Eliza tore the lid off of her birthday present and leaned inside. Staring up at her with big yellow eyes was a fluffy black kitten, purring happily. Eliza scooped him out and said, "Your name will be Rupert and I will love you forever!" She carried Rupert up to her room and showed him around. "This is your room now too. I hope you like it!"

 

Rupert adjusted rather quickly. He claimed Eliza's pillow as his new bed. He stretched and sharped his claws on the sofa instead of his scratch post. He even chewed on TV cords instead of playing with his toys, but Eliza was okay with all of those things because he was her kitten. 

 

A couple of days later, Rupert started to act strange...

 

Eliza was eating cereal when the ball of black fur flew into the kitchen quicker than a flash. He snatched the spoon right out of Eliza's mouth and he scaled the fridge to the very top. He spun on the spot and froze, holding the spoon cocked back. His eyes swiveled slowly, following something. Suddenly, the spoon darted across the room and clattered against the counter top. 

 

Eliza yelled, "Rupert! Don't throw silverware!" She retrieved her spoon from the counter when she noticed it had landed perfectly on a fly. 

 

"Wow, lucky shot," she whispered.

 

She turned back to the fridge only to find that Rupert was gone. 

 

Eliza scratched her head, wondering where he could've disappeared off to when she heard a horrible racket from the family room. 

 

She hurried around the corner and gasped at the sight: A pile of books littered the floor and Rupert was still as a statue on the top shelf on the bookcase. His little arms were out wide while he balanced on one foot! 

 

Eliza's hands snapped to her hips and she cried, "Rupert! What do you think you're doing?!"

 

Rupert pretended not to hear her. He was far too focused on balancing. Suddenly, he leaned forward. Eliza's eyes widened as she watched him fall over the edge. Then, Rupert pulled his arms together in the perfect swan dive. As he plunged to the floor, he flipped like a gymnast and landed perfectly on all four paws. He looked up at Eliza. "Meow?" he asked.

 

Eliza looked at him sideways and said, "Are you sure you're a cat?"

 

A second later, Rupert was off like a shot, bolting up the stairs and disappearing around the corner.

 

Eliza sighed and said, "Great. My kitten is an alien."

 

 

The next day, Rupert was acting even MORE strange. 

 

Eliza was just rubbing her eyes awake when she spotted Rupert attached to her bedroom window screen. As she squinted at him, Rupert's hair fluffed up and he sprang from the screen as if by electrocution. Eliza hurried to check on him, but he just looked at her and asked, "Meow?"

 

Later that day, Eliza opened her refrigerator and found Rupert in the meat drawer! 

 

Eliza pulled him out and said,"Rup! How did you get in there?! This is getting out of hand!" Rupert couldn't reply because he had a mouthful of ham. Eliza sighed and said, "I guess aliens really like ham."

 

 

The next morning, Eliza came downstairs to find Rupert hurling oranges at pictures hanging on the walls. Each orange smashed into framed glass, sending it shattered to the floor.

 

"Rupert! That's dangerous!" Eliza cried. She rushed for the broom and swept up the glass. "If mommy sees what you've done, that'll be the end of you!" Eliza tossed the glass shards in the trash and glanced out the kitchen window to see her mommy working in the backyard. "Rup, you better hope she doesn't hear–"

 

A crash echoed from Mom's office. Eliza hurried down the hall and peeked in. Her eyes grew wide. Rupert was rolling around on the world globe, hugging it with all four limbs while it spun across the floor.

 

Eliza peeled him off and yelled, "Now you're trying to trying to attack planet Earth? That's it!" She stuffed Rupert into his carrier and said, "You're going back to your planet. I can't raise an alien. It's just too hard." She yelled, "Mommy! We need to take Rupert to NASA!" 

 

Just then, the mailman came and handed her a stack of letters. She thanked him, set Rupert's carrier down, and skimmed through the pile when she noticed a letter addressed to... RUPERT! Her eyes nearly popped when she read the return address: NINJA CAT ACADEMY.

 

Eliza gasped and whispered, "Ninja?" She dropped to her knees and clicked open the carrier. "Oh, Rupy, I'm sorry! I thought you were-" Eliza peered into the empty carrier. "Rupert?"

 

"Meow."

 

Eliza looked up and spotted Rupert on the staircase. He was wearing a ninja mask and holding nunchucks.

 

"Aww Rupert! Were you trying to show me that you want to join the NCA?"

 

Rupert ran to Eliza, purring and meowing happily. 

 

"If you want to be a ninja cat, then I guess that's okay. But can you promise to stop destroying the house? Otherwise, mommy will send you to NASA anyway."

 

Rupert meowed and rubbed against Eliza's ankle. 

 

Eliza giggled and yelled, "Mommy! Rupert needs some ninja gear!"

 

Mom walked inside and said, "Did I hear you right? Did you say Rupert wants to join the NCA? What's the NCA?"

 

Eliza squealed, "The Ninja Cat Academy! Obviously!" Eliza squeezed Rupert in a bear hug before setting him down. "Okay, first things first. You need a uniform to practice in and a proper teacher. Then, we'll need to get you a kitty-sized sword and ninja stars. Are you writing this down, Mom?"

 

Mom sighed and went back to work outside while Eliza and Rupert talked all things Ninja.

 

The End.

 

-H.C. Herman