A Christmas at home

 This year's Christmas we stayed at home, which is very unusual for us as a family, who travel every year to meet my parents or to visit Kerala which is my home town. 

After the night mass at the Shrine of Don Bosco which is our favorite place to visit, we reached home late at 1pm. 

To our surprise, we were welcomed by an unexpected visitor.  A cat 🐈  . Though I love animals, but strictly out of the house. My son had been longing for a pet and found this unexpected visitor to his delight. As it Christmas and all the children were waiting for Santa's Christmas gift, my little one declared that it was his gift was Santa a Ginger cat. My husband who stood in a corner looked like a scared cat. I asked what happened? He said in a feeble voice "I don't like cats". For a person who has had a dog for 14 years and who cared for the rats so much to only catch them from his car and let them free after saying prayers. "Live a good life and not destroy any human property ever". This came to me as a surprise. 

The poor cat has just lost its way and got in I said, It will find its way out leave it alone, but the damage was already done. The Children ran in excitement,  and so did the cat in fear. My younger one ran the fastest as he had prayed really hard for pets and would go petting every cat at the Shrine. I thought to myself was it really God-sent. I started Googling, Are cats good? What happens if cats come into the house suddenly? What are the superstitions and beliefs about cats? And finally how to get rid of cats?

The next five minutes I heard the boys say the cat had gone into the bedroom. Oh my! I thought it was going to be a really hard night for me. Not that I was not familiar with cats, my maternal home was filled with cats, but as I said I liked them strictly outside the home in the garden anywhere, we really can coexist in nature as two different species in our own habitat undisturbed and that's what I wanted, not in my bedroom on my bed. 

I ran to the bedroom to check if I could chase it away, but to my surprise, there was no cat, mysterious cat where was it? I took up the plates and a spoon and started to drum the "go corona go" way if a deadly disease can go with the bangs of spoons and plates a cat should definitely go away I said, thinking the noise would scare it away. With drumming of plates, spoons, and brooms, we all paraded through all the rooms to get the cat out, but all in vain. There is no cat, not on the bed, under the bed, in the corners, and nowhere. I concluded that the cat had escaped mysteriously. Cats are mysterious creatures they can sneak in through your legs and you will not even know in the blink of an eye. It was 3 o'clock, so we decided to call it a day and said if it's there it will be here and let's close the doors lest it goes into the kitchens and spoil the kitchen. With all doors closed to go off to sleep, my son was not very happy about not being able to pet the cat, and my husband was still suspicious that the cat was still hiding and would come for him, I am tired and I believe cats are harmless, it will meow if its there we can let it out if it calls I said. 

With no sight of the cat even after two days, I believed that it was gone, maybe some tiny exitit found. After three days I went to the attic searching for a toy and there I saw the cat all curled up I wondered how for almost three days it sat silently in the same place. No food no water and no noise at all.

I tried to chase him; at least he needed to go get some food. I had my doubts, though, that maybe it was trying to find a place to give birth because I believe cats would not go silent for so many days unless there was a plan.

The cat came out of its hiding and I had opened all the windows and doors so that it would so out safely and off it jumped through the window crashing into the road, Meow I heard I was scared if it would break a bone or get hurt, but again it went out of sight, I thought to my self, cats have nine lives, meet you again in your next life.