AT the time I had no pets of my own. One steaming hot summer’s day I was sitting watching television. All the windows were wide open and I was wearing the shortest pair of shorts that I owned to try and keep cool.
I jumped out of my skin. My heart raced for minutes. Something soft and furry had brushed past my bare legs. When you are not expecting this, the shock is enormous.
I looked around the room and saw a small, very hairy, black and white kitten wandering quite contently around my lounge. He must have come in through the window.
He was very friendly and I stroked him for a while. I had no idea where he had come from. After about an hour he nonchalantly left and I did not see him again for days.
He certainly enjoyed scaring me. I was fast asleep in bed, the windows were wide open and suddenly I woke up, again jumping out of my skin. This furry ball of kitten was now rubbing himself against my cheek and purring very loudly. He had come in through my bedroom window. He happily settled down next to me on the bed and slept heavily for a few hours before leaving.
I had new neighbours who I had never met and occasionally I heard them call out, “Buster” so I presumed he belonged to them. I was worried though because both our cottages were on a busy, main road. That was the reason I had no pets. I thought the road was much too dangerous for dogs or cats.
Every few days Buster would come and visit. If I were gardening he would play around me and get up to all sorts of mischief. If I were in the house he would just come and lie on top of me, purring madly all the time. If he was not sleeping on top of me, his favourite game was to hide in the bottom tray of my vegetable rack and when I found him he would just roll over onto his back for a tummy rub.
I didn’t feed him. He just seemed comfortable with me. Whilst I am an animal lover, cats are not my favourite animals, but Buster was just a great, little character and I was beginning to grow quite fond of him.
Another cause for a major heart attack was when Buster landed on my bed at some ungodly hour one night with a friend! His friend was a tiny, tabby kitten who was very nervous and wary but it seemed that Buster had persuaded him that things were good at this house.
I didn’t feed them. They both visited when they wanted. Sometimes I would not see them for days on end but sometimes they were with me for hours every day. I could only assume that the both belonged to my neighbours.
One night they woke me, not coming in through the window and just sleeping on my bed with me but meowing loudly at the back door. I opened the door and they both rushed in, passing non-stop and looking at the fridge. This was strange as they had never done this before. I knew my neighbours were away as they were not making the usual racket that they normally did. I could not believe they had left these beautiful kittens without food or water. This was the only time I fed them.
After a few months, the tabby kitten stopped visiting. I never knew what happened to him. Buster continued to visit and spend more and more time with me. I really was becoming very fond of him. He must have enjoyed the company and attention more than anything because he had no other reason to come to me. In the evenings he would just lie with me on the sofa, snoring and at night he curled up against me on the bed, snoring!
He then stopped visiting. I would call him, look for him in his favourite hiding places but he was nowhere to be found.
After about a week I went out for a walk on the main road and there on the pavement was Buster’s tiny little corpse.
“Oh my god,” I realised, he had been run over! He was stiff with rigor mortis as I picked him up. I carried him carefully to my neighbours and said angrily, “I presume this belongs to you!”
They just looked at Buster and me and said, “Oh, ok thanks,” and took him from me. They didn’t seem to be upset at all. I was so upset and cross.
People like my neighbours do not deserve to have pets.
Even now, writing this story I get upset as I remember Buster but I would like to think, in his short life, he had a happy time with me. I know I had a wonderful time with him. He was a special, little kitten.
True Stories 