Karla the Kitty and the Crumbled Castle: A Story About Accidents and Perfection
Once upon a time, in a cozy condo in a big city, lived a fluffy orange kitten named Karla. Karla loved everything to be just perfect. Her fur was always
clean, every hair perfectly brushed, her basket was always tidy, her toy mice perfectly lined up, and even her piles of crumpled paper for batting practice were meticulously arranged. She was a purrfect little kitty. When Karla played, she loved everything to be just right and just the way she
imagined.
One sunny afternoon, Karla was busy creating a magnificent castle entirely out of newspaper that she had previously colored. Her castle had big towering keeps made of wadded-up newspaper sheets and two smaller keeps. She even used sparkly pipe cleaners for fluttering flags. Karla was so proud of her creation, purring contentedly to herself as she was finishing up.
Suddenly, a playful gust of wind whooshed through the room, sending her clumsy flatmate, a puppy named Pippin, tumbling into Karla’s carefully constructed castle.
Before Karla could react, Pippin tripped, sending paper flying everywhere! The castle walls crumbled, the towers toppled, and pipe cleaners scattered across the floor. Karla screamed in disbelief. She was heartbroken that all her hard work was ruined. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the mess. She wanted to curl up in her basket and hide all day. For a perfectionist like her, this was an ‘end of the world’ situation.
Pippin, realizing the damage, whimpered apologetically and hung his head low.
Karla’s human, who had been watching from the armchair, walked over and knelt beside her. “Oh dear, what happened?’’ she asked gently,
scooping Karla into a warm hug. By now, Karla was crying inconsolably, her tiny paws covering her eyes.
‘‘My castle is ruined, completely ruined! It’s his fault!’’ she shouted, pointing to Pippin.
...
Have you ever worked really hard on something, like a drawing or a building project, and then something unexpected happened that messed
it up a bit? How did you feel at first? (This question relates to readers’ own experiences of dealing with setbacks and helps them connect with Karla’s
initial sadness.)