the christmas kitten story

soooo, over the weekend i was watching the MST ADORABLE bull terrier named buster. i actually was really scared of this breed for a long time, until him. he looooved me! his owner had never been away from him before, and had me coming 3x a day for walks. eventually he learned to hop up and hug me when i said "up! hug!". i totally spoiled him.

ANYWAY, last sunday was probably one of the coldest, windiest days i have ever experienced. it was just-- bitter. the streets were empty, as everyone was trying to stay in as much as possible. after my very last walk, in the pitch dark of 830pm, i was heading toward broad street (big busy main street in philadelphia) when i turned to my right to see a tiny kitten huddled in a recessed store front stoop. he(?) looked sooo cold, as i think the wind chill had it feeling 20 degrees colder (something like 8? it was just miserable). and i just exclaimed, "oh! kitty!" because it upset me so much. and he IMMEDIATELY hopped out and started rubbing on my legs, purring, trying to stand up to get me to pet him. i initially didn't touch him because
1. i have gotten attacked by a few strays here that SEEM really nice and purr-y and then just flip
2. i didn't want to take anything home to lilly & scuz
but he was relentless. i mean, nicest happiest cat ever. and i said, kitty, no no i can't take you home. but i knew he was freezing so i took off my scarf and tried to wrap him/make a bed in the recessed store front... to no avail. he just kept rubbing on me and trying to get me to pet him. i tried to walk in circles to see if he would go anywhere, or if he had a notion of home... and he followed me. i mean, right behind me. purring, meowing, and marching behind me like we were a team. i had nooo idea what to do, because scuz is INCREDIBLY violent and would probably flip out and hurt us/the kitten if i brought him home. plus, again, i wasn't sure if this cat potentially had illness or anything. i was near my friend carolyn's, so i gave her a call to see if she had any food or anything i could bring back. kitty, of course, followed right behind me the block and a half there. i wasn't talking to it or encouraging it, and was in fact getting more and more stressed about the situation.
i knew i COULD NOT leave the cat in weather like that, but that i couldn't take him home.

so i got to carolyn's, who didn't have anything but some water, and the cat just rubbed all over her & her roommate. he was so happy, and so nice. when a big gust of wind came, he would sit and wrap his tail around himself and shiver. i mean, it was just so sad. i said goodnight to carolyn and tried to figure out what to do.

my plan was literally to walk around until someone showed interest, or the cat would run off to wherever he had been living (most cats stake out a territory and get fed by the same people)... but no. he followed me for almost half an hour. i was so desperate i was thinking about knocking on doors and asking people if they wanted to adopt a cat.

well. i decided to at least feed him, and walked over to walgreens. he sat and waited, watching me, as i crossed the busy busy street. when i came back out, he was trotting after a woman i had just seen come out of a pizza place. i yelled after her, is that your cat? and she laughed and said no, that he just started following her, too! so i stopped and opened the can... he was totally famished. and i started talking to the woman, and she said she also had two cats and seemed just as torn about the whole thing. she eventually said, i can't leave him, i just can't. my boss has been looking for a cat for his store (lots of places around here keep store cats, often fat and spoiled and happy, to catch mice)... and she decided to take him home and temporarily keep him downstairs, then give him to her boss! i said, well, great! do you want any help? and she laughed and said, no, i think he'll probably just follow me. she picked up the can of food, and sure enough, he trotted after her all the way home.

sorry that was so long! it was seriously soooo heartwarming. poor ryan had cooked us dinner and was waiting for me to get back, but i couldn't just leave that cat. some strays are obviously just happy being strays. but this cat wanted a home, and was so so full of love. did i mention he was a little tortie like lilly, and had one half ear? like typical cartoon stray cat. he seemed totally healthy otherwise, and was just so so cute. i came home and hugged lilly SO TIGHT. every animal is a treasure, and i am glad there is one less on the street.

whew! i love this season. it was just magical. :)

now, a break from words, some of the finished notebooks from my digital patterns. !




alright, back to studying for finals. i cannot believe the semester is over, and that i will be in GA in a week and a half.