Disclaimer:
Arabic Definitions
Atta – cat
Habibti (Feminine) – word of affection

Responsibility is given to test maturity with two possible outcomes. Success or Failure.
Pollution overwhelmed the humid air. Apartment buildings surrounded the block as taxis and buses occupied the streets of Syria. Running children roamed the street playing tag. An elder woman of 80 years sat on her balcony observing the children below. A smile shifted on her wrinkled face. She pet the long orange colored fur of the cat that sat beside her. She then pet its head and her smile expanded. She felt tiresome and calls her granddaughter. The seven-year-old blonde girl appeared with bubbles in her hands.
“I must sleep now. Be a darling and take good care of my atta while I’m asleep habibti,” says the elder woman.
“Of coarse Nona,” says the young girl.
“I’m trusting you. Don’t let the atta out of your sight,” she warned.
“I won’t”
The girl walked down the main hallway of the apartment. She looked down at the cat and stroked its fur.
“What do you want to do Atta?”
The door swung open as a young boy entered the apartment holding a bag of colorful candy. The boy had only been two years older than the girl.
“Atta!” he exclaimed and ran towards the cat in the girl’s arms. He placed his Cheetos covered fingers on the cat to pet it.
“You’re getting Cheetos on the cat! Don’t touch it Jude”
“So what? He is orange. The Cheetos will blend in and no one will know,” he carelessly explained.
“Nona said I’m in charge of him. Go find another cat to pet.”
“Whatever you say,” smirked the boy. He snatched the cat and run. The girl chased the boy out of the apartment. She chased him to the roof of the 15-story building. At the top, the kids agreed to pet the cat together. They then played tag with the cat. After playing they sat on the roof overlooking the horizon of the Syrian capital. The cat purred softly.
The sky was a mixture of deep orange and blue. The view consisted of tall apartment buildings, mosques and shops. Taxi horns were audible from down below. The young girl looked down at the cars from the rim of the building.
“Jude look at this!” she exclaimed. She balances one foot in front of the other and walked in a vertical line across the rim of the building. The noisy street was on her lower left and the purring cat on her right.
“We should teach the atta to do that!”
“Atta would you like to learn how to balance?”
The cat purred again. 
“You balance like this. Right foot then put your left foot in front of it,” explained the girl while exemplifying.
“Yea. Anybody with two legs can balance atta,” replied the boy.
The young girl held the cat and placed it on the rim of the building. The cat remained stiff.
“Let’s put some cat food on the edge to motivate the atta,” said Jude.
“Great idea,” said the girl.
The kids found a supply of cat food on the roof. The boy removed the medal lid of the can and the girl placed the tuna on the edge.
“Ok atta you can do this,” cheerfully said the kids in sync.
The cat’s eyes widened at the meal placed on the opposite side. It took a moment to contemplate its next move. The cat took one step forward then went back. Again. One step forwards then a step back. Its stomach grumbled. Finally, its tail whipped from side to side as it carelessly ran to its meal. Its left leg never touched the ground of the roof.
A loud screech and meow followed. Scratches appeared at the edge of the wall. The kids holding candy on the streets began to scream. A girl and a boy around the same age gazed down on the road beneath them, a gasp escaped their lips. A small orange cat laid on the street floor. Bulky buses, dozen taxis and manual cars waited impatiently at the top of the road for the streetlight to change color. The streetlight finally flickered green.

“IT’S OKAY! We’ll find another atta,” Jude worriedly spoke up.
“We can’t. Nona is going to be angry once she finds out about the atta.”
“Then we’ll find another one. They’re everywhere,” he responded. And he was correct. Many cats wandered the city of Damascus. The two kids began their search for another cat to replace the past one.
The cats ran after one another. They followed one another into allies and slim pathways in between buildings. The girl glanced with in the alley to see two colored cats bringing a newly killed mouse to a sick cat. The colored cats laid the mouse in front of the weak cat to feast upon.
The kids continued roaming the surrounding blocks. They rarely spotted orange cats. Most street cats made groups almost gangs for themselves, finding a singular cat was almost impossible. The sky was now a mix of purple and blue. The mosques began their prayer calls that echoed across the city. The streets were almost empty now.
“This plan isn’t going to work Jude. I’m going home.”
“You’re right. I’m going to my home too. Good Luck.”
The girl quietly opened the apartment door to enter. She pulled her beanie down more towards her face.
“Habibti where have you been? I’ve been worried all day about you,” her grandma spoke relieved,
“Jude and I were playing tag on the roof,” she said simply.
“And where is my atta?”
“I don’t have it”
“And why is that? I trusted you in taking care of my precious atta. Now where is it,” she demanded.
“The atta accidentally fell,” the girl said breaking away from her grandma’s eye contact.
“Fell? How did it accidentally fall?”
“We were playing a game and it fell”
“Yes but it didn’t accidentally fall,” she paused. “I heard your voices from the roof. And cats don’t fall out of the sky habibti?”