Cat shivered in the cold as the frost on the pavement touched his paws. He shook his black pelt to attempt to warm up, but it didn’t help much. He trotted through the city alleyway, fog creeping around the corners, as he was on his way to meet up with his friend, Dixie. Although she was a dog, and a loud one, Cat didn’t mind spending time with her.
She lived in an apartment building on the second floor with her family. Cat had never had a family, besides maybe Dixie. He was a stray and he had dreams of finding himself a nice warm home, but none of the humans he had met enjoyed his company. They all quickly shooed him away, believing he was cursed because of his black fur. He had made it behind the apartment building and it wasn’t long before Dixie came running down the rusting metal stairs that were bolted to the back of the apartment building. “Hi Cat!” she barked, and licked his face. He grumbled irritably and licked his paw to wash his face.
Cat never had a real name, as he’d never had a real home, but ever since he met Dixie, she had always called him ‘Cat’ and the name stuck.
“Hey Dixie,” Cat replied, after he had finished washing his face. They began walking back down the alleyway, towards the street.
“It sure is cold out today” Dixie’s collar jingled in the quiet alley. “It really is.”
Cat puffed out his fur and his tail twitched slightly.
“At least it hasn’t snowed yet. I still need somewhere to stay before it does,” he said as they reached the edge of the street. The city was bustling with humans as always, cars sped by and large herds of humans were on the sidewalks. As if they both had the same thought, Cat and Dixie bolted across the street when the cars had stopped.
The scent of some type of food caught their noses and Dixie began sprinting towards it.
“I’m going to go see whatever that is, it smells delicious!” she barked before she ran around the corner of a building. Cat didn’t say anything but kept walking, taking his time. He kept to the side of the sidewalk so most of the humans wouldn’t notice him, but unfortunately a door swung open in front of his face, almost hitting him.
Cat quickly jumped back in alarm and looked up to see an older man who was angrily staring right at him. He was holding a white plastic bag that looked like it had a lot of trash in it and his white shirt was stained with yellowish spots.
“Get out of here! Shoo!” he yelled, waving his arms in Cat’s face. Cat backed up a few steps but didn’t back down and his face showed no emotion, only looking a bit annoyed. He was used to this type of behavior from humans, and just tried to let them make their noises and at some point they’d move on.
“Stupid cat!” the man grumbled, his nose scrunching up in anger. “You’re spreading bad luck in these streets!”
Cat just sat down, unfazed and began washing his face to show the man that he had no intention of leaving. After seeing that, the man took a crushed can out of the plastic bag and threw it at Cat. Cat luckily noticed it in time, puffed up his tail and jumped back, arching his back while hissing.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought!” the man yelled in triumph and began cursing at him.
Just then, Dixie came racing back, barking at the man in fury. She jumped in between Cat and the man and growled at him. The man quickly backed down and scrambled into his house, dropping the plastic bag and spilling trash everywhere. He slammed the door shut and Dixie growled at the door for a minute longer, just to make sure he stayed gone.
After she had finished, she whipped around to face Cat.
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?”she whimpered, concern flooding her eyes.
“I’m fine.” he reassured her, forcing his fur to lie flat.
“He couldn’t hit me anyway, I’m too quick!” Cat remarked after Dixie still looked worried. This seemed to make her feel better and her tail gave a small wag.
“What did you find anyway?” he asked, remembering why Dixie had run off before.
“Nothing much,” she sighed. “It was in a jar and I couldn’t reach it.”
“I could try,” Cat suggested, taking a couple steps forward to where she had run. Dixie happily followed and the two continued down the street, Dixie close to his side. Cat stared at the pavement as he walked.
“Hey Dixie?” he asked, not looking up.
“Yeah?” Dixie responded, looking at Cat. He could feel her staring, but still looked at the pavement as they walked.
“Do you think I’m really a curse?” Cat asked quietly. Dixie stopped dead in her tracks and Cat turned to face her.
“Don’t say that about yourself, Cat!” she growled. It took him by surprise as Cat had never seen Dixie angry before. “You’re not a curse! Humans are just stupid, you know that right?” her fur fluffed up in the cold and she stood as still as stone, staring at Cat. Cat’s green eyes glittered in the sunlight and he began purring and rubbed up against Dixie. He felt her relax against him and Cat said “Thank you Dixie.”
* * *
The two turned around the corner of a building and Cat spotted the jar that Dixie mentioned. He stepped up to it and put his face near it, letting his whiskers feel the edges of the jar. In the bottom of it was a small piece of meat, most likely sausage.
“I can probably fit,” Cat told Dixie, lifting up his head. Dixie’s tail wagged and Cat stuck his head in the jar to reach for the sausage. His head just barely fit but he grabbed the meat with his teeth and pulled his head back out.
After placing it on the floor, he stepped back to let Dixie have it and licked his paw to clean his ears. Dixie jumped forward, but very carefully bit the sausage in half. Then she quickly ate her half and nodded at the other piece, indicating that it was for him. Cat happily grabbed the sausage and began chewing it up while Dixie patiently waited for him to finish.
Before he could eat it all, a door opened slowly behind him and he jumped back in surprise and expected another angry human to come. Instead, a short older woman stepped out, wearing a long yellow dress with a floral pattern on it and she was holding a small bowl. She hobbled towards them and her gray curly hair bounced on her shoulders. She slowly placed the bowl on the ground. Cat warily stepped back but the woman didn’t move from her place. The smell that came from the bowl was delicious, it was some type of fish, and Cat’s mouth began to water but he didn’t take his eyes off the woman. Dixie just stood a few steps away from Cat and watched the woman curiously.
“Come on kitty! Eat up,” she said kindly, using her hands to gesture to the bowl. Cat gave in and crept towards her. The sun was setting and a street lamp flickered on above them as he reached the bowl. Overtaken by the smell of the food, he began devouring it, not realizing how hungry he had been before.
The woman laughed and without Cat noticing, she reached down and began to pet his back. He flinched, startled, and was about to lash out, but when he realized she wasn’t hurting him, he stayed put and kept eating the food. He was still very wary of the woman, not sure if he could trust her yet. He felt a bit safer knowing that Dixie was close behind him.
After he had finished the food, Cat quickly scampered away from the woman, back to Dixie’s side. Cat pressed against her side, still not sure how he should feel. The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a slice of pepperoni and threw it towards Dixie.
“Don’t think I forgot about you!” she said as Dixie leaped forward and gobbled it up.
The woman put her hand forward and to let Dixie sniff her but Dixie bounced forward, and licked the woman’s hand. Cat began to worry that she might hurt Dixie but she pet her and Dixie’s tail wagged like a fan blade.
“What’s your name?” the woman asked, reaching for Dixie’s pink collar. “Dixie! How sweet!” She chuckled. “My name is Judith.” Taking a second look at Dixie’s tag, she read the address on it. “You’re not too far from home, let’s take you back. I’m afraid you’re lost Dixie.” She stood up and Cat took a couple steps back, feeling more comfortable with Judith, but still a bit scared.
The two followed Judith through the streets while she led them back to Dixie’s house.
“Even if she doesn’t know I’m not lost it’s still nice having some help through the city,” Dixie said to Cat.
“I don’t know how to feel about her.” Cat confessed. “Sure, she seems nice but all humans end up the same, right?”
“Maybe she’s different.” Dixie replied, looking at Judith when she looked back to make sure they were still following. Dixie gave a short hop as if she thought of something exciting. Cat was used to Dixie’s body language so he could tell she had something to say. “Cat!!”
“What Dixie?” Cat laughed.
“Maybe you could live with her! You’ve been looking for a home forever now, maybe she’s the one!” Dixie exclaimed. “I don’t know…” Cat began uneasily before Dixie interrupted him. “Oh come on Cat! She’s the only one who hasn’t chased you away becau-” Dixie stopped herself before saying anymore, because she knew it made Cat uncomfortable and Cat was thankful for his friend’s consideration. “This human has shown no intention of not liking you!”
“But what if-”
“A home might be given to you in a silver bowl and you’re going to give it up?”
“Well no but-”
“So take the chance Cat! If anything happens we can always keep looking.” Dixie barked and Judith looked behind her again.
“Keep up you two!” she said, waving her hand for them. They picked up the pace and Cat didn’t respond yet. He thought about it for a moment.
He knew this might be his only chance to find a home but he still didn’t know if he could trust her. Knowing Dixie would persist, he gave in to her.
“Okay, I’ll give her a chance,” he said, looking up at her. Dixie’s tail began wagging again. “Yes! It’s going to be great Cat, I promise.”
They had reached Dixie’s house and Judith knocked on the door. The door opened a few moments later and Dixie scampered inside behind her human. She had four humans, two older ones and two younger ones and the man was the one who answered the door. Judith smiled at him and said ,“I found her behind my house and I thought I’d bring her home.”
The man gave a weak smile in return, Dixie had told Cat that he’d never been fond of her.
“Thank you, my daughters will be thrilled to see her home,” the man replied. He glanced down at Judith’s feet where Cat was sitting and he looked irritated. “I suggest you stay away from that cat, black cats are bad luck you know.”
Judith just looked at him and shrugged.
“I don’t believe in your superstitions.” She replied calmly. “He’s actually a sweet cat.”
“Well get him away from here, I don’t want his bad luck to spread to my family. Thank you for bringing Dixie home,” he said and shut the door in Judith’s face but she seemed unfazed by him and only looked kindly down at Cat. She then reached down and picked him up. Cat wanted to resist but he didn’t because he promised Dixie he’d give her a try.
It felt weird being eye level with a human but as she began walking she searched his neck.
“You must be a stray, poor thing.” She pet his back as they walked and he began to feel more comfortable in her arms. “The fall months aren’t kind to us in this part of the country. Why don’t you come home with me, where you can have a nice warm bed.”
A warm bed didn’t sound bad to Cat so he adjusted himself in Judith’s arms and began purring.
* * *
Cat had stayed in her house for the night. He slept in a box with some blankets that she had put together for him. The inside of her house was like a cottage, with vintage objects everywhere. Cat was lying in the bed when Judith walked through the door. She had gone out this morning, telling him that she was getting a surprise for him.
She held a small brown bag in her hand and kneeled down in front of Cat. She first pulled a small mouse made out of fabric and put it next to him. He sniffed it and gave it a lick and it smelled of cleaning products mixed with the smell of Judith.
“I also got you this,” she said, pulling out a small green collar with a silver tag on it. Cat let her clip the collar around his neck. “The tag has your new name on it and my address in case you ever get lost!” she said happily.
* * *
He trotted confidently through the streets on his way to Dixie’s house, his new collar jingling with every step. Judith had let him out after she had to go to her bakery that she owned and worked at. He wasn’t sure what a bakery was, but maybe it explained why Judith always smelled of bread.
He walked down the alley behind Dixie’s house, happy to hear the jingle of his collar. It felt good to have something that actually belonged to him.
“Dixie!” he called when he had reached the back of her apartment. He heard some scuffling coming from the inside and then she burst out of the window and ran down the stairs.
“Cat! How are you? How did it go? Oh my gosh you have a collar!” Dixie kept spitting out words and she circled him and sniffed his fur.
“It must have gone well! Do you live with her now? Are you happy? Is she the one??” When she finally finished, she stopped in front of him and stared deep into his bright green eyes. “I have a name.” He told her, puffing out his chest.
Dixie gasped excitedly and her tail wagged uncontrollably. “What is it! You have to tell me!” she said, stepping closer.
His whole body itched with excitement, but he tried hard to contain it in front of Dixie. “My name is Cody.”
Dixie practically jumped out of her skin out in excitement at Cody’s words. “Cody! That’s such a nice name! I love it!” After Dixie had finished awing over him, the two continued their daily wander around the city. Dixie didn’t stop mentioning his collar and Cody pretended that he didn’t care, but he was actually really happy in his new home and with his new life.
