Bestie

“Wake up bud,” he said and tapped me gently on the mouth.

“Ergh, do you have to do that?” I groaned and tried to role over to carry on sleeping.

“I could bite your foot?” he offered.

“Ok, wait, I am getting up,” I yawned and rolled out of bed.

The groans, cracks and moans that emanated from me in the course of making it onto my feet, alluded to an epic effort to become vertical. The truth be told, I just have never been a morning person.

“Looks like a really nice day,” he mused as he followed me through to the kitchen, “I love this winter sun. Not too hot, but also not cold at all. Still, I would not call this beach weather.”

“You are very chatty today,” I frowned, without stopping, “What’s up?”

“Am I?” he gasped with sarcastic insincerity, “I hadn’t noticed.”

I regarded my bestie with sideways glance as I filled the kettle and switched it on. Something was definitely up. I just could not quite put my finger on it.

“So, what are your plans for the day?” I checked.

“As you well know bud, I live a life of leisure,” he yawned and even stretched full-body to emphasize the point, “But I did think that perhaps we could hang out a bit?”

“You know,” I mused, as I literally scratched my head, “I can’t think that I have anything on today. Sure! Sounds cool!”

“Er, bud?” he grimaced a little awkwardly, “Some breakfast might be a good idea first?”

“Sheez, give me a chance,” I yawned, “The water hasn’t even boiled. Let me at least get a cup of coffee down the gullet.”

“You do realize you can get me my breakfast while you wait, don’t you?” he pointed out, “I don’t need to dose up on drugs before I start my day.”

“Coffee isn’t a drug. I am not an addict,” I responded defensively, but he just looked at me judgmentally and didn’t say a thing, “It just helps me cope with the idiots of this world, without murdering them. It’s my anti-murdery juice!”

I found myself getting my bestie his breakfast without consciously realizing I was. Some things in life had just become par for the course, due to having done it so often and so regularly.

He tucked into the feast with great gusto as I put in two spoons of instant coffee for an extra strong dose of anti-murdery juice.

As was my custom, I went through to the living room and took a seat on the couch facing the large sliding door, that led out onto the balcony. It was a wonderful view from there, down onto Nahoon Valley. The verdant green carpet of thick bush brought me comfort. I needed all the comfort I could get.

“Ok, so will it be; binge watching all the Indiana Jones movies, back to back, or hauling out some old World Cup DVD’s?” he asked as he dropped onto the arm of the couch and looked me in the eye.

“Ooooh, tough choice there,” I had to admit, “How is it you always know what I am keen for?”

“Come now bud, how is it you still are amazed by these things? We have known each other a lifetime and we’re besties,” he remarked with typical nonchalance, “And don’t forget I am a god.”

“Dream on,” I snorted, “Not all who are worshiped are gods.”

“Semantics,” he responded.

“But you are my bestie,” I confirmed, “And I seriously don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here for me.”

I teared up a little as I reflected on how much I had relied on him, during the darkest moments I had ever had to endure.

“The pain of losing loved ones is something no-one should ever have to deal with,” he sagely remarked, as he slipped off the arm of the couch, to flop down next to me, “I am glad I was there for you.”

“You are still here for me,” I told him.

When he looked up at me, I noted sadness in his eyes. For a while it confused me. I was thinking how it was my bestie that never left my side, for days and days, after I got the news of my parents’ death. I never had to tell him how much I was hurting. He just knew. Never once did he try to tell me it would get better, that I needed to move on, or that I needed to snap out of it, or any of the other well-intended, but terrible advice others were giving me. No, he was my strong silent rock of support.

“How I wish that was true, bud,” he said softly.

“What do you mean?” I asked as a strange, but yet oddly familiar dread began to creep into my thoughts.

“You know what I mean,” he stated and laid his head on my leg, “You always work it out after a while.”

“Oh no,” I gasped and stroked his head, “Not again!”

“I wish we could stay here forever, bud,” he told me, “That would be fantastic. But I am gone, and I have been for some time now. Just enjoy the moment.”

“Please…….don’t say that,” I begged as the tears began to flow uncontrollably, “I can’t do this alone.”

“But you have been, bud,” he pointed out, “I was there when you needed me, but then you moved on, when you were ready.”

“This hurts so much,” I told him.

“Only because you care so much,” he explained, “I did what I could, but in the end, I was just a cat.”

“You were never just a cat!” I told him and held him close, “You were a legend, and my bestie.”

“Yes, I was,” he confirmed with a measure of feline smugness, “And because you remember that, I will never truly be gone.”

“I love you Sammy-Boy,” I wept.

“I love you too bestie,” he whispered……and then I woke up.