CHAPTER EIGHT
TILLY AND THE MORNING GLORIES
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next morning, Tilly awoke just as the sun was about to come up. Calvin was up too, and together they asked all the other cats to gather together to watch the sunrise before breakfast. A small group of cats soon settled in front of the big window.
“Maybe today the workers will take us out in the yard for some fresh air,” Calvin said.
“But you never go out anyway,” replied a young momcat, as she went back to her cage to check on her kittens.
A golden brown cat, whose right front paw dragged on the floor when he walked, watched the young momcat as she trotted back to her cage. Tilly knew from Calvin that the golden brown cat was born on the streets. His mother left one day and never came back. No one knew why she never came back to her kittens, but they were left alone. He had gone out to look for her and been attacked by a mean person he went to for help. The mean person kicked him and broke his leg, then left him there hurt and helpless. By the time a kind person found him and brought him into the shelter it was too late to fix his broken leg so that he could use it again. He was left with a badly healed leg that he couldn’t use anymore.
“Why don’t you just sit still,” the golden brown cat said to the young momcat. “All your running back and forth disturbs the peace.”
“Why don’t you mind your own business,” said another momcat to the golden brown cat. This momcat had older kittens who were allowed out of their cage. They played with each other and sometimes played with the other cats.
“Why don’t you control your wild kittens?” The question came from another cat whose fur was missing in places. The missing patches of fur showed deep scarring in the skin where he had been burned.
Within a few minutes, all the cats were fighting with words. They complained about each other, the animal shelter, and anything else they could think of.
“Stop this fighting,” said a loud, familiar voice from the back of the room. It was Gershom. He had come to check on how his friends were doing and entered the room so quietly that no one had noticed him. He walked up to the group of cats.
“Why are you all fighting with each other?” he asked.
“We came here to watch the sunrise,” said Tilly. “Calvin said he wants to go outside today, and somehow everyone started fighting with each other. I don’t know what happened.”
Gershom looked around at all the cats. He knew that every one of them had been through a lot of pain and loneliness. He knew they sometimes wondered why bad things happened to them. He knew they were sometimes afraid when they thought about what would happen to them in the future.
“We came here to watch the sunrise together,” he said. “We came here to worship God by enjoying the dawn of a new day together. Let’s remember that we all have been through hard times, and that Jesus, our Lord, knows this. Someday He will wipe away all our tears. Let’s just sit here quietly for a minute, and remember that in spite of all our differences we are very much alike. We have all cried when no one was looking. We have all felt alone and unwanted. In that way, we are all alike.”
All the cats sat quietly for a minute. They thought about what they wanted for themselves. They knew in their hearts that what they wanted was exactly what all the others wanted. They all wanted to be safe and warm and loved. They were all good cats.
“Look,” said Calvin. “The sun is coming up. It’s beautiful.”
They all looked out the window. The sun was coming up, and bringing light and warmth into the room. Even the playful kittens sat still in front of the window to feel the warmth of the sun on their fur.
“The morning glories,” cried the young momcat.
“What? Where?” asked Tilly.
“There,” said the momcat. “They’re all around the fence. They’re blooming.”
Tilly looked out at the fence that ran all the way around the yard. The green vine on the fence was covered with pretty, small white, flowers. It was beautiful. What had been a plain green vine was now a blanket of flowers on the fence.
“Morning glories are special flowers,” said the momcat. “They only come out for a little while in the early morning. They open with the first rays of the sun, and close up by late morning. They’re morning flowers.”
“They’re beautiful,” said the golden brown cat.
“They sure are,” said Gershom. “They’re God’s way of saying a new day has begun. They’re God’s way of saying that today is a very good day. It’s His way of saying that life goes on.”
Everyone sat watching the sunrise and the morning glories, until they heard the shelter workers bringing breakfast into the room. After breakfast, the workers came to take some of the cats out to the yard. Tilly wanted to go out with Calvin and the golden brown cat. Gershom decided to stay behind and visit with the cats who couldn’t go out.
“I hope that soon Joey and Reuel get to go out,” Gershom told Tilly. “Right now they are so mean to the others that the workers won’t let them in the yard. I’m going to talk to them again today. They want to know how Buddy is doing.”
“How is he doing?” Tilly asked.
“Not so good. He’s still very sick, and last night he had such a high fever that he got mean and bit me. The fever’s down now. I’m going back to see him later.”
“Oh dear,” Tilly replied. “I hope things go better for you today, Gershom.”
“I know you do, Tilly. But you have your visits to make. You’ve done a lot to help me out. I want you to go to the yard now, and get some fresh air.”
Tilly watched as Gershom left the special room on his way to find Joey and his friends. She hoped that today they would stop being mean to others. She hoped that today they would be nice to Kiam. She decided she would visit Kiam today after she came in from the yard.
Tilly walked out into the shelter’s yard. It had been so long since she had been outside that she just stood still for a minute. She heard the birds singing. They sang beautiful songs as they flew from tree branch to tree branch. The grass felt good under her feet. She took a deep breath of fresh air.
Walking around the yard, Tilly tried to help the cats as much as she could. She listened to their stories of how they came to live at the shelter. She helped the ones who needed help walking. She kept an eye on the kittens who were playing, making sure they didn’t go to far away from the other cats. She was so busy that the hours passed by quickly.
Dinnertime came, and all the cats returned to either their special rooms or the eating room. After she ate, Tilly went down the hall to visit with Kiam. She wanted to spend some time with him. She came to his room and looked in. He was resting on a high perch, but he came down when he saw her looking around for him.
“Hi, Tilly, how are you?” he said.
“I’m doing fine, thank you. What have you been up to?” Tilly replied.
“Not much. I’ve been eating in my room lately. I don’t want to go out because of those mean cats. The workers here have been nice about letting me eat in here.”
“Maybe you can go out in the yard tomorrow,” Tilly told him. “I’m sure no one will mind if you go with me to my special room.”
“What special room? I thought you were in the room next to mine.”
“I was. But I want to stay with the cats who are in the special rooms. They’re very nice and friendly most of the time. I wish you would come with me, so we could be together more. It’s not good for you to spend so much time by yourself,” Tilly answered.
“So, you don’t want to stay in your room at all, ever?” Kiam asked Tilly. “Don’t you know about the new cat?”
“What new cat?”
“Since you didn’t stay in your room last night, you missed the new arrival. She’s a young cat, like you. They put her in your room, because that’s where the new cats stay when the first get here.”
Tilly sat quietly for a minute. She suddenly felt very bad about herself. She had wanted so badly to help others that she left a new cat alone all night. The shelter workers probably thought that she would be there to make the new cat feel welcome. Gershom had been with Buddy all night. They left the new cat alone and afraid all night. Tilly felt herself getting angry. There were so many who needed help. She couldn’t be everywhere at once.
“Do you think the new cat was afraid?” Tilly asked Kiam.
“I know she was. When Carly told me you were with Gershom, I told her I wanted to stay with the new cat.”
“You did, Kiam? You stayed with her. Oh, I’m so glad you did that, because I remember how hard it was for me when I first got here. I was really scared until I met Gershom.”
Kiam smiled. “Yes, I stayed with her. So you see, I haven’t been all alone. I came back here after Carly came to visit the newcomer, whose name is Emmie. I told Emmie about you. She wants to be friends. They’re in your room, or should I say your old room.”
“You’re a good friend, Kiam. You’re a really, really, good friend, Kiam.”
Tilly left Kiam’s room, and decided to leave Carly and Emmie alone. She knew Carly would take good care of Emmie, and make her feel welcome. She turned down the hall to go back toward the special rooms where her friends were waiting for her. Walking back she saw a lot of cats standing around. They were near the door of the room where Gershom was visiting Buddy. Joey was sitting right outside the door. His friends, including the black and white cat and Reuel, were huddled together. They were being very quiet. Tilly stopped walking. She saw a cat sitting close by her, and asked him what was going on.
“He’s gone,” the cat whispered to her. “Buddy’s gone. He just died a few minutes ago.”
Tilly looked over at Joey. He looked both sad and angry at the same time. It was clear that Buddy meant a lot to him. She wanted to be able to say something to him. She wanted him to know that his friend would be missed.
“Joey,” she said, walking up to him. “I’m very sorry about Buddy. I know⦔
“You know nothing!” Joey shouted back at her, before she could finish what she wanted to say. “You didn’t know Buddy,” he told her, a little more quietly. “And these people here, they wouldn’t let me see him before he died. They said I might get sick. What does that matter? Buddy was a street cat, like me. I’m his family. I don’t care about getting sick. I wanted to see him. I don’t care anymore about whether I get sick or not.”
“But I do,” said Gershom, who had just come out of the room where Buddy was. “I care about you. Your life matters. I cared about Buddy. His life mattered. And, he gave his heart to Jesus. Joey, he made it into heaven. That’s where he is now. That’s more important than anything else. I didn’t leave him alone. I was with him when he died. Someday, I’ll be with him in heaven.”
Joey turned away from Gershom. His friends followed him down the long hallway. Tilly could tell that he was still angry inside. He was still sad, and still angry. She gave Gershom a little hug, and then walked into her own special room. By now, all her friends in there knew about Buddy’s death. Some of them would need to be hugged, and told that Buddy was still alive in heaven. They would probably have many questions for her. She knew she didn’t have all the answers to their questions. She would just do all she could to help them not to be afraid.
The night passed by, and soon it was morning again. Tilly got up early to watch the sunrise. Today, she wanted to be alone. She found a quiet window, in a small special room that was now empty. Sitting down in front of the window, she watched as the sun came up. The beautiful morning glories soon covered to whole fence around the yard.