She steps inside and looks around like a stranger in her own home while I stay outside, watching her from afar. I don’t want to intrude on this moment that seems so private.
A fluffy white cat suddenly runs up to me and curls its tail around my leg, meowing loudly. I look down and give it a pet, and it instantly leans into my hand for more.
“Seems Snowball likes you.”
I look up to see an old lady standing on the porch of the house to the left. She shuffles forward and shakes a box. “I’ve been feeding her kibbles every day.”
I frown and look down at the cat again, who runs into April’s home like it belongs to him.
“Since she was gone, of course,” the old lady says. “No one knew when she’d come back. She didn’t leave a note or anything.”
I nod.
Suddenly, April squeals, and I’m instantly on high alert, ready to bust in.
“Snowball! You’re alive.”
I sigh out loud to force my heart to calm down.
“I missed you so much, oh my God.” I can hear her give the cat kisses.
After a while, it runs out again, with April nowhere to be seen, so I guess she’s making herself at home again. I fish a pencil from my bag and scribble something on a small note. I bend to one knee and tuck the paper around the cat’s collar. The cat curls its tail around my calf again, so I give him one more pet and say, “Be a good guardian, Snowball.”
April
I run through the house, looking into every room like it’s a maze to explore, but I already know every nook and cranny, and seeing them again fills me with indescribable joy that makes me want to scream.
I dance and twirl around my own house like a little kid in candy land, and I don’t care. And the moment Snowball finds me again, I snuggle him close to me. I’m so thankful my neighbor took care of him while I was gone. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” I say, giving him a kiss.
I missed this.
I missed all of this.
And I wish, I just wish I could stay.
But I know a man is waiting for me out there, waiting to take me back to where he must take me.
And it makes the vibrant smile on my face sharp. But I cannot let this moment be ruined by the prospect of my future. I have to love this for what it is. A moment of pure bliss.
So I close my eyes and take in the smell of my old, stinky room, which could really use a deep cleanse. And I laugh to myself while crying and rubbing my hands across my face like an idiot. Because who thinks of cleaning a place that you haven’t seen in so long? Apparently me.
After the giggling passes, I grab Snowball for another hug. But a small piece of paper wrapped around his collar catches my attention.
“What do you have here, Snowball?” I mutter, taking it off.
There’s some text scribbled on it.
It’s an address.
I stare at it for a moment, realizing Soren put it there. But why?
Suddenly, my cat runs out the door.
“Snowball? Come back,” I say.
I scramble to get up and follow him, but he’s already jumped downstairs.
I go down as fast as I can, not wanting to miss a single moment with him, however brief, but my cat is gone.
Along with Soren.
I pause at the bottom of the stairs, clutching the wood as I stare outside, wondering what happened. My heart still pounds in my throat even though my throat has clamped up. And I walk toward the door, still high on euphoria, thinking he’s right around the corner, just like my cat.
But when I peer out the door and look both ways, Snowball is there with my neighbor, happily eating kibbles from her hand … While Soren is nowhere to be seen.
My neighbor looks up at me and says, “Oh, April! It’s so nice to see you again.”
“Thank you for taking care of Snowball for me,” I say.
“Of course, it’s no problem. He’s been a good little kitty,” she replies, chuckling.
I peek around, searching for Soren, but I can’t find him anywhere. “Hey, have you seen where that guy who was with me went off to?”
“Oh, the one Snowball liked so much? It’s so strange. Snowball never likes strangers, yet …” She clutches the kibbles underneath her elbow. “Well, anyway. I didn’t see where he went. But I did hear him tell Snowball to take care of you.”
My heart sinks into my shoes, and my fingers turn icy cold as I struggle to stand.
He told Snowball …
But not me.
It hits me like a brick in the face.
This wasn’t just one last kindhearted gesture, a detour to my old life so I could say goodbye.