Uncertain Endings

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PFLsAgain
Posted by PFLsAgain on Wed 17 Oct 07, 10:54 AM

You'd often see him sitting there. On bad days he'd be curled up under the bush seeking shelter beneath a mass of laurel leaves. Rain drops would roll slowly from the pointed leaf tips but the cosy little den amongst the roots would remain dry. On warmer days he'd sun himself on the top step near to the pond. Both locations conveniently close to the food bowl which despite many arguments and decisions to the contrary, someone insisted on leaving out for him.

I say him. We never managed to get close enough to decide whether he was truly a he or really she. Once, memorably, he allowed himself to be touched on the head before shying away in a flurry of hisses and growls. Perhaps he was feeling affectionate that day. It was never repeated.

He was unloved in the village and someone attempted to poison him. It was agonising watching him fight for his existence, desperately trying to eat the scraps left for his attention. And again, he was hit by a car, the fur scraped from his sides, hanging in a matted clump. Both times he managed enough hostility and bravura to avoid our best efforts to catch him. He fought on and returned to the den under the bush minus a few teeth but full of life.

Sometimes he'd disappear. He wouldn't be seen for a few weeks but you knew he must be there. The pampered house cats would refuse to use the cat flap knowing full well his views on spoilt pets. And then one day he'd be sitting there again like a shaggy ill-kempt Pac-Man ghost and the routine of hisses and furtive feeding would resume.

Recently the usual spots have been abandoned. But this time there's something different. The resident felines have been visiting his usual haunts and exploring previously off-limits territory. They curl up in sunny spots long since deserted and no longer glance furtively around before making a move. I think they're trying to tell me that our wanderer has moved on.

He's gone and probably won't return. He was older, slower and generally unloved. I suspect the ending was not good. But perhaps it was not an ending at all? That's the problem with uncertainty. That trailing off into ever diminishing hope that won't quite die. He'll be lamented by one though, so perhaps it wasn't all in vain.

Edited Wed 17 Oct 07, 11:06 AM by PFLsAgain


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