There was a banging on the
window. It was late Friday night and Julie
opened the door. It was her neighbor
Petra. The neighbor was excited and
perspiring. Breathlessly Petra pointed
at the street and shouted that there was a black cat in the street. Julie ran out into the dimly lit street where
trees look like umbrellas and cover both sides of the street.
Julie cried as she saw her
beautiful black cat in the middle of the street. He looked perfect except for blood dripping
from his mouth. She grabbed him and took
his limp body into the house. She kept
telling him that everything would be alright, but the cat was limp in her arms.
She laid him on the floor and then determined that all life was gone.
The neighbor was nervous and kept
comforting Julie but to no avail. Julie’s
tears fell on the black shiny cat as she noticed he appeared to have no
external injuries. She grabbed the cat’s
favorite blanket and toys. She wrapped
him gingerly in the blanket as she held him in her arms. She took him to the back room and laid him on
a futon.
The neighbor returned two more
times that night to check on Julie.
Julie walked into the shower and let the warm water cover her body. She thought the soothing touch and sound of
the water would make the hurt go away. It
did not and she cried until she could cry no more.
Morning came and the nightmare
did not go away. Julie decided to bury
the cat outside, but the ground was so hard she did not have the strength to
make a dent in the soil. She finally
took the cat to the vet to allow a cremation service to take the cat.
It has been weeks now and Julie
cries all the way to work when she is alone.
She cannot get over the loss. She
sees him everywhere. The gorgeous cat
was her best friend and baby. She has little
family so her pets are her life. Some
people do not understand the loss of a pet, but for animal lovers it is on the
same level as losing a family member.
Pets are a gift from God, and like everything else they really belong to
him.
