Tabby's Day To Escape

1. Displaced

I gradually learned that I was a cat—partly because my brother used to hold me up to the mirror and I could see the two of us different, and majorly because I heard many humans refer to me with that word. I hardly cared if I was a human or a cat if I was coloured white or black. I was given proper food and affection when I wanted, independence when I'd need it; I was having the time of my life.

Ugh, my brother had this really annoying habit of kissing me whenever he'd pass by and I had to run away from him. It was super irritating when it happened but that never encouraged me to leave them as the advantages of living with them were more than this one thing in particular that I hated.

I still remember that day, about a couple of months back. I was playing around in the building compound, unaware that a madman had felt the urge to find all of us. I had five to six siblings, with a very loving mother who, that day, was out of sight and we were running around on our own; unaware of what fates we were about to unfold. I was idling around too, chewing a piece of biscuit I had found while my sister was trying to jump on a tall wall.

When she asked my opinion, I replied that she would be able to jump that high, but I knew she wouldn't be able to. Sadly, she figured it out the hard way after she fell down every time she tried to make it on the wall. All other siblings were doing some or the other thing, waiting for mother to turn up. Even I expected our fearless mother to turn up any moment, she was going to teach us something new that day.

It didn't happen that day. Instead, I felt a greasy human hand gripping my belly and pulling me off the ground. As my feet left the earth, I felt the whole world crumble before me. I tried all I could. I was twisting, turning, kicking legs but none of that could loosen his grip; like being stuck in the quicksand, the more I struggled the deeper I sank as he ended up tightening his grip over me and brought me to the mouth of a huge bag full of familiar voices and dumped me inside.

Familiar faces too? As the darkness faded I was able to see all my siblings, their faces painted with a dark shade of terror. They were all whining about that man and threatening him that mother would come and set him straight but she was nowhere to be seen. Their rants did nothing more than making them feel a little better about the situation. I tried to calm down and indulge my siblings in play, but even I was scared from within; unsure of what was about to happen to us.

Suddenly with a Jolt, the bag moved and all of us were pushed back and at the bottom. "Ouch!", I meowed. My lungs collapsed as I left a gasp, all of us were cramped over each other. Someone kicked somebody in the stomach, eye or wherever they could land their legs, hoping to find some way out. What had happened? Nothing outside the bag was visible from the inside, but for a while, we felt the bag swing from one side to the other as we toppled over each other.

Finally, when all the movement ceased we sat straight. Calm. Wondering what could happen next. We saw the mouth of the bag gradually increase in diameter, while simultaneously, streaks of light started replacing the darkness within. We all rushed outside, half expecting that our mother had taught the madman a lesson and had freed us, and maybe she had also brought us something to eat. My stomach was already gnawing with hunger.

I was the last one to exit the bag. I looked around. Unfamiliarity was all around me with no sign or scent of our mother. My starving siblings were already running towards different tantalising smells tickling their noses from all directions. I too listened to my grumbling stomach and let my nose lead me in the direction of something I knew had to taste good. I ventured into a building compound, trying to locate the source of the smell. When I found it, I realized it was a garbage bin; tall with its lid closed. I could have tried messing with the bin but I instinctively decided to explore this new area.

The gate I came in from was behind me, a passage went to my left which turned right at some distance while one continued ahead; twisting to the left. Where do I go? I locked my eyes onto a car parked to my left; isolated with a lot of darkness under it to hide. Just my kind of place. I rushed under it and started peeping out, pretending to locate any threats. Then ducked under and swiftly crawled across to the other end. My mother would always do this manoeuvre around cars and I always wanted to do it once.

A dark wall stretched from my right which ended near the distant left. Dead end! What if my predators corner me here? I felt vulnerable and ran towards the end I'd entered under the car, and then in the bright light again. I looked to my left—all clear. To my right—all clear. Then a smudgy figure dashed in through my left and I quickly turned my gaze. A human, standing there with a puzzled look. Possibly wondering who I was. I sat down and changed my expression from fearless to innocent. After a short pause and the sweetest gaze I could muster, I looked into his eyes and slowly let out a 'Me-o-w'. I knew my innocent face and captivating voice had done the magic, for his rigid expressions loosened up and I knew he'd not try to hurt or throw me out.