A Feline Friend
Priyanka Prasad
Word Count: 260
Shortly after my seventeenth
birthday, my family adopted a cat. He was a six year old Russian Blue that was
supposed to be euthanized later in the week. I had always considered myself a
dog person, but for some reason I put a great deal of effort in making this
furry friend feel at home. For the first month, I attempted to coax him from
under the bed, leaving generous piles of cat treats or talking to those glowing
green eyes in hopes that he would come out.
Now those days feel like a distant dream. Whenever I call my cat’s name, I can always hear the jingling of the bell on his collar ring louder as he rushes to me. Sometimes I used to wonder if my cat considered me an oversized toy that brings food. I became scared that he didn’t care about me at all and that he wouldn’t remember me if I was gone at college for too long. Maybe my face would become as unfamiliar as on the day when he first entered my house. So when he answers my call with a friendly chirrup, I can’t help but gasp a sigh of relief. And maybe my cat even missed me too because he will shadow me when I come back home again. I like to think that my cat thinks of me as a living being, but I do not mind even if he doesn’t because he brightens my day nevertheless.
I believe animals have the power to change lives just as humans do.
Now those days feel like a distant dream. Whenever I call my cat’s name, I can always hear the jingling of the bell on his collar ring louder as he rushes to me. Sometimes I used to wonder if my cat considered me an oversized toy that brings food. I became scared that he didn’t care about me at all and that he wouldn’t remember me if I was gone at college for too long. Maybe my face would become as unfamiliar as on the day when he first entered my house. So when he answers my call with a friendly chirrup, I can’t help but gasp a sigh of relief. And maybe my cat even missed me too because he will shadow me when I come back home again. I like to think that my cat thinks of me as a living being, but I do not mind even if he doesn’t because he brightens my day nevertheless.
I believe animals have the power to change lives just as humans do.
