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The Cat single work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1984... 1984 The Cat
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Cynthia didn't want children because she dislikes the imperfect. She resented her intellectually disabled brother, Philip, when they were children, and was glad when he died.

Her husband, Michael, wanted children. In the meantime, he doted on a cat, Lena, that visited their garden frequently. When Lena has an accident that injures one eye, Cynthia tries to have her euthanised; Michael stops her, but Cynthia forever hates Lena afterwards.

When Cynthia becomes pregnant, she becomes afraid that Lena will cast a curse on her baby so that it is 'imperfect'. She kills Lena - but in Lena's last moments, Cynthia regrets it, and knows she will love her baby no matter what.

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia

    Type of disability

    Unspecified intellectual disability.

    Type of character Secondary.
    Point of view Third person.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Journal vol. 123 no. 13 20 February 1984 Z619218 1984 periodical issue 1984 pg. 31,36
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Happy People and Others Gwen Kelly , Armidale : Kardoorair Press , 1988 Z139822 1988 selected work short story Armidale : Kardoorair Press , 1988 pg. 155-161
Last amended 20 Mar 2018 12:01:00
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