The Cat that Walked by Himself

Liva Ceren Özgün

3 months ago

The cat lived with the woman and the baby for a while but began to feel different. He loved the warmth of the fire and the smell of milk in the air, and he loved how the woman spoke to him: softly and gently. It was a little strange that he found this pleasant, but he instinctively knew he didn’t want to be in one place forever. He was still a cat, walking alone.

One early morning, the cat woke up before everyone else. It was cold and very quiet. The woman was sleeping near the fire. The dog was snoring. The baby was making soft sounds while sleeping.

The cat looked around the room and then looked at the door. After that, he walked slowly to it. Cold air and forest smells were outside, waiting for him. The cat stopped for a moment and looked around once more. Then he went out through the door.

He did not say goodbye, but cats never say goodbye. That is a fact.

Later, the woman woke up and soon noticed that the cat was gone. She called his name. Then she went outside and looked in the garden and near the river, but she could not find him anywhere.

The cat did not come back.

Sometimes, at night, she thought she saw two eyes in the dark. She believed they were the cat’s eyes. At other times, she was not sure if they really belonged to him. Then she remembered and smiled quietly.
“He is a cat,” she said softly, “and he will always walk alone.”

The truth is that cats never forget their home or the warm fire. However, they always continue their journey in life. They walk out of the woods and across the fields, moving under the bright moonlight, wherever their feet take them. A cat walks alone, and this is enough for it. Some cats still live with people, but they never become people. Cats always walk alone, just like the cat that walks alone.