Few months back, when I came back from some grocery shopping, I couldn’t see our pet dog Buddy, at his usual spot near the gate instead I saw this little visitor who seemed scared and unsure of his next move!

‘Buddy must have scared him‘ I thought as I called his name. Buddy however was snoring in shade under the tree in the backyard and was not at all bothered by the little guest or me!

I was vary of the kitten and did not want to encourage it by giving any tit-bit so I ignored it and carried on with my other chores. It must have found out a way to get down from the gate without attracting Buddy’s attention, because neither did we hear Buddy going mad at seeing a cat nor did we see the little kitten for the rest of the day.

The kitten had somehow found out whole routine of Buddy and slowly started visiting our home regularly. At night if Buddy left his meal half eaten, it was not to be found in the morning! Buddy’s water bowl also would be empty sooner. The little kitten, feeding on dog food, had also grown and suddenly become bolder. He would sit outside the kitchen window waiting for an opportunity to sneak in if the window was open. He would at sudden burst of speed bolt up the tree when Buddy went near his bowl. Buddy knew the cat’s smell but could never catch him and in vain kept barking on the (right) tree!

Our dog died because of some undiagnosed ailment. We buried him in the backyard. The kitten, now a cat, did not have any reason to be afraid anymore and would unabashedly lie in shade seeing me going about my chores. Its food supply had come to a sudden halt but that did not seem to concern it! I found the cat still growing larger and bulkier day by day… Its nonchalance now brought a smile to my face and I let it be, not shooing away like before.

Few days back….I heard some faint mewing from the window in the bathroom. There between the fly mesh and the glass panel of the window lay two small kittens with eyes closed mewing away for their mother!

The cat who had made our house its home was a female and now she felt safe enough to keep her newborns in the bathroom window near to humans!!

Now I can see two kittens huddled under the shade of tree waiting for their mother, their eyes two huge pools….yellowish green…I do not go much closer but the cat is not scared. She runs away to fetch food leaving her kittens as I stand there some feet away in the backyard.

We still haven’t recovered from our dear Buddy’s death. And I still do not entertain the cat and its kittens neither does my daughter want the cat family to use Buddy’s bowls but watching the two kittens fall over each other, mewing, trying to stand on their little paws…. has worked like a soothing balm…We smile at their antics, find a topic to talk about, remember how Buddy always got duped by other cats too….We do not shed tears every time Buddy’s name comes up…

The little visitor made our home hers and gave us a reason to forget our pain. Thank you Cat!

This is for A to Z challenge.