It was the beginning of summer, and the barnyard was bustling with sounds of new life. Baby calves bellowed to be fed by Mama Cow, foals stood shakily on their legs for the first time, chicks peeped and huddled around Mother Hen, and baby sheep bleated and nosed around for Mama Sheep. The sun shone warm as a gentle breeze blew across the field of hay right next to a big red barn. Yes, indeed it was a perfect day for babies to be born.

In the barn, secluded in the hayloft upon a warm nest of hay, Mama Cat laid huddling around her kittens who were just about to open their eyes. Four of the five kittens were tiny and a mixture of black and white splotches from their white Mama and black Papa. But the last kitten seemed strange. He was a bit bigger than his siblings and completely black with a white stripe down his back. His tail was bushier too and there was a peculiar smell to him. Mama Cat was puzzled at why he was so different than the other kittens. But she did not worry herself about it much---she just made sure he was fed and cared for. 

This was the first litter that Mama Cat has ever had, and she was very pleased and proud of them. One day, she saw the first kitten open its eyes. The first to be born, she was all black with two white paws. Mama Cat decided to call her Lilac. The second kitten to open their eyes with a loud mewling voice had black splotches all over his white body. His name is Cloud. The third kitten was all black like her dad, Papa Cat. Her name was Shadow. The fourth kitten was all white with a weird shaped black spot on his back. His name is Dipper.

Mama Cat was proud to see her first four kittens open their eyes; Lilac, Cloud, Shadow, and Dipper. She almost forgot about the biggest kitten and looked over to see his eyes open. But what Mama Cat saw surprised her. Instead of sky-blue eyes like the rest of her kittens, the big kitten had beady black eyes! 

Mama Cat noticed how different he was to his siblings. And the peculiar smell was stronger and seemed smellier than before. Did the big kitten step in something while she was out hunting mice? No matter, she will love him just the same. Mama Cat was having trouble coming up with a name, before she could utter a word---

“Stinky!” Lilac mewled.

“Stinky bad!” Cloud exclaimed.

“Stinky smells gross!” Shadow agreed.

“He is Stinky!” Dipper decided.

Mama Cat had to agree with them. He was Stinky. But he was her kitten. And she couldn’t just abandon him just because he was different looking. She led her litter to go exploring for the first time. 

“What is that horrid smell?” Mama Cow asked as the family walked by.

“I do believe it is that big kitten that belongs to Mama Cat,” Mama Horse explained.

“He is so smelly and weird looking,” Mama Hen complained. “I shall go chase him out!” And Mama Hen ran up to Stinky and pecked at him.

“Leave him alone!” Mama Cat hissed swiping at Mama Hen. “His smell and looks are not that bothersome!”

“Is your nose not working? He clearly reeks!” Mama Sheep exclaimed. “No one will want to be around such a smelly tom!”. With that last statement, Stinky drooped his head.

“He may smell and look a bit different from the others,” Mama Cat answered, comforting him. “But he is the biggest and strongest of my litter. I am sure he will make his way in the world as well as anybody.” 

But as time went on, the smell grew worse. Poor Stinky was chased by the farm animals, even his brothers and sisters. The other cats turned their nose up in disgust and swiped at him whenever he came near, the chickens pecked at him, the horses kicked at him, and the little girl who came to play with the kittens wrinkled her nose and pushed him aside. At last he could bear it no longer, when all the farm animals were asleep, he left. By dawn, he had reached a forest, green and quiet it was.

It was peaceful there, and Stinky wished that he might stay forever, away from everyone until—

Bang! Boom!

At the sound of a gun, deer flew out of from the trees in every direction. Hunters were camouflaged, hidden in the trees hoping to get themselves some nice venison for dinner. For what seemed like an eternity, the firing continued. 

Stinky was afraid and could not run fast like the deer. His black and white body made him stick out like a sore thumb among the greens and browns of the forest around him. He did his best to hide in a wild blackberry bush but there were beagles that the hunters had brought with them everywhere! One was getting a little too curious around his bush. Fear continued to grow in Stinky’s belly and he wish his claws were sharp like his siblings so that he could swipe at the mean old beagle.

Suddenly the beagle had pushed his head into the spot where Stinky was hiding and began to snarl at him. Stinky huddled up into a ball trying to hide his face as the fear grew overwhelming. The beagle opened his great big jaws and began to wrap his teeth around Stinky when suddenly—

Yelp!

The beagle began to yowl with great disgust and whimpered away to his master somewhere in the forest. Stinky uncurled himself. Somehow, he had sprayed the beagle like a cat marks their territory. But this was not the scent of territory, it was a rather putrid smell. So that was the smell that all the farm animals were complaining about, Stinky even offended himself.

“I am too smelly for even a dog to eat,” Stinky said sadly. Then he vowed to never go into the forest again, ever! 

And so Stinky walked on bravely all day long until he had reached a log cabin by the side of a road. It was an old cabin with overgrown weeds and a garden that had seen better days. A window had been left open to let the soft summer breeze in and poor Stinky was exhausted and the cabin looked so inviting. He jumped through the window and had laid on the couch so exhausted he fell asleep right there.

The next day, Stinky awoke to an old widow and her two fat old cats.

“Is that another cat?” asked the widow whose eye sight was terrible. “He sure does smell though”.

“Can you hunt mice?” Asked the fat gray tom named Claude. Stinky shook his trembling head.

“Do you know how to clean yourself? You reek of dirtiness and murk!” Exclaimed the fat calico named Philip. But Stinky had to admit that he didn’t even know how to groom himself.

“So, he cannot hunt mice or groom himself,” said Claude.

“His smell will surely keep the mice away!” joked Philip. “I say we rid of the smelly kitten!”.

“Oh, leave him alone!” The old widow scolded. “He is still a kitten, so he will need time to learn how to hunt and groom. You and Claude can teach him how to do that!”