Smoke and Miracle

Smoke and Miracle

Miracle, the black vanishing cat with the orange tip on his tail. Number thirteen and the runt of the litter. He was the odd kitten of the bunch; all the others were calico or tabby. Smoke was female, number seven in the birth order, and mischievous. She was a giant kitten and got a full belly every feeding, whether her siblings were fed or not. Smoke was the other somewhat different kitten, although a grey and white Tabby with the infamous “M” outlining her eyebrows, she’s a beautiful light misty grey fading to white. The other kittens are typical calico or tabby colors, nothing unique, unusual, or distinctively different. Their mother was a grey and white Tabby. Their father, a black alley cat with one white front paw, from around the neighborhood.

There are significant differences between tabby and calico cats; The main difference is in their coloration. These patterns can occur in many different breeds, meaning only some tabby and calico cats are the same in the least. The only similarity between all the tabby cats is their pattern. All tabby cats look similar but can look and act very differently from each other. For this reason, it isn’t easy to compare calicos and tabbies.

Tabby cats are one of the most common cat patterns. They appear in various breeds and are likely one of the most common patterns. However, there are many differences between one tabby cat and another. The tabby cat pattern has been around for a very long time. It may have originated in the Middle East, reminiscent of ancient patterned silk from the region. It may also be French since it is similar to a French phrase that means “striped silk.”

A calico cat is a particular pattern that can occur in various breeds. These cats are between 25% to 75% white, with larger patches of orange and black. These colors can fall in nearly any pattern, however. This pattern almost exclusively occurs in female cats, as it is like the sex genes. However, it can occur in male cats on an infrequent genetic occasion. These male cats are often very “female” and are often sterile. These cats come in only two main types: standard and diluted. Normal calico cats can have any pattern. However, they always have white, orange, and black across their body. Dilute calicos are the same, except they are lighter in color. Sometimes they can have stripes and spots on their more prominent spots. They are “diluted” enough to see underlying patterns if they have them.

Miracle knows early people are scared of his way of creeping up undetected. He’s a loner, self-taught, and curious. Miracle blends in at night outside but doesn’t dare go far from the barn. Miracle learned that he could go anywhere he could fit his head through but should not go if his whiskers were pressed too close for comfort. Smoke tried to be like Miracle, but her awareness wasn’t as keen, and she wasn’t light on her feet. Miracle could sneak up behind Smoke every time.

Miracle put up with Smoke when it was beneficial. The first time I saw them work together was to get food when they were about six months old. Jane, the farmer’s daughter, came into the barn with a tuna sandwich in hand. When the cute approach failed, they scared her into dropping it. Understanding the way of the world is complex but understanding your place in the world of your brothers and sisters was easy for Miracle. After all the work was done by Miracle and Smoke, everyone else stormed the fallen treasure. Watching his litter mates devour the sandwich and shoving him away as they often did when feeding time happened with their mother. That moment Miracle knew he could never expect anything different. They ate and played together but wouldn’t allow him to join. The family’s black sheep is left out of the fold and alone.

Miracle set out to venture past the barn; he knew it was up to him to provide for his own needs. Life just smacked him harder than expected. Everyone eventually leaves home, but not at six months old. It’s one thing to think I would love to move, but to be pushed out or made to feel unwelcome. Maybe it is different in the feline world. Baby humans need at least sixteen years before being booted from the nest—cats, like dogs, age faster than any other species of animals worldwide. The families around the neighborhood who had children loved to feed Miracle, hoping to make him a part of their lives forever. I don’t think Miracle knew how to trust the rambunctious boys who wanted to torture and make him chase mice. The girls who tried to dress him up weren’t for him either.

He enjoyed the freedom to make appearances until happening upon Taylor, a puny girl with asthma and pigtails. The unlikely pair seemed like the perfect match. Everyone tried to keep Miracle away from Taylor because they knew asthma and cats should not mix. Just the opposite seemed accurate with my niece Taylor and Miracle. Taylor would perk up when Miracle visited—running around, never needing her inhaler. She snuck Miracle upstairs to her room, and we learned that Miracle lived up to his name the first night he was in our house. Taylor always slept with oxygen for sleep apnea, and a storm knocked out the electricity, and the generator didn’t kick in. Miracle made such a ruckus that it woke up my husband and me. When I opened the door, I tried to shoo Miracle outside, but he ran into Taylor’s room and jumped on her chest. As I reached for him, he touched my hand and pushed it to her face, which was cold. I screamed and began CPR. Taylor spent a week in the hospital for observations, and we can thank God and Miracle. From that night, Miracle stayed at Taylor’s bedside and sat on the top of the refrigerator in the back corner during the day while Taylor was in the hospital or at school!