A Woman Who Likes Being In Charge, A New Friendship, And A Cat

Life gifts

“I’m so happy we’re almost there. This trip was too long… I can’t wait to get home and relax.” Sabrina could hardly speak. She had been driving for three hours in the rain, and her back was starting to ache.

“I’m sorry you had to drive all the way, it’s getting dark and you are always saying you can’t see very well at night, and I’m the man, after all…’”‘It’s ok, Marc, I don’t feel comfortable when you drive, it is as if you don’t know my car that well… you’re the man, so what?’

Marc didn’t reply. Deep inside, he liked the way she took care of everything. And he was quite tired, so he was grateful she was still in condition to lead. Suddenly Marc noticed something out of the car, and shouted: ‘Hey, Sabrina, slow down, did you see that small grey spot near the road?’.

‘Not really, there are too many trees and curves, our house is nice but it’s really in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure you noticed something? Isn’t it too dark also for you?’ She replied in an annoyed voice.

‘Slow down, please’ he insisted, ‘I want to go and check’. ‘Please, don’t. I am tired and nervous, it’s late and I told you before that I need to go to bed’. Sabrina was getting angry. ‘Just a minute, there is something strange, please do me a favor, let me check’. Marc insisted.

Her boyfriend jumped out before Sabrina could stop the car, forcing her to brake. “I am sure you are wrong’” she said, ‘It was just a dark spot on the ground. Hurry up.”

“Hey, it’s a small cat! Get out of the car and come here, bring me something to cover him, do we have a blanket on the car?”

“Of course, we do… If I don’t’ take care of everything who does… you don’t even know we always carry a cover with us! Let me take the cat, you’re so clumsy and you might hurt him with your big hands…” Sabrina knew how to deal with complicated situations, and she loved to feel in charge.

The cat was dirty and quite exhausted, his back legs seemed smaller and less active than expected. It was as if he had been run over by a car or if he underwent some trauma. ‘Poor kitten, what shall we do now?’ Marc was confused.

“What shall I do! I will take him home and try to give him food and clean him… he is definitely a domestic cat; even if he is very weak, he seems to enjoy being hugged and cuddled.” Sabrina held the cat in her arms and tried to warm him up.

Once Sabrina and her boyfriend got home, the cat was put in a warm corner and he started eating. He didn’t seem to have big bruises or to be sick, but still, he couldn’t walk. They decided not to call the vet for the moment, and wait for the next morning since it was too late to do anything.

After a few minutes, Sabrina considered: “If I am right, I remember there was a sign in the village, about a lost cat; maybe we should check it out and see if it was the same cat. Let me call Paul, my ex-colleague, I saw the sign near his house.” She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Hi, Paul, how are you? I am sorry to disturb you after dinner. I might be wrong, but I think there was a sign on a tree near your house, saying that someone is looking for a little cat. Would you mind sending me the picture of the cat, and the contact numbers? I found a little kitten in the wood; it would be great if he were just the same cat.”

In a few minutes, she received a message with the picture. “It’s not him,” said Sabrina. “Another color, another body, a different cat. Too bad, what shall we do now?” They were exhausted, but still, for some mysterious reason, they called the number written on the sign.

It was 10 pm, not the best time to call people on a cold winter night. ‘Hello, I am Sabrina, I am calling regarding the sign about the lost cat, are you the person who put it around the village?’

A young girl answered the phone: ’Yes, it’s me… what happened, please tell me, is he alive?’ She was getting quite anxious. ‘Don’t’ worry! We found a little cat, he is alive, he has smaller back legs… we compared him to the pictures you put in the village, but we found out it is not really similar.’

‘Yeah, but my cat had his legs locked in a car door, that’s why his previous owners abandoned him, and we adopted him in the cat shelter! Could you please send me a picture? I give you my number’ she replied.

Immediately after sending the picture, Sabrina heard an intense noise over the phone. The young girl started crying and she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t speak, while Sabrina was on the phone trying to communicate. ‘Please, is your mother at home? Can I speak to her?’

‘Mum, they found him!! After three months he is still alive… he was not very far from home, I knew he couldn’t walk too far my sweet love!’

“Hello, are you the mother?’ ‘Sorry I can’t speak, I can’t, I’m upset, we missed him so much… my daughter cried her head out and now… where are you? Can you come here now and take the cat with you? If you’re living in the wood, we are five minutes” drive from your house.’

“Ok, we are coming.” Sabrina and her boyfriend put their coats on again and left the house with the cat in a warm blanket. ‘I think you should come with me, after all, you found the cat first, which is strange: you never notice anything…”Sabrina realized Marc was exhausted but she felt she didn’t like the idea of going on her own.

So, they went, and when they rang the bell the door opened to a kitchen with a big table. She put the cat on the table and there were joy and tears, and hugs, and everybody was crying. It was his home and family, yet the cat was not aware of being home since he was still too weak. His life had started again.

On that evening our friendship started. It was twenty years ago; the teenage girl is now a mother of two and she is a vet, and I am still the same woman: I like being in charge of everything. I sometimes take my other cats to her study. On difficult days, we recall that story and the joyful emotions of the moment. We learned that family is being together and that our animals are part of it. And when they are lost, we are lost.

This story belongs to my friend Sabrina.

Did you like this article?

Become a Medium Member to have full access to my content. Thank you!