It happened five years ago. My neighbor, old Mrs. Alice, lost her husband, Henry, who was a war veteran, and was left all alone. They never had any children. Mrs. Alice often reminisced about her dear Henry.
They got married just before the outbreak of the war. Henry was soon called to fight, while faithful Alice waited for his return. Henry came back alive, but missing his left hand. He adored his wife and held her dear. He promised to protect her from all harm, but sadly did not keep that promise. He passed away, leaving her alone.
On the anniversary of Henry’s death, a large black cat came to her. The cat appeared suddenly at night, meowing plaintively at her door. A snowstorm raged outside, the wind howled, but Mrs. Alice somehow heard the faint cries. She went out and found an unfamiliar cat. Feeling sorry for the creature, she let him into the house and even poured a dish of milk for him. However, the cat, with a proud and independent demeanor, refused the offering and wandered throughout the house. After thoroughly inspecting everything, he chose a spot on Mrs. Alice’s pillow, purred, and promptly fell asleep.
Oddly enough, Mrs. Alice didn’t chase the cat away and even dozed off beside him.
In the morning, she studied the cat more closely. He was well-groomed and plump, not at all like a stray! Completely black, with large green eyes and an air of self-assurance. And one more peculiar detail: the front left paw was missing its toes, as though they had been torn off. “Just like my Henry!” she whispered tearfully.
The cat, in the meantime, jumped up onto her lap and began purring again. “Well, I guess you need a name… Shall we call you Charlie?” she asked, gently stroking the cat and scratching behind his ears. The cat flinched and looked at her in such a human-like way that Mrs. Alice was taken aback.
HIS EYES WERE HUMAN! NOT “LIKE HUMAN EYES,” BUT TRULY “HUMAN EYES!”
“I see, you don’t like ‘Charlie.’ How about ‘George’? It’s a nice name!” she said quickly. The cat meowed disapprovingly, leaped down from her lap, and started scratching at the sofa.
“Alright, alright, I won’t name you just yet. You’ll just be Cat for now, but please leave the sofa alone,” she kindly requested. The cat muttered something unintelligible in response, and then with an air of importance, he strolled into the living room.
And so they lived together: Mrs. Alice and the Cat. I visited the old lady quite often, and she would share truly astonishing stories about her Cat! For one, the Cat seemed to heal her. After her husband’s passing, Mrs. Alice suffered a heart attack and often struggled with her heart. But the moment she lay down, the Cat would appear, snuggled with its warm body on her chest, purring and falling asleep, and soon her pain would disappear as if it had never been there!
Once, something quite remarkable happened! Mrs. Alice was resting; the Cat snoozed purring beside her. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. She got up to answer, the Cat following closely. It was Jack, the local drunkard and troublemaker, rudely demanding money for more drinks. The elderly lady tried to refuse, but Jack was insistent and got more aggressive by the minute. He even went so far as to insult her and dishonor the memory of her husband.
Out of nowhere, the Cat growled fiercely and lunged at Jack. Though Jack threw him off, the Cat attacked again, almost getting to his throat. Cursing, Jack retreated and left. The Cat looked at Mrs. Alice with his HUMAN eyes, then with a sense of mission accomplished, marched back into the room with his tail held high.
One day, Mrs. Alice planned to go to the town office about getting some firewood and asked me to accompany her. We’d be taking the bus to the town center. I agreed, taking some time off work and coming by early in the morning.
Mrs. Alice was sitting on her bed in her house clothes, looking confused and even a little alarmed. “Why aren’t you ready? Come on, maybe we can catch a ride,” I urged.
“Emily, I’m not going. Sorry,” she quietly replied.
“Why not?” “I don’t know how to say this… Don’t laugh, but the Cat told me not to go.”
“What?! I took time off work because of this cat business! Get ready!” I protested angrily.
“Listen, Emily. I had everything prepared last night and went to sleep. I dreamt that my Cat spoke to me. Just like you do now… He looked at me and said:
‘Stay home, Alice. Don’t go tomorrow.’
My tongue was tied! It wasn’t even that the Cat spoke… He called me Alice! Only my late Henry called me that! And THE CAT’S VOICE WAS JUST LIKE HENRY’S!
Then the Cat sang a song. Henry’s favorite:
‘In the wild plains of Yorkshire
Where gold is hidden in the hills,
Remember, Alice, I sang it before heading to the front?’
I somehow found the strength to ask, ‘Henry, is that really you?!’
‘WHO ELSE COULD IT BE? I SEE HOW HARD IT IS FOR YOU ALONE, SO I CAME BACK…’
So, Alice, please just stay home tomorrow. Nothing good will come from going. They’ll deliver your firewood in a week, anyway. Tell Lucy to refuse the surgery. She won’t survive it…’
And then I woke up.”
Saying I was shocked would be an understatement! I stood there, gasping for air like a fish. Then I had a revelation: “Mrs. Alice, do you feel alright? Should I call an ambulance? Did your blood pressure spike?”
“I’m better than ever, Emily! I got to talk with my sweet Henry!” she replied, smiling through tears. I checked her blood pressure. Amazingly, it was normal!
From that day forward, Mrs. Alice called her cat Henry. Strangely enough, he immediately responded to that name!
Soon, Mrs. Alice’s (or the Cat’s?) predictions began coming true. The bus we should have taken to town nearly overturned that day. The roads were icy, the bus skidded, and the driver lost control. Fortunately, no one died, but many were injured. Coincidence? Perhaps. And exactly a week later, Mrs. Alice received her firewood delivery…
Mrs. Alice asked me to call Lucy, Henry’s niece, to advise her against the planned operation. But she ignored the warning and tragically died during the surgery…
ANOTHER COINCIDENCE?! I think not.
And so, they continued to live together: Mrs. Alice and her cat Henry. He continued to care for and protect her, remaining by her side until her final days…
Mrs. Alice lived to be 94 years old. She passed away the previous year. Until her last moment, she was on her feet, always worrying about her Henry. She made me promise to look after him should anything ever happen to her. She left peacefully in her sleep, with no struggles…
I’ll never forget how her cat mourned her. He was no longer young, and his once luxurious black fur had become gray. During the three days her coffin was in the house, Henry stayed by it constantly. I SAW HIS TEARS MYSELF! People scolded him, tried to drive him away, even kicked him out… Yet somehow, he always ended up back by the coffin, sitting and crying!
Henry followed the hearse to the grave and stayed after she was laid to rest. I tried to catch him to bring him home with me, but he fled… Henry remained at the cemetery, at Mrs. Alice’s and Henry’s grave. He refused to come with me, so I visited him daily to feed him.
I worried about how he’d survive the winter and tried to bring him to my place by force. Once, I managed to take him home, but he ran away the very same day, and I found him back at the cemetery.
The winter was harsh, yet Henry survived it. He died early in the spring. When I went as usual to feed him, I found him by the grave. Curled up near Mrs. Alice’s cross, Henry seemed to be guarding her peace…
I don’t know if Henry was an ordinary cat or if the soul of the late Henry truly inhabited him…
There’s a lot of talk these days about reincarnation; supposedly, people can become anything in their next life, even a cat.
I don’t know if that’s possible. But for some reason, I like to believe that in the form of the Cat, Henry’s soul lived. He returned to his beloved Alice to protect and save her…
And he stayed with her until the very end, just as he had promised.
