He lay on the cold marble table. His face was twitching, his paws fitfully moving as if chasing a mouse in his dreams. He wasn’t an animal to her; he was her life. Some women went home to their husbands, or children, or both, she went home to her cat. It was the best time of Vera’s day, the best time of her life really. She couldn’t be happier with the way things were. Vera figured being married would just muck up her plans. She was slowly climbing the corporate ladder. She wanted her own house; she even had her cat’s room all planned out.
Jester would have a windowsill to sit on during the day so he could bask in the wonderful California sun. She would come home to the blissful music of a purring, sun kissed cat.
He was the most unique cat she’d ever encountered: beautifully striped and strong like a sphinx. His soft fur trailed from his eyes down to the tip of his nose in a white and brown pattern, which left a brown spot like a soft furry freckle. His paws were framed with white like little mittens.
She watched Jester breathe as his body moved up and down, rhythmically. This was truly a creature of God, she thought. So beautiful, lean, and strong like a loving protector of a kingdom.
Vera dreamily thought that with a cat there’s no embarrassment, he can be in the bathroom with you, or in your room at the most intimate of times and it doesn’t matter, you know he’s watching you, but you don’t care. She’d always felt that way.
She told co-workers, “I’ll need to take vacation time when my cat eventually dies.”
“How old is he?” They would ask her.
She replied, “About 12ÉYou go home to your husband and kids; I go home to my cat. It may sound strange to you, but that’s who I go home to and he means as much to me as a husband would.”
No one said anything to Vera’s reply. She didn’t care if they understood or not. In some ways she was going home to more than they were.
Vera always believed that when a woman was married and would wake up in the night crying and distraught her husband would probably sleep through it, whereas a cat would come and cry with her, rubbing against her, nuzzling her. A cat was a comfort that couldn’t be replaced. Husbands were replaced every day.
“I wonder what he’s dreaming about?” Vera said, talking to herself, as she pensively stared at the cat. She cradled the cat in her arms asking him, “What are you thinking about, Jester?”
He replied by rubbing his head against her hand, enticing her to pet him. His soft fur felt like cotton against her skin.
His favorite spot was underneath the covers with her on a cool winter night. He curled against her body feeling comfort and warmth like a child in a womb: safe and secure, hidden from the dangers of the outside world. At least Vera thought so.
He was born in her basement. She even had what she jokingly called ‘baby pictures’ of him. He was her baby.
Maybe I’m crazy or maybe the world’s crazy. But is it crazier to be bonded for life with a man laying next to you that you barely know, or to love an animal that will sit there with you providing comfort if you wake up at 3 a.m. and can’t go back to sleep? Vera wondered that but knew the answer before even thinking the question. She had thoughts like these often.
Vera came home from work one night and saw her apartment complex brimming with bright red flames, flowing through all the windows like liquid. She asked one of the firemen in front of her complex about her cat, hoping he was or would be saved, hoping the fireman cared.
“I’m sorry ma’am, we found no cat and there’s still a boy in apartment #3 that’s unaccounted for.” The fireman told Vera in one monotonous stream.
She dropped to her knees as a small noise escaped her lips. She seemed to forget how to speak.
”I’m sorry ma’am,” The fireman repeated looking down at Vera.
She looked up at him with swollen red eyes that aged her. Her makeup was smeared and she was still on her knees in the dirt, immobile. Her hands fluttered to her face and she looked at them as if they belonged on someone else’s body.
“I’m sure there are plenty of cats that would be lucky to have you as an owner, why don’t you go to the shelter and save one, as well as yourself?” The fireman asked her, now looking up at the burning building.
She looked over at him with vacant eyes and replied, “Husbands can be replaced, but a cat is forever.”
His face contorted as he walked away speechless.
Vera awoke the next morning in a strange bed by a man she didn’t know telling her she was going to be late for work.
“Who are you?” She asked, clasping the sheets over her naked body.
Before he had a chance to reply she cut in, “Where is Jester, my cat?”
She glanced around the room and then looked up at him.
“We’ve never had a cat sweetheart, remember I’m allergic?” His voice trailed off as he walked toward the bathroom. “Hurry up or you’ll be late,” he said, his voice echoing through the hall.
Vera looked over at the nightstand still disoriented, and saw a wedding picture of the strange man and her.
Vera rolled over tightly shutting her eyes, rubbing her hands over her face as if washing away a bad dream.
The next thing she knew she was waking up in a hospital bed. “What happened? Where am I?” She asked the nurse.
“Oh dear. You’ll be ok sweetie, it’s just going to take some time.” The nurse replied.
“Time for what?” Vera asked. She looked up and the nurse was gone. She noticed a clipboard at the foot of the bed, grabbed it with the tips of her fingers, barely reaching it, and laid back down to read it.
The vocabulary was foreign to her. Within the contents of the paper she was able to make out: Patient admitted and received Ativan intravenously for sedationÉsevere memory loss, psychotic episodes, and possible psychophrenia. Patient will need psychological evaluation for releaseÉ
“Where’s my cat? Where the hell is my cat?” Vera screamed hysterically from her bed.
A nurse came running in, “Honey, we’ve been trying to tell you, there never was a cat.”
“He was in a fire at my apartment complex, but was never found.”
The nurse looked at Vera and said, “Honey you don’t live in an apartment.”
“But my catÉ” Vera’s voice trailed off as she looked out the window starring at nothing.
