The Little Green Streetlamp

554 words

A lonely green streetlamp longs to be noticed—until a shivering kitten's plea awakens her hidden power, leading her to discover not just her strength, but the warmth of being truly seen and loved.

A little green streetlamp stood on a corner in a quiet neighborhood.

The little green streetlamp looked forward to the end of each day when her light would turn on, and she could help her neighborhood see through the dark.

Sometimes her light glowed for dogs straining at the ends of their leashes as their owners strolled under the silver mist of the moon.

Other times children dashed in and out of the shining light, playing make-believe games until their parents called them in for dinner.

And of course there was always the elderly couple with wrinkled smiles, holding hands as they rocked back and forth on their porch swing.

The little green streetlamp liked watching these people and brightening their lives. But she often wished they would look up and see her, too.

For the little green streetlamp was lonely.

One snowy twilight, a tiny black kitten with a long black tail curled into a shivering ball against her pole. Her light had not yet turned on for the evening, and she strained to see him through the dark.

“Please, will you help me?” asked the tiny black kitten in a trembling voice. “If I do not warm up soon, I will die.”

The little green streetlamp looked around, wondering to whom the kitten was speaking.

Then she realized — the kitten was talking to her!

Her chest puffed out with excitement.

“I will turn on my light!” she declared. “I will find you shelter.”

There was just one problem: the little green streetlamp did not know how to turn on her light. It always came on by itself.

Still, she knew she had to do to SOMETHING to save the tiny black kitten.

She said in her sternest, most commanding voice, “Turn ON, light!”

Her bulb did not listen.

“Hrmph,” she thought.

Next, she pictured the warm tingles that overcame her just before her light turned on.

Her bulb stayed dark and cool.

White snowflakes now speckled the tiny kitten’s black fur. His eyes began to close. He said in a soft voice, “Thank you for trying.”

“No!” shouted the little green streetlamp. “I will not give up!”

The little green streetlamp stretched as deep as she could into her electrical roots. She concentrated and strained and fought like she never had before.

There was a flicker…

And then a POP…

And then WHOOSH!

The light blazed down with all of its brilliance onto the tiny black kitten and the snowy ground. A cardboard box and a moth-eaten blanket poked out of the garbage cans lining the street.

“There!” she cried.

The tiny black kitten smiled. “Thank you.”

The little green streetlamp beamed.

The cat dragged the blanket and box next to the little green streetlamp. He snuggled inside until the little green streetlamp could only see his long black tail.

For many a night, the tiny black kitten with the long black tail would visit the little green streetlamp to share her light.

Eventually he grew into a big black cat with a long black tail. One day, he proudly brought his new kitten family with him.

The little green streetlamp stood on the same quiet corner of her neighborhood, but her light shone brighter than ever before …

…because the little green streetlamp finally knew how it felt to be loved.