, and sleeping on soft things instead of upside down and eating bugs.

Soon it was awake again. “I think I’ll call you Blank.” Cara said, petting the bat. She had to go eat dinner and when she was back, she brought with her the table scraps to see if Blank would eat it. It did and bothered her for more. “No more. Time for sleep.” She said, shutting off the light after changing into her nightgown. Blank buried itself under the covers. ‘You’re supposed to be awake now, lazy bones.” She commented.

The next morning, Blank woke her up early. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” She sighed. She brought up some cut-up fruit and put it in a bowl for Blank.