I got separated from my mother a long time ago. I was passing long lonely ampere-hours looking onto the street. It was a rather cloudy day with beams of sunlight pushing through the clouds and onto the beautiful evening day. You might be thinking where I got my food or my essentials to live a life, well let me tell you that was a way bigger task than you could PAWSIBBLY imagine! Living on the streets of Dubai, with sand almost everywhere, it was laborious to find food. And I did not want to be a sort of beggar. There were other cats I would meet and sadly they were in the same situation as me. Sometimes I was forced to eat, sleep, and sit near trash cans.And let me tell you that I LOVE MEAT, MEOW! I knew I could pounce on some bird and eat that but no, my mommy taught me to be a good boy. I would find some scraps of food here and there and that’s all I would eat, no wonder I looked so slim! It was this one particular day when I thought luck just flew over to me. I toppled upon the feet of a woman dressed in a beautiful blue gown and heels with a leather bag by her side. She had a messy black bun tied up with strands of wood brown hair left loose. I was quite sleepy when this happened, so I didn’t say anything. I just looked up into her pearly black eyes. She looked down at me and smiled. She tried to pat me but seeing a stranger in the middle of the night wasn’t a good feeling and so I stepped back. She tried to come closer, and I kept going backward. While doing this I felt weird. Maybe she was trying to help me or maybe she wanted to capture me with a fake smile. Her hands reached out and she kept smiling at me. That was when I discerned the power of love. She reached to me with love. She smiled at me with love. She wanted to pat me because she loved me. Not all humans are cruel hearted. I stopped still. She approached me very slowly trying to keep as low as possible to the ground. Her hand was a millimeter away from my whiskers. My heart was pounding fast. And I felt it. I felt like I was in heaven. I felt like I just won freedom. She patted my head very gently. I closed my eyes tight. I loved her as much as she loved me. She slowly moved from my head to my tail again and again. Meow! She suddenly got up and ran into a building nearby and told me to wait there. After a quick wait, she came back with something wrapped in aluminum foil. She bent down to me and unwrapped the foil. Inside there were some chunks of meat. THAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! It had been so long since a had a piece of meat in my mouth. After eating, she picked me up and went into the same building she had run into before. I did get quite scared at that point and wondered whether she was there to capture me afterall, but I believed in this lady. The building looked a bit old-fashioned. Its peach paint had worn off slightly because of rain and dust. She got into something called the 'ELEVATOR.' It opened up when she clicked a button. There were numbers carved into some metal inside. She clicked on number five. When I looked back, I saw myself in a huge mirror. I could figure out that the thing was moving. In a few moments, it opened up into a corridor illuminated with orange light. At the end of each corridor, there were three doors except for one corridor which had only one door at the end. She got out of the elevator and turned right, facing three doors. She opened the door with the number 504 on it with a silver key. She opened up the door and put me on the floor. I was scared stiff! The room was humongous with very big furniture. But I must say, it had beautiful pieces of art hung on the pale white walls. It had a small flower vase kept on a brown table nearby, with bright red roses filled in it. I think she was trying to tell me to look around and get comfy but I was as scared as a mouse then! I ran and hid under the couch instead. She tried to pull me out of there but I think she eventually gave up cause like every other cat in the world when you see a new place for the first time, that is exactly how you would behave. After hiding there for some time, I slowly slinked out. I saw her talking over the phone to somebody. "I don't know where I should keep him, I can't let him in my house because he deserves to roam around and not stay stuck inside the flat. And I don't want to give this cat away either, he's so beautiful that I just can't seem to take my eyes off him!" I heard someone speaking on the other end of the phone, "Maybe you could leave him with the watch-man at the bottom of the building outside the reception." That was all I could hear, the rest was not audible. After sometime, the woman turned over and kneeled over to me and smiled. She said, "Oh, I am not sure what to name you but maybe I will call you Mi-mi from now onwards. I am not sure of what gender you are, though I am assuming you are a male." That was when I first got my name. She lifted me and laid me on her lap and said, "Mi-Mi my dear, I don't want to let go of you but I will have to leave you down with the watch-man because you merit to roam around but also to keep in touch with a good heart," in an Arabic accent. I felt happy. This lady thought out of the box. She could understand exactly what I wanted. I meowed back. By this time it was nearly midnight. She picked me up and walked into another room with a comfy bed. She tucked me in first and then got in herself and switched off the light. She held me close the entire night.
"Here you go, a nice full bowl of fresh milk!". It was the next morning and she had given me a bowl of milk to drink. She left the window open to let some light in. Sparrows and pigeons were flying here and there. Some of which were hooting loudly. I finished my bowl and curled up on the carpet. Today was the day I get shifted to the bottom of the building. The woman came over to me, picked me up, put on her shoes, and in the next few flashes, we were outside the watch-mans house at the bottom of the building. She spent some time talking and explaining to the watch-man. Then she bid me goodbye and left me there in the parking lot. The watchman wasn't much of an animal lover, I could discern that almost instinctively from his face. There were cars parked all around me and a silver cycle behind me. There was a hose and a bucket nearby and a cloth line kept on the wall. And there was a small corner where the woman had left me my food and water bowl. And the rest of the spaces were where I could sleep.
Nearly three weeks had passed, I got used to living there. The woman would come to visit me every alternative day at midnight and after she comes home from work. She kept a good check on my food stash. The watchman wasn't a real good company. He tried very often to scare me by using the water hose or trying to run his cycle onto me. Some nights I would just wander onto the streets and visit some of my old friends. Some of them would have been in the same condition they were in before but some lucky ones like me would be living life now. One day I was returning after visiting my friends when I noticed a small girl, probably aged 10 or 11getting out of the car with her father. Almost instantaneously she spotted me and told her father something, who was busy taking out bags of food from the trunk of the car. She was advancing towards me. I felt like the past was recurring itself. I ran beneath a Toyota parked nearby. But that girl wanted to touch me so bad she bent down onto the ground and stretched her hand underneath the car towards me. I got scared and bit her. She pulled back her hand almost instantly and gave a yell of pain. Then I could see the pair of feet fading away. When I crawled out, I could not see her anymore. I felt ashamed of myself. I didn't know why I had to BITE HER!
The next few days passed by quickly. And almost every single day I would see that girl's father going to work in the morning. Most of the time I would feel a bit embarrassed because when I would be laying on my back or upside down on the corner of the watchman's door, her father would pass by and give out a small laugh at me. But to show him that I had manners, I would greet him with a small meow. Then on a fine Monday evening, I saw the girl again, this time with her entire family going out somewhere. They walked past me. The girl's eyes were fixed on my face. I wouldn't say she looked bad or anything. She had a round face with thick black hair down her back. She was wearing a black top with white spots covered all over it with blue shoes and white bottoms. Her family was small with only four members. They all got into their car and were off somewhere.
Assuming almost 2 hours passed, I saw them return. I knew this was the perfect time to make up to her not only because her entire family would see this but also, because they had bags of FRESH FISH IN THEIR HANDS! When the girl got out of the car, I ran over to her and rubbed myself on her legs. I think she did get quite scared because it was unexpected and after all, she was only a little girl. She screamed out loud in joy and happiness. Her father told her to stay still for a photo. I knew I had to pose well, so I laid on the ground beside her. After taking the picture, her father took out a fish from the bag he was holding and offered it to me. I took it without even looking back. It had been MONTHS SINCE I HAD EATEN FISH! I couldn't believe it, that was yet another best day of my life.
Now I have got two most considerate friends in my life. The woman and, the little girl. Both these have bought about a consequential change in my life. From a very thin cat walking on the streets of Dubai to a plump cat living a luxurious life. All thanks to these wonderful humans. The reason I shared this story of mine is because I wish to communicate a message to all of you reading this- We don't need to have deep pockets or be rich to help the needy, the poor, and the hungry, we need to have a heart. And once you do help someone you will know what happiness means for true happiness comes from the effort of making others happy. And that is my friends, the greatest happiness in the world. MEOW!
L E T T E R T O T H E R E A D E R:
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading this story. This book was made from the heart in loving memory of Mi-mi, the cat, who passed away on August 4th, 2021. I was almost done writing this book when I heard of his death and I was immensely devastated. I came to know that he spent almost a week in pain and didn't eat any food, only water. His nose was bleeding. He was very weak, slim and tired. What makes me feel very bad is the fact that I was not there when he died. The last time I went to him was a week before the incident. Mi-Mi my dear, you will always remain in my heart, for the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. Love you Mi-Mi!
