Me and My Shadow: A Fictionalized Account of My Life with a Cat

Intro:

The following tale is partially true and partially fictional. The names have been changed to protect the innocent and the events embellished to hopefully make them more entertaining.

Pro-log:

I first encountered Shadow in the summer of 2005. It was a hot July afternoon.. Our initial meeting occurred shortly before 4:00 PM on a Friday preceding an extended Fourth of July week end. Most of the other employees had left early in order to beat the traffic they were almost certain to encounter in route to their holiday destinations. As fate would have it I noticed a light was still lit in one of the offices at the far end of the hall. I could have just turned to my right and made my way down the stairway to the parking lot below, but curiosity got the better of me. I had to discover for myself the identity of this devout employee.... I needed to know... I had no particular plans for the upcoming weekend... Was there another individual like myself who actually didn't have a life? As I approached that beckoning light a myriad of thoughts rushed through my mind. I fantasized there might be some attractive young lady as yet unknown to me waiting patiently for the man of her dreams to come striding into her office. I paused briefly before entering the room. Holding the palm of my hand in front of my mouth I forcefully exhaled in order to perform a perfunctory breath check. Turning the knob I slowly opened the chamber's door. There inside sat a middle aged , female police officer with a large basket in front of her. She was just returning from performing her daily patrol. "Hello" I said. Before I could even ask her about the basket she pulled back the terry cloth towel that covered it revealing four tiny kittens. "I found these kittens abandoned near the dumpster in our parking lot" she said smiling. "Would you like to adopt one ?" ... " The three with the puffy long hair are females and the short haired black one is a male. " she added. This wasn't exactly the kind of relationship I had been hoping for, but they were awfully cute kittens. Then I broke the one cardinal rule of all such encounters... If you are not interested in having a pet..under no circumstances look them straight in the eyes and NEVER..I repeat NEVER pick them up. It is said that you do not chose a particular animal for a pet...the animal chooses you. It is immediately apparent at the moment of initial contact whether you and that animal were destined to be together. Having failed to maintain my resolve to remain uncommitted I slowly reached down and picked up the tiny black kitten. He made no attempt to escape. He just calmly settled down in my hands as I tried desperately to formulate in my mind a valid reason why I should not adopt him. In that brief instant I knew my life would forever (or at least for the foreseeable future) be changed.

Chapter 1

As I stared downward at the little black kitten the police woman who identified herself only as Gabby proceeded to describe in detail the situation she had encountered when she had first discovered the litter of kittens. The three female kittens appeared to be somewhat larger than the male that being mostly due to the length and fluffiness of their fur. Each of the young females had different color markings which appeared to have been individually painted by the hand of God himself. One kitten was white with gray and black highlights. Her sister was white and tan. The third female kitten sported a calico coat of white and tan with brown and black spots. All three impeccably groomed ladies lie huddled together on one side of the basket. The male had a short straight coat of black hair. Even its whiskers were black. He had an unusually long black tail and soft green eyes that could melt butter. The inside of his ears, the pads on his feet and his tiny tongue were pink. I listened in silence as Gabby recounted tales of numerous other animals she had personally rescued. Most of those unfortunate animals had been abandoned pets for which she had managed to find loving homes. There was also the occasional wild animal babies that she had brought to an animal shelter or to the local zoo. Suddenly… I was aroused from my trance like state… I glanced at my wrist watch and noticed how late it was getting to be… I took the opportunity to interrupt Gabby’s narrative as she paused to take a breath. “I’ll take this black kitten, … I’ll take Shadow ” I said. I vaguely heard her reply “You’ve made a very good choice.. There is a definite connection between you”…”You already know his name.” I made my apologies for having to leave so abruptly. I walked out the door and had nearly reached the stair way when I realized that I had been so caught up in the moment I had completely forgotten to say “Thank you”. … What had become of my manners ? As I slowly turned around I noticed that the office light was no longer lit and the hallway was dark and deserted. What did Gabby mean by ....I knew his name ? … I had just named him myself…Had I not? A strange chill went down my spine as I opened the door leading to the stairway. About half way down the dimly lit stairwell I encountered a janitor holding a broom and dust pan. He appeared pleasantly surprised to see me. “I thought everyone had already left the building for the week end.” he said. When I showed him the little black kitten he smiled. “I better go down stairs with you” the janitor said. “I’ll have to reset the alarm after you exit”. The janitor leaned his broom against the wall and set down his dust pan on the floor next to it. It was only a matter of minutes before we descended the final stairs leading to the exit. As he closed the door behind me the janitor smiled and said “Now you take good care of Shadow, you hear.” I said ”Good night” and headed for the parking lot. I hadn’t walked 30 yards when it occurred to me… I had never told the Janitor I had named the kitten Shadow !... I turned around … The building was dark and silent. I walked to my car and opened the door. For a moment I just stood there next to the open car door surveying the empty parking lot. What had just happened ? ..What had I gotten myself into now ? Shadow yawned and closed his eyes....