The Rescue

I’d just returned from a great night out, jumping through the window into the bedroom. My stomach rumbled. Erin, my human, was still asleep.

I jumped up and sat on her pillow by her head, watching her sleep for a moment. I tapped her face with my cold paw. She didn’t move. I tried again. No response.

I hooked the tip of her nose with my claw. That usually worked, but this time she didn’t even flinch. Strange.

Is she still breathing? I bent down to sniff her face and felt her breath faintly on my whiskers. I purred loudly into her ear and licked it. Nothing.

My belly growled again. I stood on her tummy and kneaded with my paws, purring loudly. Still nothing.

What’s wrong with her? Why won’t she wake up? I felt a little worried. What if she’s dead? I checked for her breath again and miaowed into her ear. Wake up! WAKE UP!

When she still didn’t respond, I felt the worry edge closer towards panic. I investigated the flat, shiny black slab on the side table that she always stared at or talked to. Sometimes that made a loud noise that usually woke her. Now how do I get it to do that? I pawed at it but nothing happened.

There was another black box with green lights. When that made a loud noise, she usually touched it to stop it. I tapped the box with my paw. Argh! This is more difficult than it looks. The box just keeps moving around.

CRAASSHH!! THUMP!! CLATTER!!

Oops! I didn’t mean to knock that light thingy off the table! I quickly looked at my human. She was still asleep. Something was definitely wrong!

Oh what to do, what to do? For a moment I sat staring at her. My stomach groaned again.

Suddenly annoyed, I swiped at her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. But still she didn’t stir. My heart began to hammer in my chest. Now I was really scared. I made my way back to the window. Time to elicit some help!

I jumped up onto the windowsill next door. Drat! It’s closed! I can see the human inside moving around. I miaowed loudly. He didn’t hear me. I frantically scrabbled and scratched the glass, miaowing and making as much noise as possible. The human came to the window and opened it, nearly knocking me off.

“Shoo! Go away, cat!” shouted the man. But instead I pushed my way into his kitchen.

“What the…?!” he jumped back in fright. Please, please come and help! Something’s wrong with my human! I miaowed at him.

The man’s face softened and he reached gently out towards me. “Hey kitty cat, what’s the matter? You hungry?”

I licked his hand by way of an apology. You bet I am! But let’s not get distracted here. My human is in trouble! He picked me up. “Here let me take you home, shall I? You live just next door, don’t you?” Yes, yes. Please let’s go. NOW! I purred loudly at him.

I wriggled out of his arms and jumping down, ran straight to his front door. When he didn’t follow immediately, I miaowed loudly at him again. “I’m coming” he said, impatiently while looking for something. Hurry! I miaowed loudly and scratched at the bottom of the door. The man found some shiny jingly things, and stuck one of them into the door. As soon as the door opened, I bolted out and ran to my door down the hall. The man knocked on it while I scratched at it. He listened for a moment then knocked again louder and listened again.

“No answer,” he stated and turned to go back to his apartment. Nooo! Come back! I ran ahead of him and quickly slipped in through his door.

“Oy! Get back here!” the man shouted after me. By the time he entered, I was already waiting on the kitchen windowsill.

The man was quick to open the window this time. But I hesitated. I really needed him to follow me! I miaowed loudly at him. My human is in trouble! Please, please come with me! But the man just tried to shove me out of the window. This wasn’t working!

Resisting him, I twisted around, jumped down onto his kitchen floor again and ran back to his front door, much to the man’s frustration. It was still open, but I stopped, turned around and miaowed long and loudly at him. Please come with me! He sighed and walked towards me. As he reached the door, I wove in and out of his legs, purring loudly…and nearly tripped him up. Oops, sorry!

I trotted out of the door, hoping that he would follow me. He did. This time I went towards the building entrance and waited for him by the glass doors.

The man had a curious look on his face by this time. It seemed I finally had his attention. He opened the glass door, while I once again rubbed against his legs purring. This time I was careful to not trip him up.

As soon as the door was opened I walked out, looking up at the man to make sure he kept following me. When I saw that he did, I trotted to the end of the building and stopped to wait for him. I ran to the next corner and waited again. Once we had made it around to the back of the building I ran straight to my window and jumped up onto the window sill. To my delight, the man kept walking towards me.

When he arrived at my window, I slipped in through the opening, jumped up onto the bed where Erin was lying, and miaowed loudly. He knocked on the window and politely called out, “Excuse me, sorry to bother you but your cat seems to be in distress.” He put his ear closer to the opening. When he heard nothing, he poked his head in. “Excuse me,” he said again. “Hello?” He could clearly see my human asleep on the bed.

I went to sniff her face. Her breath was very feint on my whiskers. I miaowed urgently again.

He pulled out his shiny slab, tapped it a few times and held it against his ear. After a few minutes he suddenly spoke: “Ambulance, please. And maybe something to break down the front door?” He said a few more words into the thing, then abruptly left the window.

Oh. Oh dear, I thought. I felt abandoned. And hungry. And now I didn’t know what else to do. I looked at my human, and miaowed softly. Please wake up! Despondent, I curled up next to her, purring to let her know I was there and drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly…

BANG!

BANG!

BANG-CRK!

BANG-CRA-CRAACK!

CRUNCH!

THUMP!

Terrified I zipped off the bed and hid under it in a flash, my heart hammering in my chest.

Black boots clumped quickly into the bedroom. Voices speaking. Bags with strange devices appeared on the floor next to the bed. Movement all around. A set of wheels rolled up next to the bed. The mattress above me bounced up and down a few times and then the wheels, boots and bags left.

Suddenly it was dead quiet. I was too scared to move for quite sometime. When my heart finally stopped yammering, my stomach growled. Ah yes. Food. I still hadn’t had any breakfast. I crept cautiously to the edge of the bed, sniffing and listening carefully. Silence. I ventured out and looked up to where my human was lying.

She was gone! I jumped up onto the bed, sniffing the bedding. Her scent was still strong and it was still warm. At a loss I sat looking at the empty space where she had lain, suddenly feeling very miserable and afraid. This day couldn’t get any worse. I curled up and closed my eyes.

Sometime later, there was a noise at the door. A voice called out gently, “Hey, kitty cat. Where are you?” It was the man from next door. I sat up and miaowed and he came into the room. “Ah, there you are!” I was so happy to see him that I immediately jumped down and ran to him, purring and rubbing up against his legs. He bent down and picked me up. “You did good, kitty cat. Your mommy is in safe hands now. They’ll take care of her. And I’ll take care of you until she gets back.”

The man walked through to the kitchen, still holding me, and began to search the cupboards. He soon found my food packets. Taking one, he put me down and picked up my empty food bowl from the floor. My stomach really rumbled now! Food! Thank you, Mr Neighbour! I purred, rubbing his legs again. When he put the bowl back down I hungrily wolfed the food down.

When I was finished, I took a few minutes to lick myself clean. The man picked up my bowls, the water one as well, washed them out, and then took all my food packets out of the cupboard. Then he picked me up and carried me to his place next door. He disappeared for a few minutes and came back carrying the rest of my stuff.

After he’d found place for my litter box, bed and toys, he sat down on his sofa. He picked up a black oblong thing with the buttons on it and pointed it at the large black window which suddenly came alive with music, talking and little people trapped inside it.

Seeking solace, I jumped up onto the sofa next to him and sat looking at him. He glanced at me, smiling kindly, reached out a hand and stroked my back. I gently moved onto his lap, curled up and purred myself to sleep.

I stayed at the man’s place for several days and nights. We had become good friends. But I missed Erin, my ‘mommy’ as the man had called her.

Finally, she returned home. The man’s black slab had rung that morning and he spoke into it. When he put it down, he said excitedly, “Your mommy’s coming home today!!” It seemed a like a lifetime later before the man got up and went out his door. I followed eagerly behind him. There, coming through the glass front doors, was my Erin! She sat in a chair with wheels and was being pushed by another human. In a single bound I leapt straight into her arms, purring loudly. “Marvin! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” she exclaimed, giving me a cuddle. She looked up at the man. “John, thank you so much for looking after him.”

John replied, “It’s the least I could do, Erin. Marvin saved your life, you know. If it wasn’t for him coming to fetch me that day…”

“Really? Oh, Marvin, you’re a superstar! Thank you for saving me! Big treats for you then,” she exclaimed, giving me another cuddle.

“Um, the paramedics had to break your door down to get to you, but I arranged to get it fixed. Here’s your new key,” said John, handing a small silver thing to Erin.

“Oh goodness me! That bad, was it?”

“What happened to you?” asked John.

“Diabetes,” she said. “My blood sugars plummeted during the night and I went into a coma.” she said, weakly.

John helped Erin back to our home and into one of her own chairs, then made her a cup of tea. He later brought back all my stuff from his place.

“If you need anything, please shout. I’m right next door,” said John, smiling warmly.

“Thank you,” said Erin. “For everything. Especially for looking after Marvin,” Hmm. I think we’re going to be more than just good friends here.

I curled up on Erin’s lap and purred myself to sleep, content.