A SONOMA TAIL

BY ROBYN MAKARUK

When we arrived at the shelter

For the fourth time

They said 'the sanitizer is on the wall'

Before we walked into the kitten room.

There was a family there with two children

Oohing and aahing over the little jumping things

All over the room

The two kids glommed on to a 'tortie'

And signed on to adoption

While we looked around

A tiny black 'monkey' ran down from a perch near the ceiling

Climbed up the pants of my husband

Jumped on his head and then down to his shoulder 

Closed his eyes, and purred his tiny heart out.

We looked at each other, 

Relieved that he'd chosen us

So we left with instructions

To make him an "indoor kitty"

Oh boy.....we tried, how we did try!

Simon was a feral kitten

Brought to the shelter with three of his litter mates

His mother Zoe, captured later with her fifth kitten

Became the consummate foster mother who nursed

Not only her own but many orphans who arrived.

She was the Queen of Pets Lifeline

And greeted all who came

Until a Sailor arrived who'd lost his long-time companion

Who adopted lovely Zoe to sail the seas with him.

This small creature, Simon

Gave us a bounty of joy and love

That cannot be expressed in words

While my husband lay in the last days of his life

This tiny sweet angel kept benevolent vigil close by.

Time moved on, my Simon stayed close

And when I moved house

He did not take this well

Still loving, purring but seemingly unsettled

One day in June he jumped fence

And here's the rest of the tale

When we couldn't reconnect

The flyers went out stating

He was neutered and chipped but wary of all

A beloved kitty more than 11 years old

I'd gladly pay a handsome reward

But no sightings revealed where he was or had gone.

He was a cat that had broken the mold

I felt that he’d found a new home

As my intuition told

Always in my thoughts

He was forefront on my mind last week

A phone message last Friday night

Left a message that Simon was brought to a vet

And the microchip showed I was the owner

Did I want to connect?

Tossing and turning all night, 

I plucked up courage, rang the number given

A sure voice answered

'Hello, I was expecting your call

My name is Gigi, and I live at Village Green.

I've been here just less than one year,

I named him Puffin, 

Others here call him Tuxedo, he's been here for a while

You say he's been missing for more than two and a half years?

I'm glad to know his real name, Simon.

For weeks he slept in the ivy outside my front door

Drank the water and ate the food I left

But he would never come close.

At night I'd watch the possum and raccoon who sat at the fence

But he was never bothered by them or they by him.

Yesterday he came

Allowed me to stroke him, crate him and get him to a vet

Who estimated his age as about 8 to 10 years

I'm astounded to know

He is almost fourteen!

I love this little guy, and I'd like to keep him but

I know you're his owner

I have two indoor cats, would you like to come over

And meet all of us?"

Canceled my appointments, classes

Heart pounding, went the three blocks to see this

Sweetie who had given me so much

And there he was.....sitting on the path in the sun

I spoke to him and called him with my own voice

And slowly he came....and began purring

I'd like to think he may have remembered

How much he was missed but who really knows?

For now, Simon has two mothers

Gigi and me

We agreed that a Senior Simon

May not adapt to an indoor life

After being on the lam for over two years

What a life, what a testament to survival!

It is said that cats have nine lives

Simon must have lived at least that number

But for however many more there are to be lived

Gigi and I will give him security and love. 

                                              2013

               Robyn Makaruk - A native of New Zealand, Robyn has lived in California for over forty years. 

                                             Recently retired from a career as a real estate broker, she continues her passion for

                                             prose and poetry and plans a future of learning the playwright's craft.