Bianca's Cat, Bianca

“Where should I go now?” I think about the places I’ve wandered off to for the many times I escaped home. It has never occurred to me that I’d be leaving this place for real now. No more looking back. I stroll to wherever my paws bring me.

---

It was early in the morning in the middle of winter when I decided to sneak into Caleb’s bedroom. I wanted to check up on him as he hadn’t filled up my bowl yet. He always poured my favorite canned tuna before seven and it’s already seven thirty. I was very hungry so I thought I’d better scratch his face before my tummy kills me. I leaped onto his comfy bed.

“Meow... MeOw… MEOW!” I moved my paw from his forehead down to his cheek leaving a little red line. I heard his silent moan but saw no sign of waking up. He moved to his side making me sprint towards his feet. After a minute of no movement, I walked up by his stomach and curled to nap. Waking him up was so tiring and I had felt he wasn’t feeling well. “I’ll just wake you up later.”

A few minutes had passed and my rumbling belly has awakened me. As I opened my emerald green eyes, I realized my human was already up. I stretched my black legs and jumped down from the bed to see if Caleb had finally poured me some food. Reaching the kitchen counter I heard the sizzling of eggs getting cooked. I approached my human’s feet in light of a little lift-me-up. I rubbed my head against his rough foot. He didn’t crouch to pet me like he used to so I left his foot alone to find my bowl. I had high hopes for scrumptious tuna laying inside it, waiting for me to munch it all. But an empty, untouched bowl was all I saw. I sat there feeling utter disappointment. Even my tummy had growled at this nuisance. “MEOW!!”

“Shut up, Bianca!” Caleb shouted at me and slammed the table. I was about to sprint out of the house but he uttered words that didn’t seem to be thrown at me. “No, I don’t want to hear any more of your rants! I’m not going out just to meet you. Bye!”

I heard the sound of his phone cutting the call. How could he shout at his girlfriend like that? I sat and remembered the time it was spring. It was Bianca who found me lying by her car’s back wheel. She had given me milk and wrapped me in what I could have only thought was the softest thing. The time we visited Caleb was when I had gotten a name and—finally—a family. I had never felt so loved until then. They would occasionally play with me when they weren’t busy. They’d laugh and awe at how I would roll towards both of them. We cuddled, played hide and seek, and ate yummy food—only fish and treats for me though. When the day was done and we’re all exhausted, we had slept together. I had thought that I had finally found my forever home. One that was filled with so much love and care. It was all a dream come true opposite from my street life.

But as winter approached, everything went cold. Bianca no longer visits Caleb and it was surprising she had called him today. I didn’t hear what they had talked about. I assumed Caleb wasn’t feeling well to visit her. He didn’t want to get more ill so he had turned Bianca down—very hard.

I had walked back upstairs to see Caleb in his bedroom. I heard him talking to someone who I could only assume was a young lady. I had gone inside and purred for his attention. My stomach was still empty and I couldn’t get food myself. Caleb was transfixed on the screen but managed to kick me hard enough for me to stumble down. “Hold on. My cat’s being an ear-breaker.”

Without a sound, I left his bedroom. I sprinted down the stairs and as I had passed by the kitchen my stomach growled. I needed to eat something before escaping home. I leaped onto the counter and found one can of tuna lying by the sink. It was sealed and I thought of pushing it off to open it. When I did, it had made a sound loud enough to have caught my human’s attention. My instinct told me to run out already but my belly had longed for the tuna. I ate some of the spilled fish before Caleb had gone downstairs.

“What did you do?!” he asked with furious eyes. I stepped back while looking at him and ran out the cat door just as he had raised his hand. “Scram, you—useless cat!”

I stopped at the gate in the backyard to take a last look at what I thought was my forever home.

---

Where should I head to now? I think about the places I’ve wandered off to for the many times I left home. It has never occurred to me that I’d be leaving this place for real now. No more looking back. As I walk through the snow, looking at my pink collar, I remember Bianca. I have a feeling she might be sick so she wanted me and Caleb to visit her. With my mind set, I try to recall where her apartment is. I ready my paws to travel quite the distance. “I’m coming, Bianca.”

Through spaces between gray clouds I see the sun is now directly above me. I’m about halfway there and I’m pretty exhausted. I decide to take a rest by the tree just inches away from the pavement. With my body curled, I shut my eyes hoping to regain enough strength to walk the remaining distance.

“Look, mommy! There’s a kitty over there.” I hear the angelic voice of a little girl. As I wake up, I see the blonde girl dressed like a doll walking towards me. With her eyes wide open and a smile from ear to ear she examined me. “You’re so cute!”

“Oh, thanks!” I say sitting in a cat loaf.

“You’re welcome! Want a treat?”

My eyes widen. “Y-you understand what I’m saying?”

The girl turns to her mom with a smile and a wave then back to me. “I totally do! I’ve had this gift since I talked to my cat when I was five years old and I’m eight now.”

“That’s pawsome!”

“Ha ha! I know. By the way, I’m Annie." She points at her mom, “that’s my mommy Rose. You are?”

“I’m Bianca. Named after my human.”

“That’s super cute! Where is she?”

“She isn’t here. I think she’s at her apartment.”

“Then why are you here alone?”

“Well…” I tell her about what had happened. We’re now in Rose’s car ready to go meet my human. I had argued I could just walk there but she insisted. “Bianca lives at the apartment near the mall.”

“Mommy, she said we have to go to the apartment near the mall.”

“Okay, honey. We’ll get there in no time,” Rose says smiling.

We arrive in front of one of the fanciest apartments in town. I go out first leaping towards the glass door and Annie follows. Her mom goes ahead to talk with the lady at the lobby counter. “Good morning! We’re here to visit Ms. Bianca Vender.”

“Good morning, ma’am! Are you her relatives?”

“No. We’re just here to return her cat.”

“May I see the feline?”

Annie picks me up and lifts me towards the lady. I let the lady look at my collar. “Oh! It’s little Bianca! It’s been so long since you were last here.”

“Meow.” I purr in delight of the familiar face. Bianca let her carry me when I first got here. She’s quite a cat lover.

“You’ve grown a lot yet you’re still so cute! I bet Bianca misses you and it’ll be such a surprise that you’re here,” she says and turns to Rose, “she’s at the very top floor so it’s best you use the elevator.”

“Thank you,” Rose says nodding. We head towards the elevator and wait for it to come down.

“Say hello to Bianca for me, please. She hasn’t gone out for a week now.” I hear the lady say as we enter the elevator. I wonder if my human is okay—I hope she is. I walk around failing to keep my excitement.

“You sure can’t wait to see her,” Annie says with a grin.

“Of course! I’m finally going to see her again after a few months.”

“But didn’t the lady at the counter say she hasn’t been out for only a week?”

“Yes, but maybe she had gone out for some business. I honestly don’t know. She hasn’t visited me at her boyfriend’s house since Christmas.”

“That’s super sad. But we’re here now!” We hear the elevator ring and its doors open. I see two doors and sprint towards the one on our left. Annie and her mom follows and presses the doorbell.

“Ms. Vender? Ms. Bianca Vender?” Rose calls. We hear nothing from inside. Rose tries ringing the bell again as I scratch the door. Again there was silence until a guy from the opposite room walks out.

“Excuse me, are you Bianca’s family?” the guy asks.

“No. We’re here to bring her cat home,” Rose says gesturing to me.

“Ah. I’m afraid she hasn’t been out for a while now. I tried to bring her some of our pie just yesterday but no one seems to be at home. It’s good to see some of her visitors. Please say hi for me.”

“Okay, sure.”

The guy leaves waving goodbye. Rose and Annie wave back as I keep on scratching the door. Bianca never installed a cat door for some reason.

“Mommy, can’t we try opening the door now? I mean we’ll just let little Bianca in and we can go,” Annie asks.

“Let’s see.” Rose grips the knob and turns it opening the door. “Oh, it isn’t locked. Bianca, dear, get in.”

“Thank you so much!” I dash inside eager to see Bianca. I hear Annie and her mom say their goodbyes as I look further into the room. Seeing the bedroom door open, I run inside with my heart thumping. The room’s light was off but a streak of sunlight shines from the living room. “Bianca?”

My heart suddenly skips a beat. Bianca is lying sprawled—motionless—on the floor, with pale skin, and her long black hair spread. Eyes wide open, I walk towards her face and see her eyes shut and her lips pale pink. I lick her cheek and put both my front paws on her hair. Relentless, I brush her curly hair and rub my face against hers. “Bianca, please wake up. Please!”

Hearing nothing at all—not even her breathing—I look around and see a small container by one of her arms. Could she have? No. It can’t be. I walk up to her belly remembering all our happy moments. Bianca never cried in front of me. She once told me I shouldn’t cry for whatever reason. As if I could cry. But as I lay like a cinnamon roll I feel my eyes watering. With the first droplets oozing out, I look at my human’s face. What once showed so much joy now portrays emptiness. The lady who had changed my life is now lifeless. I shut my eyes feeling her cold body.

Moments later, the sun’s light shines stronger into the bedroom’s window. I feel quite cold but also a bit of warmth below my body. I suddenly hear soft breathing and as I open my eyes I see Bianca’s emerald eyes wide open. Her skin is no longer pale and her lips pink as it was before. My heart races as I leap towards Bianca’s brightened face. She embraces me like a loving mother to her child.

“Oh my little Bianca,” she says with teary eyes, “you saved me!”

“Meow?” I did? I guess I did! I lick her face as she sits back. She looks at me with a smile from ear to ear. “I’m happy you came and brought me back.”

I look at the container which she then holds up to me. “This? I’m sorry if I took in too much. I didn’t know what to do anymore. Since the day I found about Caleb’s other girl, I was depressed. I no longer wanted to see him. I was afraid I might run into his girl at his house. For the past few months I didn’t visit you, I was trying to recompose myself.

“But I didn’t want you to feel like your mommy’s gone. So last week I had went out to see you. I wanted to hug you again. But guess what?” She lets out a tear. “I saw Caleb and his girl kissing at the park!”

“Meow.” I purr and rub my face against her.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I really tried but it hurt me a lot so I spent another week sobbing. I felt even more miserable when I received a dismissal notice from my job. I still have a lot of pending bills. So just moments ago, I tried to take my own life away.”

I let her cry it all out. I leap down and roll towards her like I did before.

“I missed that so much!” she says as she laughs, “I feel more alive now that you’re here. I bet you’re hungry so I’ll go get you some of your favorite tuna!”

---

All the snow has melted as flowers start to bloom. I sit in front of a well-decorated and cat-filled café. Bianca arrives with Caleb holding a big scissor. With quite a lot of people gathering around—Annie and Rose among them—the couple finally cuts the big red bow. “BianCat’s Café is now officially open!”

Since the day Bianca got back up on her feet, we started planning for this new business. Everything went smooth until Caleb had come back into our lives. Bianca at first didn’t want him back after all that he had done. But I thought everyone deserves a second chance. Caleb started courting Bianca again, helped with the café, and now we’re all back together. I’m finally safe and proud to say that I have found my forever home.