I never thought I had the capacity to love cats until I met Meow. She was such an adorable tinny kitten when she joined our family last year. She came as a solution for rats. Rats that had turned the whole house up side down. Rats that had become resistant to all kinds of poisons. Meow was our last option. Before she came, we had been hunting left, right and center for anyone that could give us a cat. Behold, one July Saturday afternoon, Meow joined us and the adventure begun.
This bundle of fur wrecked havoc on the rats. They all ended up disappearing. She also walked slowly into my(our) heart(s) and found herself a home. I turned from a person who ran everytime she saw Meow to one that carried her on my laps. When I thought I had lost delight in the simplest pleasures of life, Meow restored it. When I thought I had lost my childhood wonder, her antics restored it. She always sought us(me) out. You see, as a fluffy kitten, Meaw was so playful. Jumping from one tree to another. Rolling herself on the floor, tapping her tinny forelimb on everyone. Playing with toads. Crying to seek for attention.
Most of our conversations at home begun to be centered around her during those first months as our family adjusted to her presence(The excitement that comes with attaining new things). Since we called her several times a day, when our nieces and nephew came over, some of us would accidentally call them Meow. Meow became a tourist attraction at home, drawing the attention of our guests especially the little ones that adored her with the exception of a few that trembled in her presence. She easily amused this bruised cold soul of mine. With her presence, the dark clouds dissipated. It was sunny again in my heart.
Meaw and I begun to play ball. She would run and wrestle with every circular and cylindrical thing I tossed her way. We lounged together in the living room. I carried that kitten alot. Feeding her was and still is one of my other pleasures. She hastily follows me to where the meal is set for her and warmth feels my heart. Watching her eat is pure joy. Meaw, quickly located my bedroom door, since she realized, in our entire household, I am the best friend she had begotten. She would sneak into my room and coil on my bed and I in turn would protect her from the scolding my mother would have given her had she been discovered. Winnie and Meow were the new friends on the block.
Meow fascinated everyone, all my nieces and nephew fell for her. But I think my heart was the most captivated. So she grew up and started jumping fences, spending nights out. One day we realized she was pregnant and a huge debate ensued at home. Who was to stay, Meow or one of her kittens? Way before even the kittens came along, most of the people at home had decided one of them would be retained and Meow sent away with the rest of her litter. But I am too attached to Meow, I advocated for her to stay. My heart would break a bit if they let her go!
On the day she gave birth, my sister sent me a text of how my darling was now a mother of two. By the time I returned, she had been chased out of our house for carrying her kittens to my parents’ bedroom who have never acknowledged her litter to begin with. She now resides in a temporary shelter in our backyard with her kittens. The doors are wide open for her to still come chill inside with us as before but her kittens have to stay out. We are raising them to an almost not so vulnerable size to give them away. I have already found the Brown one a new home. Her owner to be, my dearest Judie, keeps asking after her. As for the White one, I am yet to determine her fate(I am not even sure whether both of them are females). Today, I saw something that lit me up. Meow and her baby meows have started playing together. At last she has two of her kind to play with! I was instantly reminded of the day I was mushy when I saw baby Meow digging in our backyard garden, excreting and covering her waste products. To think, that that little bundle of fur that joined us less than a year ago is now a mummy, I couldn’t be more pleased!
Our hearts are so big. Bigger than we could ever imagine. Our hearts have the capacity to accommodate people and other wonderful things like pets. Being with Meow, my darling pet, the rat chaser, is a simple pleasure I never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams. Now when I get back home, I call her name out and she runs to welcome me. Such a simple pleasure it is. Such warmth. It’s not that we don’t have the capacity to love the cute kittens, we are just guarding our hearts from the inevitable.
Fruitful Vine 
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