The Cat with Nine Lives

The story of the stray cat has its ending, but not the one I had hoped for. After a few false starts, the family hoping the stray might be theirs arrived at my house yesterday afternoon to see the cat. A quick glance confirmed the diminutive kitty was not theirs. Put simply: "No, not our cat."

I had already mentioned my intent to take the cat to the humane society shelter if they didn’t take it. They, a mother and daughter, kindly offered to take the cat to the shelter since they would be driving near it on their way home, and they had a cat carrier with them.

Here is the real story. Cats do have nine lives. I have lived with and loved eight various cats in my life. As I struggled to force this ninth cat (one that lived with me for only a week) into the carrier, I felt all eight of those other cats squirming and joining the fight against me. All nine lives now pushed back against me as I caged the little female.

None of them wanted to go.

Eventually, the car carrying the mother, daughter, and cat in a carrier sped across the open prairie, chasing a self-made dust devil across the bleached grass, heading for town.

I never gave the cat a name.

“Nine,” I thought as I turned away with tears in my eyes.

Nine

—Mitchell Hegman