Stray Cat

There is a stray cat that hangs around our back yard. I want to adopt it. It’s mostly white, with some black patches. It’s a little bit scraggly, but I think if it got cleaned up and put on some weight, it would be quite charming. I am not sure if it’s a male or a female.

But the wonderful thing about cats is, no matter where they are, no matter what their circumstances, they are always regal. They will always find the best place to sit, and they will sit there. And they will look around, and they will enjoy the sunshine.

For example, I looked out the back window one day to see the black and white kitty calmly resting, like a normal house cat, on the blue pillow of the white wicker chair in the back yard. The back yard itself is scraggly. The landlady hardly pays any attention to it. But there is a concrete sort of patio area, with one high-backed wicker chair, complete with armrests, and this mussed-up, mangy yard cat was sitting on it, like it expected someone to come home and read the newspaper. It was just so delightful.

And I began to wonder how I could possibly capture this kitty and maybe subject it to a cleaning process. I wondered if it would like it. I wondered if it would like people, or if it ever lived in a house before. I even wondered if my cat would get along with it. I would never love another kitty like I love my Camilla. But I do have a special place in my heart for the odd little furball that clearly belongs in a place in which it is not.