Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits By Yuska Lutfi Tuanakotta “Momma, what’s in the forest?” my daughter asked me as I tucked her to bed in our cot by the fireplace. “Whatever do you mean, my sweets?” I asked back. “Out there, beyond the garden. Why don’t we live there? The boys told me that there they could roam free, lap fresh water from the streams, play with birds and butterflies,” she pressed on, pointing with her nose to her twin brothers, already asleep. “And get eaten by wolves and foxes and badgers!” I said. “Oh, my little whiskers! I wouldn’t want that to happen,” she replied. “But how did we come to live with humans?” “Well, many, many seasons ago in a faraway land, the land of our ancestors, it was so hot that cats were born with short hair or no hair at all,” I said. “No hair at all? How odd!” “But indeed. Our ancestors were prosperous in that land. They worked hard and were victorious in their war against rats. The humans adopted our ancestors and even shared food with them.” “When our ancestors died, the humans threw lavish rituals to honor them. In the rich households, the humans even placed them in beautiful wooden boxes made for royalty and buried in the same three point great building that would be used to bury the rich humans. They were treated… like royalty,” I recounted. “Then humans are kind to us, right, Momma? All humans?” my daughter asked, nuzzling me. “Well… Not all of them are,” I replied. She got up and her eyes got wide open again as she tilted her head to her right side inquisitively. “In fact, it happened to our ancestors and many of our kinds in a faraway land parted by vast water.” “Oh, pray tell, Momma!” “Alright, but you must promise to sleep after this,” I meowed as she set herself down again and perked her ears forward to listen. “Now you must be brave for the tale I am about to recount is filled with terror and tears and pain.” My daughter stopped her purring but continued to look at me intently.

“I heard this tale from my mother who heard it from her mother, and she from hers and so on. In that land, thousand lifetimes ago from ours, our ancestors were… tortured and killed. By humans,” I could hear my daughter gasped. “One of our ancestors, Sorrelynne, was a handsome, tortoishell she-cat, with white patches on each of her paws that made her look like she was wearing the soft thing that humans wear to warm their paws. She lived with her human who concocted many drinks to make people merry and the land filled with plants for the humans and the cattle to eat and liquids and ointments to put other humans to a forever-sleep or leave them barren.” “The human and Sorrelynne shared tongues frequently. Indeed, the human knew the tongue of cats and she taught Sorrelynne the tongue of humans. One time, the human told her about her friends that was brought by other humans to a big house and never came out. And one by one, Sorrelynne’s friends also disappeared. The green toads by the pond, the big gray dog, and other cats. Then, when Sorrelynne was gathering herbs for her human in the nearby forest, she was suddenly grabbed from behind!” “Who grabbed her, Momma?” my daughter cried. “It was her human. She grabbed Sorrelynne and carried her deep into the forest. Her curly red hair flailing behind her as she ran. As her human carried her, Sorrelynne saw their little wooden cottage engulfed by bright tongues, lapping it down. It was like the tongues that lapped the bottoms of the pot that her human used to brew the drinks. But the tongues were much bigger.” “Suddenly, she heard human voices. There were other humans, chasing them across the forest, stomping on the herbs and flowers. After awhile, she felt her human slowing down, her breathing choking her. Her human released her and as droplets of water streamed down her face, said…” “What did she say, Momma?” “She said, in perfect cat tongue, that she loved her. And after her human kissed Sorrelynne’s head, she put her down and told her to run as fast as she could and not look back. Sorrelynne obeyed her, and ran and ran, ignoring the nettles that stung her paws and the rain that matted her fur. She ran and ran, until the screams of her human faded out from her ears, but not from her mind.” “At last she made it. It was dark when she came out of the forest and found a tall building with delicious smell came out of the yonder tallest tower. So she climbed and saw several humans making stew, but dared not to show herself until the lights in the chamber were all extinguished and they were out of the room. She then climbed down from her hiding spot and found enough leftovers to feed herself.” “She did that for several times and taught herself to hunt rodents. The place was filled with mice and she needed not worry about hunger. And then they came,” I meowed.

“Who came, Momma?” I saw my daughter gritted her teeth in fear. “One time, she saw some human males taking another human. The human’s hair was rather short for a female and for some time, Sorrelynne couldn’t decide if it was female or male. But when the human spoke with its pitch, it became clear to her that the human was a female. She looked sorrowful although no water rolled down her eyes. Behind her, a human male carried a cage. In it was a cat, an older cat, weak and worn out.” “Sorrelynne realized that all were human males in the building. Some humans could come and go as they pleased, but some were placed inside chambers that resembled big cages. The humans inside the cages could not come and go but had to stay there, just like the human female and the cat. Finally, she decided to pay them a visit.” “Oh, she was so brave!” My daughter exclaimed. “Indeed she was. And she had great conversations with them!” “The human female was not surprised to know Grammy could speak in human tongue?” “Well she was, at first! Humans would be astounded to know that cats could understand them!” “Do you talk to our human?” my daughter asked. “I listen, but never say a word. Not in human tongue, anyway. Later, Sorrelynne learned that the human female was very, very special and extraordinary.” “In what way?” “Well, unlike us, human females, particularly in Sorrelynne’s time, stayed at home and prepared meals for the males and their offspring. It was the males who wore the heavy attires and chased away other males who came to take their land. But that human female also chased the human males who threatened to invade her territory. In fact, she did it even better than the males.” “Oh my little whiskers!” “Unfortunately, it was for the very reason that she was caught. The human males who invaded her territory were enraged by her and accused her of using dark powers!” “Dark powers?” “Humans believe in certain powers. The highest is the divine power that created them, the land, and the heaven. And like us, when the time comes and if the humans have been good enough, they will go to heaven. The female human believed in that power and

swore that her victories were because of it. But she would not want to share what the divine power had told her to the invading humans.” “Why? Wouldn’t she be freed if she told them that it was the power who allowed her to win?” “It was true that all humans, even in different lands, worshipped and believed in the same divine power. But it was beyond the comprehension of the invading humans that the same power would want them to lose. It must have been the dark power,” I said, hoping that my young daughter could understand. “But that is the way of the humans. And we both know that humans can be strange at times.” She just nodded. “The human female was led out of her chamber from time to time but was returned there, sometimes with deep cuts and wounds. One time when the human female was out, Sorrelynne shared tongues with the older cat.” “What did they talk about?” “The older cat, his name was Deandreinar, had a life, a human female who took care of him, and lots of cat friends. When Deandreinar came back from his usual walks in the garden, he saw his human being taken in a moving cage with several other human females. And in a smaller cage were his friends and a she-cat he had loved so dearly.” I paused for a very long time, knowing that the part I was about to tell would create an emotional impact on my daughter as it did to me when my mother told me. The effect never wore off, not a single bit, even until now. “What happened to them, Momma?” “He waited in front of the building where they were brought, thinking of ways to free them. Then when the great star retreated for the eleventh time Deandreinar saw a human male putting his feline friends into a bag one by one, until the bag finally couldn’t swallow more. The human tied the open end of the bag and… “And what, Momma?” my daughter asked, raising her head, her meow trembled. “And he let the bag fall into the deep, cold river.” I saw my daughter dropped her head and her ears down. I gave her forehead a few licks. “Sweets, it’s alright if you don’t want Momma to continue her story,” I said. “No, Momma. Please go on,” she replied. “Well, there were other cats too, all weak and thin and just seeped into death as they were beaten cruelly. And then Deandreinar saw the she-cat. She was brought out with some others and they didn’t fight back when the humans tied them on top of a pile of woods

and set bright tongues on it. That was when he ran from his hiding place and scratched and bit the humans. But one blow on his head rendered him unconscious and when he woke up, he was in a cage, with the human female, going to the tower where they met Sorrelynne.” “But Grammy could squeeze in and out of the chamber whenever she pleased! Surely the cat could do the same!” “She did ask him to come with her, but he refused.” “Why?” “He told her it was his fate, that he was tired. He was old and he just wanted to reunite with his friends and his human female. The captive human female was also good to him and they had formed a bond. He told Sorrelynne that the human female would hug him and whispered hymns to his ears to comfort them. She would hug him against her bosom and he would hear the rhythm of her heart and it would sooth him. But Deandreinar had a plan for he was a clever cat indeed!” “What was his plan?” “He told Sorrelynne to gather all cats and lead them into the forest. There they could rebuild the lives away from humans, fend for themselves together as a flock, live on squirrels and shrews and drink from the fresh stream of the river.” “That sounds super,” my daughter meowed. “Indeed it was. But one time, when the human female and Deandreinar were sleeping, some human males entered and began assaulting her. He tried to defend her but one human male grabbed him and slammed him inside his little cage. When they were done, Deandreinar saw the human female crying for the first time. She was holding pieces of her attire and with her last strength, she opened his cage and he leapt to her, licking away her tears.” “Sorrelynne saw the whole thing and with Deandreinar’s plea, searched the tower for a piece of cloth for the human female to wear. At last she found one and dragged it to the chamber of the human female. When she saw Sorrelynne and the cloth, she smiled, held Sorrelynne to her chest and kissed her. That time Sorrelynne didn’t hide in her usual place, instead, the three of them slept together, cuddled closely.” “The great star came out and Sorrelynne decided to hunt for mice. When she came back, the chamber was empty. The human female was there no longer, as well as Deandreinar. She waited and waited and the big star came out and retreated many times, but neither the human female nor Deandreinar ever came back. And so, she went down the tower, to the human homes and streets and did as Deandreinar had instructed.”

“Did it work? Did all of the cats follow her?” my daughter asked. “Many did. But there were some who stayed out of love for their humans.” “But Momma, didn’t you tell me that there were foxes and badgers and dangers in the forest?” “Well, it was hard at first. But they survived. They made fortresses and lived feral seasons after seasons, getting used to seeing the black air and the bright tongues from the place of the humans. But those perils were in the human homes, far away from them. One time, some of the younger cats were sent to scout and they went to the human homes secretly and found many humans in forever-sleep. But instead of being placed inside the earth like usual, some were left in their homes, in their beds. Those that were put inside the ground were put by the numbers, not one by one.” “What happened?” “Remember our short-haired ancestors? The humans who worshipped them knew that our ancestors hunted rats. The rodents didn’t only destroy the crops, but also brought diseases. In the other land, all cats were either in the forest or had been killed by humans. No cats meant more rats. The rats ruled, bringing filth and disease with them. In the end, the disease claimed the humans’ lives.” “Humans are slow learners. It took them many seasons to understand that. When they were too disease-ridden to fight back, the cats came back, fought against the rats and ended the rodents’ reign. Slowly the disease subsided, but not until many humans had forever-slept.” “Little cats saved big humans?” “Why, yes. For the umpteenth time! There have been stories of humans being saved not only by other humans, but also by animals. Even by rodents!” I exclaimed as my daughter purred with pleasure. “But our human loves us, doesn’t he?” my daughter mewed. “With all his heart. He rescued me from the streets, right when I was about to abandon all hopes, my sweets,” I replied. “I love him too, Momma.” “Then make sure you show that.” “How?”

“By licking his fingers, not biting them. By rubbing against his feet, not clawing them. By listening intently to whatever he tells you. By batting at the ball of yarn he gives you. But you can protest if he’s being too rough on you. He’ll understand.” “Okay, Momma. I promise,” my daughter mewed, yawning. “And now you need to sleep!” I said as I tucked her to bed once more. “Will you tell me more stories tomorrow, Momma?” “Of course, my sweets! Perhaps about the white blind felines who rescued a shah and received sapphires and emeralds they used as their eyes, or a black tabby who helped a supposedly strong human in completing his twelve tasks, or…” I didn’t continue. My daughter’s closed eyes and relaxed breathing showed that she was already fast asleep. I gave her a lick on her forehead and went to another chamber where my human was sitting. I jumped to his lap and nuzzled my nose against his cheek. He stroked my back and hugged me close, just like the way he hugged me when he first found me wandering in the streets. Indeed, we were kindred spirits. In the back of my mind, I knew I could trust my human. In the back of my mind, I knew I was safe, faraway from what humans called ‘roadkill’. In the back of my mind, I prayed that my kind would no longer be caged or killed by humans, out of fear and ignorance.