It happened five years ago. My neighbor, Grandma Vera, had just buried her husband, a war veteran, and was left all alone. They had no children. The old lady was always reminiscing about her dear husband, George.
They got married just before the war. Then George went off to fight, while loyal Vera waited for him. He returned alive, but without his left hand. He loved his wife deeply and cherished her. He promised he would always protect her from misfortune, but he couldn’t keep that promise. He passed away, leaving her on her own.
Exactly on the anniversary of his death, a large black cat showed up at her door. He appeared out of nowhere in the dead of night, meowing plaintively. It was snowing heavily, and the wind was howling fiercely outside, but somehow, Grandma Vera heard the meowing. When she stepped outside, she found a stray cat. Feeling sorry for the poor creature, she brought him inside and even poured him a little dish of milk.
However, the cat refused the meal. With a proud and independent air, he walked through the rooms, inspected the house carefully, and chose a spot on her pillow. There, he purred and immediately fell asleep.
Grandma Vera, for some reason, didn’t chase the cat away and lay down beside him.
In the morning, she examined the cat more closely. He was well-groomed and plump, not at all like a stray! Black as coal, large green eyes covering half his face, and a very self-assured demeanor. There was another remarkable detail: on his left front paw, the fingers were missing, as if they had been torn off. “Just like my George!” the old lady cried.
The cat leapt onto her lap and purred softly. “I should give you a name… How about Whiskers?” she said gently, scratching him behind the ear.
The cat flinched and gave Grandma Vera such a look that she was taken aback.
HIS EYES WERE HUMAN-LIKE! NOT “LIKE” HUMAN, BUT TRULY “HUMAN”!
“Alright, you don’t like ‘Whiskers’, then maybe ‘Tom’? That’s a nice name!” she blurted out hurriedly.
The cat meowed disdainfully, jumped off her lap, growled, and began clawing at the couch.
“Alright, alright. I won’t give you a name just yet. You’ll just be Cat. Just leave the couch alone,” the old lady politely requested.
Muttering something unclear, the Cat obliged and retired majestically to the living room.
And so, they began living together: Grandma Vera and the Cat. I visited the old lady quite often, and she would tell me the most extraordinary things about her Cat!
Firstly, the Cat healed her. After her husband passed, Grandma Vera had a heart attack, and her heart often troubled her. But whenever she lay down, the Cat would be right there. He would settle his soft, warm body on her chest, purr, and drift off to sleep. The pain would vanish as if it had never been there!
Then, one day, something truly strange happened! Grandma Vera lay down for a nap. Snuggling beside her, purring sweetly, the Cat dozed off too. There was a knock at the door. She got up and went to open it. The Cat followed her. It was Victor, the local drunkard and troublemaker. Sticking his foot in the doorway and cursing, he demanded money from Grandma Vera for more drink. The old lady tried to refuse, but the scoundrel grew more insistent and bolder by the minute. It got to the point where he insulted the old lady and defiled the memory of her late husband.
Suddenly, the Cat growled and pounced on the bully. Victor threw him off, but the Cat lunged again, nearly going for his throat. Cursing, Victor backed down and left. The Cat, with a knowing look in his HUMAN EYES, lifted his tail high and, feeling his duty fulfilled, walked off into the room.
Once, Grandma Vera planned a trip to the town office about some firewood and asked me to accompany her. We were to take a bus to the district center. I agreed, took time off work, and went to her house early in the morning. The old lady sat on her bed in her nightgown, looking confused and even disheartened.
“Grandma Vera, why aren’t you ready? Hurry up, maybe we can catch a ride,” I instructed.
“Sarah, I’m not going. Sorry,” she quietly replied.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know how to explain… Please don’t laugh… The Cat doesn’t want me to go.”
“What?! I took time off work, and you’re listening to a cat! Get ready!” I exclaimed angrily.
“Listen, Sarah. I prepared everything the night before and went to bed. I had a dream that my Cat started talking to me. Just like you’re speaking now… He looked at me and said:
‘Stay home, Vera. You shouldn’t go tomorrow.’
I was stunned! It wasn’t even that my Cat spoke! He called me Vera! Vera! Do you understand?! Only my late George called me that! AND THE CAT’S VOICE WAS EXACTLY LIKE GEORGE’S!
Then the Cat started singing a song. The same one George loved:
‘In the wild plains of Eastern England
Where gold is mined in the hills…
Remember, Vera, I sang it when I went to war?’
I somehow mustered the strength to ask:
‘George, is that you?’
‘WHO ELSE COULD IT BE?! I SEE HOW HARD IT IS FOR YOU ALONE, SO I’VE RETURNED…’
So, Vera, calm down and stay home tomorrow. You won’t hear anything good there anyway. The firewood will be delivered next week regardless. Let Lucy know to cancel the surgery. She won’t survive it…’
And then I woke up…”
To say I was shocked is an understatement! I was speechless, gasping like a fish out of water.
Then it dawned on me:
“Grandma Vera, are you feeling okay? Should I call an ambulance? Your blood pressure might have spiked.”
“I feel better than ever, Sarah! I got to talk to my beloved George!” she replied, smiling through tears.
I insisted on checking her blood pressure. Amazingly, it was normal!
From that moment, Grandma Vera began calling her cat George. Strangely enough, he instantly responded to that name!
Soon, Grandma Vera’s predictions (or the Cat’s?) began to come true. The scheduled bus we were supposed to take nearly overturned that very day. There was ice on the road, the bus skidded, and the driver lost control. Fortunately, no one was killed, though many were injured. Coincidence? Perhaps. And exactly a week later, Grandma Vera received her firewood…
Grandma Vera asked me to call Lucy, George’s niece, to persuade her to cancel her planned operation. But she didn’t listen and tragically died on the operating table…
ANOTHER COINCIDENCE?! I think not.
And so they lived together: Grandma Vera and her cat George. He continued to heal and protect her, staying by her side until the end of her days…
Grandma Vera lived to the age of 94. She passed away last year. Until her last moments, she was on her feet, worrying about her George. She made me promise to look after him if anything happened to her.
She left us quietly in her sleep, without suffering…
I remember how George mourned her. He was no longer young, and his once luxurious black coat was now graying.
For three days, while her body lay at home, George wouldn’t leave her side. I SAW WITH MY OWN EYES THE TEARS STREAMING FROM HIS EYES!
People yelled at him, tried to chase him away, even kicked him… Yet, inexplicably, he kept returning to the coffin, sitting beside it, weeping.
George followed the procession to the grave and stayed there when she was laid to rest. I tried to catch the poor thing to take him home, but he ran away…
The cat remained at the cemetery, by the graves of Grandma Vera and her husband. He wouldn’t come home with me, but I visited every day to feed him. I worried about how he would survive the winter there, and tried several times to bring him to my house. Once, I managed to do it, but he escaped that same day, and I found him back at the cemetery.
The winter was harsh, yet he survived it. He died in early spring. When I went to feed him, I found him by the grave. Curled up beside Grandma Vera’s cross, George seemed to protect her peace…
I don’t know if George was just a regular cat or if somehow, the spirit of her late husband had truly entered him…
There’s much talk about reincarnation these days, that in the next life, a person could return as anything, even a cat.
I’m uncertain if such things are possible. But I find comfort in believing that in the form of a Cat lived the spirit of George. He returned to his dear Vera to care for and protect her…
And he stayed with her until the very end, just as he promised.
