It was a small town, the type of place where everyone knew everyone. The latest news was always the talk of the town. The most peculiar thing about this town was its resident troublemaker, a mischievous orange-striped American Bobtail named Nacho. On September 23, 2004, in the early afternoon Nacho just randomly showed up at the back of the fire station in the middle of town and he has been hanging around town ever since causing mischief. He’s become quite legendary in town.

September 23, 2009, it was a sunny morning, the town’s bakery owner Mr. Potter came back from his morning walk to find his prized apple pies missing. Mr. Potter runs out of his bakery and yells for everyone to meet in the square. The townspeople come together in the square and glance around wondering what’s going on. Mr. Potter explains that his prized apple pies have gone missing from his locked store. As the townspeople start to discuss what could have happened, Nacho saunters up with pie filling all over his whiskers.

“Looks like Nacho has struck again!.” One of the townsfolk exclaims, pointing at the evidence on Nacho’s whiskers. The townspeople had seen enough of Nacho’s antics to recognize his handiwork. Mayor Williams, a slim woman in her early 30s with a fondness for puns, sighed and exclaimed “Nacho, you’ve certainly got purrr-sonality.”

Nacho’s shenanigans weren’t always mischievous, sometimes they were just adorable. One winter night a few months after Nacho arrived, he was spotted sneaking into Old Man Wilson’s house, only to emerge wearing a miniature, hand-knit blue hat scarf, and mittens set. The sight of this little kitten bundled up for the winter warmed all the townsfolk’s hearts.

As time went on, Nacho’s escapades continued. He climbed to the top of the church bell and started ringing it at 7 am as if summoning us to feed him. He even snuck into Mayor Williams’s house, opened her piano sheet music, and started playing. The town was so surprised to hear the beautiful music coming from Nacho. “Nacho is so talented!” The town librarian, Ms. Peters whispered in awe.

Tourists came to the town just to see him and get their food swiped by him. It became a rite of passage for new residents to have their food swiped by him. Nacho brought joy to every person he met especially the townsfolk, he was the townspeople’s cat. The townspeople were very happy that he randomly showed up. He changed their lives and brought fun to the town.

As months turned into years and Nacho got older, it was harder for him to be as mischievous. It didn’t matter to the townspeople though because they loved him very much. They all took turns taking care of Nacho at their homes as he got older. Nacho was a very friendly, talkative cat and loved getting pets. On the morning of November 10, 2021, Nacho disappeared and the residents gathered together to look for their beloved cat. Mayor Williams made the plan of splitting the people into teams and sectioning off the town for the teams to look at.

Mr. Potter’s team had the section where the fire station was and they searched the entire fire station. Mr. Potter walked to the back of the fire station and laying there was Nacho. He walked over to Nacho and saw that the cat was laying there not moving. Nacho had passed away. His shoulders quaked and he fell next to the cat, tears falling down his face. His voice broke as he screamed over and over until it was hoarse “Nooooo, everyone come quick.”

The funeral was touching but heartbreaking because their beloved cat was no longer with them. Each resident in town during the funeral shared a memory they had with Nacho. The residents of the town were grateful for the time and the memories they got to have with Nacho. Nacho’s legacy was passed down from generation to generation. Whenever tourists would come to visit, they would leave flowers for Nacho at his grave.