"Hello kitty!"

It was a cloudy evening in the month of September 2009. I had just come home from school, changed my clothes and sat in front of the television to watch cartoons. Mom was in the kitchen getting lunch ready for me when it started raining heavily and we lost power. While mom was still in the kitchen, I could hear a meow at the back door which we usually don't open. I thought a cat was crying for help and therefore I ran to it. I opened the back door to find a gray and black striped cat taking shelter from the rain. As soon as I saw it, the cat too looked at me in the eye and meowed. I knew I was gonna make that cat my pet the next second. The cat didn't stop meowing. Assuming it was hungry, I ran inside my kitchen and asked mom to pour a bowl of milk for the cat. She poured milk in an empty coconut shell and handed it to me. I carefully held the shell in both my hands and went to the cat. He was eagerly waiting and as soon as I placed the shell in front of him, he started slurping it. I slowly moved my hand towards his head and touched his forehead and said "Hey kitty!". He didn't restrict. This was the first time I was petting a cat and the feeling was so good, such soft skin and it was heavenly for a 9 year old kid.

The picture that reminded me of kitty

Credits: Harshitha Anand

After a few minutes, the rain stopped and he left. I went in and told my mom that he had left, my mom said, "All cats are like that. They're not loyal like dogs. They drink and never come back". Those words left me thinking if he too fell in the same category.

He was on my mind throughout the day and I couldn't concentrate in school. I waited for the school to end, so that I could come home and play with him. When the last bell rang, I ran out of the school, hopped on to the scooter in which my dad was waiting and got home. I threw my bag and lunch bag on the front door and ran all the way across the alley that leads to the back door only to find him nowhere. The kid in me thought maybe my mom was true. He hadn't come back after all. Disappointed, I went in and started taking off my shoes and that's when I heard a meow! 

I ran again through the alley and he was there! I held him in my hands and didn't let him go for the next ten minutes. I played with him until my heart was full. I fed him in the same coconut shell and he left with his bloated stomach.

Next day again I couldn't concentrate in school, I left school and came home but he wasn't there. Mom told he might come anytime soon and I should have lunch. I sat for lunch and at the end of it my dad accidentally spilled an entire bowl of milk on the floor. I asked my mom why no one scolded dad for it. She said "He's an adult and you don't scold adults" to which my dad said "Go get that cat of yours, let it clean the floor". I washed my hands and went out in search of him. He was right there like it was destined for him to clean that milk. I picked him up and carried him inside to lay him in front of the milk on the floor. He started licking profusely and within 5 minutes, he had swept the floor clean. Animals weren't allowed inside my house until and unless we benefited from them, so I was ordered to pick him up and take him out. I did so. I put him on the small platform outside the window where plants were put up. He slept as soon as I put him there.

A few days passed by and mom said he comes regularly now and he's already present before I arrive. He was becoming my pet gradually, but he'd vanish when it rained now. I never understood why.

It was Saturday and the school didn't operate that day. I waited until afternoon for him to arrive and when he did arrive, I played with him till late in the evening. It started drizzling and he left. Maybe he'd found a better shelter since we didn't allow him inside the house. My mom called me in and I went inside.

The next day was a Sunday and I was worried about him. I had to get a haircut. I took money from dad and left my house. I walked slowly to the main road, worried about him a lot. I had to cross the road in order to go to the barber and there was a big divider. I climbed on the divider and while I stood there waiting for the road to be cleared, a few two wheelers passed by and I saw him on the road lying dead! He was lying there lifeless. I stood there shook, looking at him all the while. By now the mechanic uncle who was on the divider with me said "A car ran over him last evening when it rained". I got down and walked towards kitty. I stood on the footpath and looked at him for a long time and then I went to the barber silently. After the cut, I went home and told my parents that kitty was run over by a car. 

I didn't cry. Even to this day I don't understand why I remained silent. All I had was good memories with him and I didn't want those memories to fade away. Maybe that is why I haven't cried about kitty until now. He's the last pet I had. Ever since then, every cat I see, reminds me of kitty. Pets surely have a small time with us but they leave life size scars.