Curiosity+Killed+the+Cat,+Nadia

As I slowly blinked away my sleep, I looked around my room. Suddenly my eyes widened and my pulse raced. There was something furry and bleeding under my little brother’s bed. I looked closer. It was a dead cat. And next to it was a note.

I quietly got out of bed and looked at it. It said:

//Curiosity killed the cat. Pandora means curious.//

I grabbed a tissue from my bedside table and started to mop away the blood so my little brother wouldn't see it.

My little brother stirred. //Act casual, Pandora//, I told myself. //Try to get him out of the room.// “Jake, wake up. It’s time to go to school.”

“Ammawake,” he said back, yawning.

“Oh yeah? Bet you I’m more awake,” I said, casually sliding the tissue under his bed. “Race you downstairs.” Being the competitive fifth grader he was, he jumped out of bed and practically flew out of the room and down the stairs. I raced after him, sliding down the rail of the staircase.

“Hey, no fair! That’s cheating,” Jake yells playfully. “We have to start over. Come on, back to our room.”

“Um… no, that’s not necessary,” I say hastily. “I cheated, so you win.”

“Oh, come on. I need to get my socks anyway. I’m already dressed for school, see?” He started heading back up the stairs. I rushed after him, but he had gotten too much of a head start.

“STOP!” I yelled.

“What’s wrong? My socks aren’t gonna bite,” he joked, then opened the door. “Oh my! What… Pandora? Why on Earth is there a dead cat under my bed?”

“I have no idea, I promise. I woke up this morning and just saw it there, so I tried to get you out.”

“Wait a minute- there’s a note. It says…”

“I know. I read it. But I’m telling you: I didn’t do it!”

“Mom! Mom! Pandora killed a cat!”

Mom, who was downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast, yelled back, “Please speak up, I think I misunderstood you. I thought you said you sister killed a cat,” and laughed.

“She did! Just because her name’s Pandora! Come and look!”

Mom came up the stairs, saying, “This better not be a joke.” Then she opened the door and gasped. “Wow. Pandora, you did this?”

She got down on her knees, picked up that awful note, and read it. But, unlike Jake and I had done, she wasn’t satisfied.

She turned over the note and read:

//Just kidding! I did it//. //Jake//.