Him
How did I get here? I remember walking in the woods with my brothers. We got lost and couldn’t find our way back home. When night fell, we found a place to hide, because the noises in the deep woods were terrifying. When I woke up in the morning, I was alone and started yelling my fool head off.
Yelling worked, because two nice people heard me and came to help. They spoke a different language and didn’t understand me when I tried to explain I lost my brothers. They just put me in their car, covered me in a blanket and told me to rest. I kept saying I needed to find my brothers, but they ignored me. During the long, stressful ride, I finally fell asleep.
I woke up here on this dingy bed with an aching head. Finally, after making enough noise, the caretaker gave me some food and water. She rubbed my head for a minute, which felt good.
I feel like a prisoner in a jail cell. How long am I expected to wait? I dreamt she would be arriving soon.
Her
The drive home from my new job was taking much longer than I expected. The traffic was ridiculous. My bladder was about to burst, and I needed to get home fast. I decided to turn down a side street to make my way around the traffic jam. This turned out to be a good idea, and I started to make up some time.
At a stop light, I noticed a billboard that displayed my favorite Maya Angelou quote: “I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all.” This billboard towered over a small store. Something told me to go inside this store. Another good idea, I can ask to use their restroom.
As I opened the door, bells jingled. The proprietor of the store walked up to me. “Hi there, how are you today,” she said with a bright, smiling face.
“Hi, I’m great. What a quaint store you have here,” I answered smiling back at her. Looking around at her lovely antiques, I ask her, “May I please use your restroom? I got stuck in traffic, and I’m still a good way from home.”
She answered, “Of course. Walk down this way and to the right.”
“Thank you so much,” I said as I admire her store making my way down the aisle.
Feeling so much better, I walked out of the restroom and saw him, immediately. And, he saw me. I walked over to him and said, “Well, hi there, handsome. What’s your name?”
Him
When I saw her for the first time, I caught my breath. It’s you. They kept telling me you would come. I’ve been waiting for so long. Are you here to take me home?
Her
Falling in love, at first sight, is real. It happened to me right then and there. Watching him walk towards me with those beautiful brown eyes locked on mine made my heart flutter. I reached my hand towards him, and he bowed his head slightly.
I gave him a gentle scratch on the head, then another under his chin which made him dance with delight. Then, the sound of pure joy started rushing out of his throat. This guy had the strongest, loudest purr I’ve ever heard in such a small kitten.
I asked the proprietor of the store to tell me about him.
“Poor little thing was found under an old dilapidated automobile about five miles from here. My sister and her husband rescued him. She said he was wailing up a storm, and they heard him, thankfully. They brought him to me thinking perhaps a patron might want him.”
As we watched him dance back and forth along the cage wall, I asked, “How long have you had him?”
“Only for two days,” she answered. “I’ll be taking him to the Humane Society this weekend.”
My eyes darted from the kitten to the proprietor. “No, no. He’s coming home with me. Aren’t you, little man?” Our eyes met again and I knew we belonged together.
Him
Yes! My angels were right all along. Here she is, standing right in front of me. I am so happy, I can’t stop dancing.
Later that day.
“Okay, little man, here we are; your new home.” I held him in my arms and walked around the house giving him the grand tour. “I can’t put you down on the floor, just yet. See the other cats?” Zeke and Casey were following us around looking up at this little ragamuffin. “I’ll need to keep you separated from them for a couple of weeks, just until we get you vetted and your health cleared.”
I named him Shadow. He was the love of my life. Some might say my soulmate. We journeyed life together for the next 15 years until his angels called him home. This kind of love is hard to explain. Only those that have experienced a life of headbutts, licks, nibbles and kneading will understand such a magical bond.