When I was in elementary school, I had a good friend called Maimunah. I used to go to her house to play with her cat. It was such a long time ago that I don't remember the cat's name. But when I close my eyes, I can still see the bright colour stripes of that kitten. We will call it Harimau (tiger) here.
Maimunah's father was transferred to a distant town far away. In those days with only trunk roads, it took a good eight hours to travel 200 miles. It was very hard for Maimunah to give up her beloved pet. She cried. She pleaded. She fell sick. She refused to eat ... At the end the cat was given to her aunt, a kind woman who was fond of Harimau. Since the aunt was a Government servant, she was away all day. It was actually the maid that looked after Harimau.
Shortly after Maimunah moved up north, Harimau disappeared. After the cat settled down, the household was not so vigilant about keeping her in door. While the maid went out to throw rubbish, Harimau must have light footed out and hid among the many potted plants. Pets were not that important to folks then, everyone had a hard time making a living. Cats were only valued highly if they could catch mice.
Nobody told Maimunah that her cat ran off. Meanwhile, I was writing short notes to her monthly. Allowance was twenty cents a day for me, I had to go hungry to save up ten cents to buy a stamp to mail her a letter. For paper I could tear one off an old exercise book. For envelope I learned to make my own using thick brown paper from recycled parcel wrapper. One day when I walked back from school I saw a very thin cat that looked like Harimau near her old house. A few days later I described the pathetic cat to her in my letter.
Maimunah pestered her mum and dad until the father agreed to call her aunt to enquire about the cat the next time he return to his hometown for a business meeting. So the story of how the cat seized the first opportunity to escape came out. The poor cat must have wandered for weeks looking for her former mistress' residence. It seemed that she escaped in early February and was only seen "haunting" Maimunah's old residence in late March. She had no shelter and hardly any food except for left overs that the neighbours gave her. Harimau persisted in looking and waiting for Maimunah for three months before the latter's dad finally brought a cage to take her to her mistress by train.
What made the cat so attached to a little girl? The aunt actually lived in a bigger and more comfortable house. The food given to Harimau was far better and definitely cost more than the old fare. But God had made the small cat with a big heart that loved Maimunah unconditionally.
- Your love, O God, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. -
catRAY2212_468x604.jpg from dailymail.co.uk
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