Kyle, Atop the Kingdom of Water
Two neighbors of ours, on an animal rescue mission back in September of 2006, found a cat in a box outside of the Pasadena Humane Society. The cat, perhaps a year or so in age, was soaked to the bones though it had not rained in the preceeding days. Not ones to turn away from a drenched puss-puss in a box, they gathered up the cat and brought him back to our 'hood. One of the neighbors, a 76 year-old man who moved to Los Angeles from Canada back in the 60's ("too cold") decided to take the cat in and that was that. He named him Kyle.
Kyle became a friend to our neighbor's other three cats, and proved to be a playful addition to the gang. All the cats, once acclimated to the house, are given full privileges, including going in and out as it pleases them to do. Our neighbor, who lost his wife to Alzheimer's Disease over a decade ago, found he both loved and was delighted by his cats, and would call out to them at sundown, making sure all were safely in for the night (our neighborhood sports the odd coyote now and again, as well as an occasional feral dog or two roaming about).
A couple of days ago Kyle did not come in for the night, causing concern among those of us who worry about such things. With my wife's help, signs were made and hung--the next afternoon two calls came in stating they had seen a cat (matching the picture and description on the flyer) as it was struck by a car on a nearby boulevard. The cat appeared to have died instantly, and one of those who called collected up Kyle's broken body and took him to a Vet clinic to at least be housed for a time, giving the owner a chance to collect his remains.
Last night our neighbor, a good and decent man, shed tears and shook his head gently. We love life, we hurt when it goes too fast, or too hard, or too coldly. I write this thinking of how good and kind people are in the particular, and how hard we can be in the faceless ways we condemn strangers, or fire at enemies unknown, or order others to do so. When you love something your heart is everywhere at once.
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For Kyle
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Comments
That's exactly the reason my cat never goes outside. He has everything he needs in the house and he's protected from all the dangers that might await him else where.
Fred the Cat was a stray when I found him and he seems to understand that being in the house and being safe isn't a bad thing at all. Fred the Cat is sort of a long haired version of Kyle.