Adopting Independence

Lillyanna was moving into her new apartment when she first saw the stray cat. He was a slinky black cat with scars hidden in his fur and brilliant yellow-orange eyes. He froze in the shadows of the stairwell, almost invisible save for the gleam of mischief in his eyes.

“Hi there sweetheart.” Lillyanna crooned at the stray. At the sound of her voice, he lept into motion. Skittering down the stairs past her and out into the open street. Lillyanna sighed, adjusted the box in her arms and stomped up the stairs. She had been so excited to find that the apartment over the art gallery was available and affordable. Now she wondered at the reason that it was available. Could there be some damage that she couldn’t see? Or maybe there had been a horrifying murder in the apartment. She shook her head and unlocked the door at the top of the steps, then she propped the door open with the box from her arms and looked around at her new home. The open space before her begged to be filled! Across the open space was a small kitchenette with only a stove, a drop-in sink, and an old refrigerator that hummed gently in the silence. As Lillyanna made the trips up and down the stairs, arms laden with boxes she wondered how the cat had even gotten into the stairwell in the first place…but she couldn’t figure it out. The bottom door had been locked, there weren’t any windows in the stairwell, and as small as he looked she doubted he had slipped under the gap under the door at the top of the stairwell. She finally used the light on her cellphone to look around the dark corners but couldn’t see any holes the cat might have gained entrance through.

Once she finished bringing up her boxes she sat on the stoop, and watched the sun go down between the buildings. The door at the top was still propped open with a box, and Lillyanna sat with her back holding the bottom door open so the gentle breeze could travel up into her apartment. Lillyanna lit a hand rolled and took a slow drag, holding in the smoke until she felt the tension of the day fade. Only then did she let the smoke eke from her lips with a sigh. Slowly the sun slipped away between the buildings, lighting the sky with pink and peach. Lillyanna was still sitting there, taking a drag every once in a while, when behind her she heard a tiny meow. She turned back and on the top step was the cat. This time she didn’t say anything, just blinked at him and took another puff. Slowly the cat slunk down the stairs toward her. The cat stopped three steps up from where she sat. Lillyanna inched her empty hand out toward him so he could sniff her. Instead of running like she expected, he leaned forward and touched the tip of her finger with his nose. The moment his wet black nose bumped her hand static electricity zapped them both. The cat jumped back and meowed loudly. Lillyanna froze with her hand still outstretched. From out on the street, they suddenly heard another male cat cry out in challenge. When Lillyanna turned to look at this challenger the black cat shot past her down the steps and launched himself at the challenger. The male challenger was an orange and cream cat with a kink in his tail who seemed enormous next to the slinky black cat. Lillyanna gasped, hands going to her throat as the two grappled fiercely. The orange cat screamed in terror and fled back up the street. The black cat hissed and arched his back, puffing up all over. Then he raced down the street to make sure the other male left his territory. He stopped at the corner, hissing defiance. Slowly he calmed down as he strutted back and forth at the intersection. Lillyanna watched the beautiful fierce boy for several minutes, when he was done, he slowly turned and slunk back down the street in the shadows until he came even with her. He stopped to look up at her. When he was this close, she finally saw the injuries hidden in his dark fur. He had a scratch that just missed his eye, more scratches along his sides, and bites that were wet with saliva. This beautiful fierce boy stood there for several minutes as though waiting for something. Slowly Lillyanna moved her legs so she wasn’t blocking the doorway as much. When she had settled out of the way he snuck by her slowly and crept silently up the stairs. She then heard the tiniest of squeaks before the cat lept up two steps and pounced on a mouse who had slipped out of a crack in the steps. He cleanly killed it and was holding it in his mouth when he looked back down and her and blinked once. Then the cat scampered up the stairs into her apartment. Lillyanna got up to follow. She crept up the stairs as quick as she could and got the landing just in time to see the cat push his face and front paws at the bottom of one of the windows. To her surprise the bottom swung out, and he was able to slip out onto the fire escape with the dead mouse still secure in his mouth. The cat jumped up and out of her sight like a shadow. Lillyanna was so enchanted by this capable cat who had claimed her studio as his.

That night as she lay on her mattress wrapped in a sleeping bag, she heard scratching at the window only to realize she must have locked the cat out. She was just getting up when she heard the creak of an old hinge and saw the cat slip like black smoke under the crack in the window. He snuck across the room toward the door to the stairwell. As Lillyanna watched, the cat slithered under the crack at the bottom of the door. She sat there for a minute before she heard a tiny squeak again and then the black cat squeezed himself back into the apartment from under the door with his prize in his mouth. He froze, turned to look at her in the dark, his eyes glowing like a jack-o-lantern. Lillyanna kept as still as she could as he stared at her. When she blinked, he shot into motion and was out the window in a flash. She sat there staring after him for what felt like hours before she went back to sleep.

In the morning she went out for coffee and to pick up the essentials: a new plunger, a garbage can, and cat supplies. She was sure that the pet supply store associate thought she was crazy when she bought three different types of food and two different pet beds, but she only answered their questioning looks with a smile. She came home with a bounce in her step to set up her offering. When everything was placed just right, she put on a pot of coffee and smoked in the quiet morning. It didn’t take long before she heard a scratching at the window and saw the black cat slip inside. The cat paused and lifted his head to sniff the air. If he saw her, he gave no indication as he slowly made his way over to the food dish she had put out. The cat sniffed all around and finally settled down to eat where he could see her and the window at the same time; although he never looked at Lillyanna directly. When the cat had eaten his fill and taken a few grateful licks of water he ambled over to the cat bed she had placed in the sun and sniffed that too. He didn’t lay down, much to Lillyanna’s disappointment; but he did finally look up at her. He blinked happy eyes at her, and she could hear him purring from across the apartment. Once he felt he had given her what she was due, the cat turned and nimbly jumped back up out the window. Lillyanna was so pleased with their progress for the day.

Over the next couple of days she and the cat settled into a rhythm. She could make coffee, refill the cat’s food and water dishes then sit sipping her coffee and smoking until he came to get his breakfast. This morning was different. When the cat finished his meal, he strutted over to where Lillyanna sat and rubbed his face along her leg. She slowly leaned down to try to touch him. Instead of running away, the cat lept up, arching his back to meet Lillyanna’s fingers. She gasped with delight and ran her hand over his silky midnight fur. The cat purred like a racecar and flopped down on the floor to demand more petting. Lillyanna was only happy to oblige. That night the cat slept on her feet and meowed at her in the morning as she went about getting coffee ready and re-filling his bowls. She had never known another cat who had taken to domestication as quickly as this one had.

“If you’re going to stick around, I guess you’ll have to have a name.” She said to him one evening as she ran her fingers gently over his scared sides. He yawned to show his sharp teeth and Lillyanna’s heart melted. She knew that this cat didn’t need her, he stuck around because he liked it here.

“Independent.” She said to herself. The cat looked up and meowed at her.

“Independent?” She said again, this time the cat yowled at her.

“Okay, Mr. Independence, I heard you the first time.” She said with a laugh. The cat seemed to smile at her as she resumed petting him. Lillyanna never thought she would have a pet, but she had also never thought one would adopt her! She knew she would never have another relationship like this again in her life. This kind of bond was a once in a lifetime magic. Just then Independence looked up at her with his perfect yellow-orange eyes and winked at her as though he knew what she was thinking, and he agreed wholeheartedly.