When Life Takes a Turn - Pt.2

The orange cat slowly opened her eyes.  Everything was pitch black around her.  She struggled to get up but the pain in her right leg made her slump back on the ground.  She remembered vaguely that she was crossing the road, then something hit her and she lost all consciousness.  

She strained her eyes to see where she was but it was too dark.

Then all of a sudden, a powerful beam of light shone from above her head and enveloped her. Terrified, she tried to get up and run but the pain in her leg would not let her.

As she lay there trembling, a voice boomed from above. "It is useless trying to run away!  Nobody escapes from The Black Hole!"

"The ... The Black Hole?"  she whispered.

"Yes!  It's the place for sinners like you!  You were a liar, a cheat, a thief, an accomplice in vice!  You will receive the punishment you deserve!  Tomorrow at the crack of dawn, you will be beheaded!  Take her away!"

"What?  Let me go!" she shrieked as strong hands grabbed her and carried her away.  She was thrown into a dark cell that was cold and filthy and infested with cockroaches.

"Oh my God!  What is happening?"  the orange cat thought to herself.  "Am I dead and is this some kind of hell?"  

Several cockroaches jumped onto her body and started biting her.  The orange cat screamed in terror and swiped them away with her paws.

"This is not real, it can't be happening to me,"she gasped. She started screaming for help but of course no one came.  Terrified, she hid in a corner and started crying. She racked her brains as to who could help her and suddenly thought of Da, her friend who lives in the temple.  "Da, Da, help me, help me!" she screamed.  But there was no response, only silence, a silence that reeked with the smell of death....

Meanwhile, back at the temple ....

The cat called Da was deep in meditation when he suddenly heard screams.  He couldn't fathom where they came from but it was someone desperate for help.  He could feel the fear and terror that accompanied the screams and he knew he had to do something.  He started praying hard and earnestly for whoever needed help and he continued his prayers for the rest of the day, fervently appealing to the Lord Buddha to help the anguished soul.....

Back at The Black Hole ...

The orange cat screamed until she could not scream any more and then collapsed in a dead faint. When dawn broke, she heard the clanging of the cell door, rough hands grabbed her again and brought her to some place. It looked like another cell, only this time there was a big stone in the centre.  All around her she saw to her horror skeletons of cats whose heads had been chopped off.  They tied her hands behind her back and forced her head on the stone.Then the executioner appeared, a huge black cat with a black hood over his head. In his large paws was a shining axe that gleamed in the darkness.

"Help, help!" the orange cat shrieked.  The executioner laughed.  "You're all the same," he said.  "Screaming won't get you anywhere."  He raised his axe and just as he was about to bring it down, the voice from above boomed.

"Stop!  Let her go!"

"What?"  yelled the executioner.  

"An appeal has been received.  She has been pardoned.  Let her go!"

The executioner reluctantly dropped his axe.  He had been looking forward the whole night to doing his job in the morning.  "Alright, alright, take her away," he growled.

They put a paper bag over the head of the orange cat, she was taken somewhere, then she felt herself falling, falling ...

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was lying on a bed of old clothes.  She struggled to get up, but could not.

"Aah, you're awake at last," said a gentle voice and she found herself looking into a pair of twinkling yellow eyes.

"Where...where  am I?" she stammered.

"You're safe, don't worry.  I found you in a garbage dump nearby and at first I thought you were dead, then I saw you were still breathing.  So I brought you home with me.  Oh, my name's Tom, by the way."

Tom was an old grey tabby who lived alone.  He took care of her for the next few weeks and put her on the road to recovery. He cooked for her, nursed her injured leg and when she was well enough to walk, he took her along on his fishing trips.  He wasn't rich or handsome but was so kind and gentle that the orange cat found herself getting very fond of him.  He never once asked about her past and when she finally plucked up courage to tell him, he just smiled, patted her head and said cheekily, "Wait till you hear about my past!"

They were married soon after and the orange cat had never felt so happy in all her life.  It was as though she had been given a second chance to redeem herself and turn over a new leaf.   They lived simply in a small hut far from the noise and pollution of the city and she realised for the first time in her life that being rich wasn't everything.  It certainly couldn't buy her the peace and happiness she was now enjoying. 

But every so often, she wondered whether she had died and gone to hell or was it just a nightmare? Had her friend Da somehow saved her?   She knew him to be an extraordinary cat and had saved many before.  Then she would think about her kittens and tears would well up in her eyes.

Tom promised he would take her to see them one day but it was a promise that was never fulfilled. One morning the orange cat woke up to find that Tom had died in his sleep. She didn't know how long she wept over his dead body. When she had recovered, she buried him in his favourite spot near where he always fished.  Then she returned to his hut and gathered whatever few possessions she had.  She took a last look at the hut where she had been so happy, then walked slowly away.  Tom had always told her to be never afraid of the future and whatever happened, she knew she would not be alone. Tom would be there to guide and protect her.