| Task 2: A Character Sketch |

She wasn’t sure what her real name was because sometimes it changed. People called her different things whenever she journeyed to a new house. She would ask for food in the same way and there were normally one of two responses. The first one, which she preferred, was that she would be offered food. The second was that she would be shooed from the doorway. Rarely could any anyone speak with her and those that shared her tongue often didn’t care for her. They would hiss and watch her with sharp suspicion.

She didn’t really care if she was told to go away. She would go to another house. More often than not her heavy belly and her sleek, beige coloured hair and large eyes that looked like parts of the midnight sky had been cut from above and sewn into her eyes, would grant her one or two portions of food and words spoken with tones of fondness or curiosity. She thought she could sneak in and out of places for food but with the small ones growing in her belly, she couldn’t manoeuvre through windows or gaps.

Her frame was thin, despite the bulge, and her hair was short. Despite the dirt on her feet, her fur was mostly maintained. She was careful to groom herself. It wasn’t just because she disliked being dirty but because it helped with the reception she received from others.

Being on her own for as long as she could remember, which was not that long considering her youth, sometimes she would snap a little at those that helped her and those that watched. She was pregnant, cold at nights, hungry on others and knew only what the city showed her with the moon. Some streets were well lit and others were so dark that no one would notice her hidden in some bushes or tucked up near a house.

That was her life. That was the life of a pregnant stray cat.