The fire in Star’s belly

When I was still a little boy my best friend was "Star." Star was a black cat that had been donated by Uncle Emmy to help deal with the menace of rats in our home. One day Star scratched me, drawing blood, and in anger I grabbed it by its little back and threw it high in the air hoping it would fall badly and learn never to scratch me again. I watched as Star came tumbling er somersaulting and landed poetically on its paws. I grabbed it and hurled it again with all my strength. Still, it landed on its paws. I did this till it became evident that no matter how high I threw Star, even doing so with an element of surprise, it would never fall on its back, or badly enough to get hurt.

Thus I nicknamed it Star and my fascination grew when I learned that Star could see through the dark! I discovered this when I was awoken in the middle of the night by some ruckus going on in my room. I switched on my torch only to find Star playing games with a gigantic mouse. It would pull its whiskers with its unfurled claws; tossing it here and there until the poor mouse looked spent and helpless. Then Star would seemingly lose interest and move away. The mouse would attempt its escape but in a microsecond Star would pounce again and the game would go on till the poor mouse ended in Star's belly. 

 I've since seen many fat cats but no matter how many mice Star devoured, and no matter how much milk I served it in the morning it remained a lean little cat I guess because of the endless cat-and-mice games it starred in, and the fire in its belly and in its eyes that drove it on and made it prevail against the biggest and most treacherous creatures including snakes. 

I learned from Star the cat that no one can stop someone who knows who he is and what he's capable of.