Snow falls gently, uncaring, on the small, stiff body. Pretty flakes dot her whiskers.
The breeze stirs her tortoiseshell fur. Blood has dripped from her injured mouth to decorate her white chest. Her eyes, half shut, are filling up gently. Her claws are broken; they found no purchase on the tarmac when the van caught her.
The snow doesn't melt, now, when it lands on her thin and broken body.
Someone comes. Her hair is long and grey, her milky eyes haunted. The cold pains her, but she comes in all weathers, wrapped in many ragged layers.
She cradles the cat in her shawl, crooning softly.
Back at her cottage, she finds an un-used spot in the garden that will catch the sunshine. The ground is hard, and her fingers twisted with arthritis, but she's patient and determined. She lays the little one to rest there, tucking the shawl tenderly around the still form.
She pats the soil down and, joints creaking, moves a large stone atop the mound.
She pauses to mumble a prayer before she goes indoors to complete the ritual. The nursery waits, flooded with winter sunshine. She will step lightly in it, as in a church. Touching the mobile, the cot, the lamp... as if lighting candles. Murmuring softly to the little one whose body she never got to bury.
Stone still, with her head bowed and hands pressed together, she could almost be a statue in a cemetary.
The snow thickens, covering the newest grave.
About the Creator
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Comments (17)
Quite beautiful and sad, L.C. Can I ask who the little one is that she never got to bury? I interpreted it as her having a possible miscarriage when she was younger.
This was so sad. It was written beautifully!
"The snow doesn't melt, now, when it lands on her thin and broken body." such a good line without telling the reader. This was sad to read, but well-written!
This was sooooo sadddddd 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
You are such a wonderful writer. This story is hauntingly sad. My heart breaks that she will never be able to have closure, so she will continue, but because of this many animals will rest in peace.
A perfect description of what it was like growing up in my family -- at least as far as animals were concerned, lol.
Very beautiful! I love it.
250 words? Insanely packed.
This is a beautiful, haunting story, LC! ‘The little one she never got to bury,’ is the most striking line in the story. Well done!
Beautiful written. Also "the newest grave." Hmmm. Does she finding dead cats or birds the same one over and over? This one got me thinking.
Your style is beautiful, vivid imagery throughout the entire piece held me captured with every step she took.
Wow. You are a machine of beautiful things!!
This is a work of art. Beautiful and sad and a full of humanity.
Your mastery of image and emotion are truly evident in this one, LC! Wow, such profound heartbreak. So much pain and loss. I can barely imagine what a loss like that rag picker's could do to a person. Hopefully I never have cause to learn
Beautiful imagery, and story very sweet. 
Sweet and sad
The symbolism of the stone atop the cat's grave and the woman's quiet reverence in the nursery add layers of meaning to the story, suggesting themes of closure, acceptance, and the enduring power of love and memory.