Milo and the Perfect Pictures

Chapter 1: Perfectionism is myth

Once upon a time, there was a little gray cat named Milo who loved watching his owner scroll through pictures of other cats.

Some wore tiny crowns. Others sat in beautiful gardens. Every cat seemed to have shiny fur and a perfect pose.

Milo looked down at his crooked whisker and muddy paws.

“I could never look that special,” he thought.

He tried sitting like the cats in the pictures, but he fell off a cushion. He tried wearing a ribbon, but it tickled his ears. Finally, he hid beneath the sofa.

His owner found him and gently held out his favorite cardboard box.

Milo jumped inside. The bottom broke, leaving him standing on the floor with the box around his belly.

His owner laughed and took a picture.

Soon, kind comments appeared beneath it. People loved Milo’s muddy paws, crooked whisker, and surprised little face.

That night, Milo slept happily in his broken box.