Once Loved

A young blue-point Siamese cat, no more than 12 months old, was curled up at the foot of a child's bed. Her light blue eyes remained open, watching the darkness that hovered around the room. The only light came from under a small wooden door that closed off the rest of the house.

The small cat stretched out her paws before pushing herself up, arching her back as she stretched. Her jaws opened, revealing her bright pink tongue as she let out a silent yawn. She turned her head as she felt movement on the bed—where the small human rolled onto their side. The cat stood still, silently watching. Her blue gaze drifted to the child's face, just visible above thick blue-and-white blankets.

It was a young girl with long black hair, messy and tousled. Several strands lay across her face, lifting slightly with each soft breath she took. The cat loved to watch the girl sleep—she looked so peaceful, so lovable, so innocent. This girl was the one who had given her the name Angel. Angel loved her name and knew it well, but she could never love it more than she loved her human.

Angel's ears pricked up at a faint scuffling sound. Her head swiveled around, trying to locate the source, but even with her keen vision, she couldn't find it. A new sound, footsteps approaching the door, made her ears twitch again. A shadow hovered under the door where the light crept through.

The door soon opened, and another human stood there—this one older but similar in appearance to Angel's human. It was the child's mother. The mother spoke a few words, waking the little girl, who pushed off her blankets with a yawn. This was a routine occurrence; the young human had to get up early for something, though Angel wasn't sure what.

Angel quickly leapt from the bed with a small mew, leaving the room to enter another one. This room seemed popular with the humans, where they spent most of their day. They liked to sit on a large bed-like thing, but no one ever slept in it. They simply sat there, looking up at a colorful, noisy screen hung on the wall. Angel didn't understand it, but she enjoyed sitting with her humans and sometimes even watched the screen with them.

Angel walked gracefully around the large bed-like thing, her silver bell jingling softly with each step. Attached to her bright blue collar, the bell had been an annoyance at first, but she had grown used to it over time.

She paused by two small metal bowls on the wooden floor, then turned her head to look back. Almost immediately, she saw the small girl approaching, a tired but cheerful look on her light-colored face. The girl was wearing different clothes from the ones she'd worn to bed. Angel never understood why humans wore clothes or changed them, but she didn't mind as long as they didn't put any on her.

The girl bent down, reaching into a noisy bag beside the bowls. She took out a cup full of small pellet-like objects and dumped them into one of the bowls. Angel happily rubbed against the girl, who giggled in response and stroked a hand over Angel's back. The girl spoke some soft words—words Angel didn't understand but loved to hear.

After a few more affectionate rubs, Angel dipped her head into the bowl and began to eat, soft purrs rumbling in her throat.

Suddenly, Angel's ears pricked up again as she heard the girl's mother yell something. The girl ran to her mother, grabbed something, and slipped it over her back before running to the door—the one near where Angel was. Shortly after, the girl's mother followed her out.

Angel took a moment to take a few more bites of her food. Then she sat back, her gaze drifting up to a ledge. She crouched before leaping onto a window ledge.

Outside, she spotted her human walking through a snow-covered landscape before disappearing into a big yellow car. Angel never understood where her human went, but she always knew the girl would come back. She did every day.

Angel's ears twitched as she heard the girl's mother return through the door, followed by another human entering from somewhere in the house. This was the mother’s mate, as Angel had learned. The two shared gentle words, but they didn't turn to her. Angel noticed that neither of them seemed to pay much attention to her. Neither the mother nor the father ever gave her much notice, but Angel didn't mind. She had her little human, and she knew they would be together forever and ever. Or so she thought…