Pet Memorial

The Black Cat by Pena

Cover art source: the cover art attached was downloaded from Pinterest

THE BLACK CAT

"Dark as the night. They sleep, they purr, they hunt"

Black cats are often associated with witchcraft culture and most believed that black cats were a bad omen as well as cursed in many places in the world. The Puritan Pilgrims from the New World America ritually purged black cat, which mythologically relates to the black magic movement. Back in the year 1233, Pope Gregory IX published a document stating that all black cats were the incarnation of satan. The classic Halloween symbol, these poor black coated furry souls, always subjected to torture and many unimaginable pains that may force their 9 lives, to some irresponsible satanic cult believers, as parts of their sacrificial offering.

A black cat came into my life under a bittersweet circumstance. Named him Bimo, a fragile, broken leg black cat that was thrown from a moving vehicle and landed exactly at the top of the hill behind my house. Meowing for help and hiding under my dad's car, his eyes were watery, his malnourished body was shaking vigorously, but gladly he didn't hiss or fought back when I reached out to him. Ever since then, he was my companion and my entertainer.

Relocation of my workplace, to The Green Jewel of Brunei, forced me out of my parents' nest and letting me lived all by myself for nearly 3 years. Coping with being alone with the addition of being lonely as a bonus, I remember praying days and nights for a companionship, didn't matter either furry or plain John Doe. Then Bimo, the black cat was the answer to my prayers. As a first-time pet owner, I didn't know much of how to properly take care of a cat, but with the power of the internet, I managed and surprisingly the black cat did cooperate well. It's a matter of working in a team.

The black cat taught me a lot about determination and perseverance. The first time I met him, he was roughly about 6 to 7 months old. Broken leg, malnourished with infected eyes and many more, could have made the black cat just gave up on life. But the black didn't, he tried eating pungent-smelling wet food, drinking plenty of water and even though I had to forcefully gave him medications, he still did reluctantly take it for the sake of his well-being. As days and months went by, he became more playfully fierce. My once gloomy two-storey house was now his playground, running around, climbing around, rolling around and even grown to love scratching some of my mother's precious furniture.

Six months in, the black cat was seen gliding and running across the living room's floor, chasing down a motor-controlled toy rat. Accompanied by Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, he looked well, happy and healthy, I wished him nothing but to live a fulfilling life. Dependent a lot on him, especially in early in the morning, he softly nudged his head on my face and sometimes, he licked me with his sandpaper-ish tongue as an indication for "it's time to wake up and go to work, also don't forget to feed me before you go". Cats have complicated and complex minds which sometimes are hard to read through, the black cat is no exception. Most of the time performing handful, clumsy, strange, and self-embarrassing acts, those which always made my lonely days and nights.

After three years of being a semi-pro cat owner, I did still stumble here and there but life has always been a long-life learning process. I was also in a happy place, felt that time in my life was perfect. But the happiness didn't last long, Bimo finally contracted Parvo and he didn't make it. It was hard, losing a dark, satanic-looking furry friend, a companion, and a personal alarm clock. Taught you that unexplainable of never-ending longing for something or someone. There were those feelings of emptiness that I can't really explain, but now I've come to the realization that the black cat would be better at where he's right now, just at a better place. This is for the black cat, may his fighter's soul forever in peace.

By Pena (2020)