Dust and sand abound, all the time here. And if anything on four wheels screeches to a halt, there is no saying what more it could kick up, before some of it settles down gradually, on the pavement in front, before these creatures on two feet kick them up again; fine particles up in the air again before settling, finally, on my, whiskers.
The particles are not a problem though. It’s the two-legged
ones I must keep an eye, or both eyes, on. Some seem to deliberately step on my
tail, which cannot for a moment rest easy. Even if I close my eyes, the tail
needs to wander, to the left, to the right, kicking up dust, rising and
flickering like a flame, to warn those on two feet against stepping on it.
The menace that the two-legged ones can be can never be
overestimated. From throwing water, hot or cold, at me, to hitting me with
sticks, tying crackers to my tail and lighting them up, they have done it all
in the little time I have spent on this pavement, for as long as I can remember.
There are stupid dogs that bark at me for no reason at all, but I can always
shut them up with a defiant showing of my paw, all claws extended. There are
squirrels and lizards that brush against me sometimes, waking me up from
slumber, but I bear them no grudges, for it is never wise to doze off with so
many two-legged ones on the move in the vicinity.
Why, it was only yesterday that I was having a siesta after
lunching on a rat when a breeze, the kind that blows just before it rains, made
me dream I was flying. I opened my eyes to see I was a few feet above the
ground. Just as I was beginning to enjoy the feeling, it hit me, that I was
being held by a two-legged one, while his little one egged him on. “Yes Papa,
let’s take it home,” the little menace seemed to be saying.
I would have bit his hand, but desisted, as I was able to
wriggle out and run away just in time. They came after me, but then it began
pouring and they stopped and turned around, running in the opposite direction
now, to where they possibly lived, taking out that thing they hold to shield
themselves from the rain, the only thing that’s good about them.
I had run quite some distance away. While trudging back, I
spied another four-legged sister, behind an iron-grilled gate, keeping an eye
on the road.
“Hello there!”
“Hello, hello!”
“Are you a hostage of the two-legged ones?”
“Who? Me, a hostage?” it asked before laughing so
hysterically it nearly lost its balance and fell down. “I am a pet here, born
with a silver spoon. The two-legged ones worship me here. You can take a bow.
This is my shrine,” it said, before laughing again. It controlled itself just
when I was beginning to lose my cool.
“What tricks did you play on them to get them to worship
you?”
“Tricks? What tricks? It has always been like this. They
worship my mom too. She has just been taken to the vet for losing her balance
lately. They doted on my siblings too. They live across this wall with our
neighbors and will be coming down to play anytime now.”
It struck me right then that the glass is half empty or half
full for us two-legged ones depending on which side of that gate we live on.
I suddenly wanted to cross over to the other side, just to
see what it’s really like. At least I may not have to wait till I sniff a rat
before hunting it down or look for lizards and roaches.
So this day I lay in wait. Maybe if the two-legged one and
the little one wished, I would go with them and see how it goes. I was sure I
could flee from them should they harass me.
Just then I saw a van come to a halt on the road in front of
me. The little one got off and came near me. I got up, as if to flee, but he
made no move to pick me up. He just looked at me once and then here and there.
Without the bigger two-legged one close by, it dared not even touch me. Sizing
him up I thought that, surely, I could get the better of this one should he act
smart. As the little one waited for the other two-legged one, I got up, bent
forward and stretched myself a bit and then parked myself a little in front of
the little one. I assumed I was able to communicate to him that I was willing
to take the risk and go with them. But seeing me move, the little one moved
away from there, until seeing the bigger one arrive in the distance, he ran
towards him. The bigger one never saw me. They soon began leaving.
This was my chance. I had to go after them. Walking briskly
I nearly made it to where they were, but just then they crossed the street. I’d
have followed too, but for a loud horn that made me jump on my tracks. It was
one of those huge things on four wheels carrying any number of two-legged ones
packed to capacity. One of them hanging out of the door looked at me
menacingly.
By the time I crossed the road, the two two-legged ones had
turned the corner.
I ran faster than I had run away from them the day before and
was able to see them further ahead after a while.
I was huffing and puffing by the time I caught up with them,
but just then I saw them enter a building. Fortunately the gap under the gate
was big enough for me to enter. I could hear their voices on the staircase. But
by the time I reached their floor, they had gone inside. I decided to park
myself there. From under the door I could still hear the little one talk to the
others inside. There seemed to be three people inside.
Sometime later someone came and stood by the door,
indifferent to my existence. He pressed something on the wall, sounding a musical
note inside. The door opened soon after. It was the little one. He collected
some food the new two-legged one had got and was about to close the door again
when his eyes fell on me. He screamed. “Papaaa! Come see. Mummyy! Come see.”
Soon all the inhabitants of the house came out to look at
me, as if I had stolen something. I stood up, unsure whether to stay there or
flee.
“It’s the cat. She is back. She wants to stay with us. Let
us take her inside,” the little one said, moving forward and bending to try and
touch me.
“Stay away,” the other member of the family, the one I had
not seen before, said aloud. “Stay away from that cat. It might be infectious.”
Infectious? Me? I thought to myself. Have they even noticed
how many hours we spend licking our bodies to rid ourselves of dirt?
“You’d promised me a pet,” the little one was almost crying
now. “I want this cat. Come in Billoo, come in.”
The taller one just stood, like frozen. He made no effort to
either invite me in or shoo me away.
“We will get another pet. From a pet shop I have seen. This
one’s a stray cat. Your mom is right. It might be diseased too. Let it go,” he
finally mustered. Saying that, he dragged the little one inside and shut the
door. I stood there for a while, listening to their voices from inside.
I could sense my anger rising. Just a day ago they wanted to
just take me away against my wish. And now that I myself wished to enter their
house, they show me the door! The audacity. How could they? Just how? I could
feel my claws raring to draw blood.
Just then someone from the neighboring house opened the door
and, on seeing me, came after me. He had no inkling the anger that had been
building within me till then. He came over and was about to kick me when I pounced
on his feet and bit his heel so hard, blood came gushing out. He screamed in
agony, triggering frantic movements in every house in the building. I took the
opportunity to flee the building. I heard the little one open the door. “I told
you, it was not a good cat,” someone said, but I had left the building and
moved out of that space.
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