The Golden Guitar of Silver Strings: Part One

      She was short and small, about the age of fifteen. Her name was Tabatha. Tabatha had a blue fur coat with clumps of ash stuck in between hairs. A clean tear came down her cheek but it turned a musty grey as it slid down her dirty face. She had been abandoned when she was only four.

      Tabatha crept across the crisped floor and winced as she stepped on a burned piece of wood. She gently pulled the chip of wood from her fragile paw and found a tiny piece of paper stuck to the back. The paper was the remains of an old note, but most of the writing had been smudged under the ashes or burnt off during the fire. There was a small piece of the note that was still there. It read the following:

      'My dearest Tabatha,

     I am sorry for leaving you in this place. I know it is not your home, but think of it as a house away from our home. I will be back to get you when'… but the rest of the note had been burned past the point of being legible.

      Tabatha sighed and crushed the leftover note in her paw. It crumbled and joined the ashes on the hard floor. She had read the letter over and over before; Tabatha's mother had given her the note after she abandoned her. The Cybunny knew the words by heart. She knew it was written by her mother and that it explained that by the age of ten, Tabatha would be back home. The note had lied.

      For more than six years, Tabatha had still believed that there was a chance her mother would come back for her. She thought that the note was true and that her mom would be with her soon. By now, Tabatha knew that her chance was gone, and that her mother was never coming to get her. But Tabatha was not one to lie around and be depressed, so she began to sweep the dirty floor in hopes to make it look better. Everyone at the Cybunny Foster Care Center had left. It was not because of the fire; the place had been abandoned for more than twenty years. The Center used to have workers and many homeless, young Cabañas, but that was a long time ago.

      When Tabatha had been abandoned, her mother knew The Center was no longer running, but she needed a building for her daughter to live in so she dropped her off at the closest one she could find. Tabatha had tried to run after her, but her mother had called an Erie taxi and was gone before her young daughter could catch up.

      Tabatha went to the kitchen, where she was to sweep up next, but nothing was there. The room was pure ash and soot. Tabatha began coughing as her lungs filled with the remaining hot, thick smoke. She turned and walked out of the area, and shut the half melted door to the kitchen quickly behind her, trying not to cry. She felt so stupid.

      "Oh why did I leave the stove on all night?" Tabatha said to herself.

      Years before, she had always been thankful that The Center for some reason had working appliances. Now, she hated it. Tabatha didn't mean to leave the stove on all night; she had just forgotten about the old can of peas she was cooking and it had caught on fire. She had also always been thankful for the basement of canned foods that had always been at The Center. Out of curiosity, Tabatha caught herself looking down into the basement to see how much of the food had survived.

      None of it had; everything had perished. All of the thousands of cans were all now ash and melted metal, and there was a terrible stench left from the burned carrots and other various vegetables that used to be part of the stashed basement foods. Yet, Tabatha still tried to look on the bright side of things.

      "Well, I will just have to find a new home. I guess it should be pretty easy to find an empty building with a couple of year's supply of food," she told herself, and then sighed. "Oh who am I kidding?" the Cybunny asked the empty, smoky room.

      Tabatha looked through the old space that used to be her bedroom. One of the floorboards had completely turned to ash, and she saw a shiny flash reflecting out from the dark, messy pile where the floor once was. She went over to investigate and found that there was some sort of golden object under the mess she once called her floor! Tabatha began clawing away at the burnt, ashen floorboards that surrounded the gold. It was an easy task since, as soon as she clawed at the burned wood, it would crumble away. At last, she finally could see what had been hidden all these years under the floor.

      It was a golden guitar, in mint condition! Tabatha gently pulled the beautiful instrument out and began to examine it. She soon decided that the guitar was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen! It was made of complete gold and had six silver strings attached. Around the sound hole, there were amazing engravings of Cybunnies hopping through a flowered meadow. They were so elaborate that they looked as though they were moving. Tabatha looked closer at the unique drawings and was shocked at the fact that the engravings were moving!

      Out of pure excitement and shock, Tabatha yelped and dropped the guitar. She let out a breath of relief as it lay on the floor completely unharmed and without a scratch.

      "Amazing," Tabatha whispered as she looked at the instrument in awe.

      She had been wondering how the guitar had lasted all this time under the floor, and how it had not become the least bit dirty with ash through the fire. The guitar was shining as if it was brand new. How could all of this be possible? The only conclusion that Tabatha could come to was that this guitar was magical.

      Tabatha scrutinized the guitar more closely, only to find that on each silver string, her name was written in golden ink. Now this was just plain weird. She picked up the guitar again and tried to play a little something.

      Before the fire, Tabatha used to play all the time on an old wooden guitar that she had found in the basement. She knew that it had probably been scorched and burned during the fire, but she didn't care. Nothing could compare to the new extravagant guitar she had found.

      For many years, Tabatha had kept herself busy by reading and teaching herself to play guitar. She had even written a few songs. She began playing her favorite song called 'The One Thing'. The lyrics were her favorite that she had written.

     "The one thing I need,

     Is for someone to love me.

     And hold me in their heart forever.

     The one thing I want,

     Is a home in the front,

     Of a sea that is glistening with treasures."

      She couldn't even finish the song because she was amazed by the beautiful sound the guitar presented. Tabatha wondered if she was dreaming. She took a few steps backward and accidentally stepped on a piece of wood that was still hot. She screamed in pain. Yes, this was definitely real.

      Tabatha loved the guitar, but wondered how it had gotten there and why it was so fantastic. The most intriguing questions, though, were how it was possible that the engravings moved, and why her name was written on the strings.

      She began to play her song once again and noticed that the engravings of the Cybunnies were dancing. Tabatha stopped and the Cybunnies resumed their hopping through the meadow. She had thought about selling the guitar, but also realized that this was an important object that she probably shouldn't give up. Besides, who would want a guitar with her name on it?

      Tabatha had lost track of time and place. Then, she realized once again that she was still in the Cybunny Foster Care Center. It was getting late at night, and she wouldn't be able to stand sleeping in The Center. Besides, her bed was now a pile of ashes. She finally decided that she would sleep outside.

      Tabatha found a gigantic willow tree blowing in the wind at the back of The Center, and decided to sleep under it for the night. She tucked the guitar high up in one of the tree's hollows so that it would not be taken while she slept. Tabatha then found a spot under the tree that was comfortable and lay down. She looked up at the sky and shining stars. Today had been crazy yet wonderful. It had started out as a nightmare, and ended up as a dream. Tabatha decided that tomorrow she would go into town and find a new place to live, with her guitar in hand. She hoped that maybe, if she was lucky, she might even find her mother.

To be continued...

Authors Note - Hey everyone! This is my first story. Special thanks to Chocolateisamust for editing!