My Brother by Kelly Lindheimer

My Brother

by Kelly Lindheimer

Fluffy was like my older brother. When I was born he was about 8 years old. He originally belonged to my neighbors except when our neighbors moved they gave us him because he loved us more than them. He was the best hunter there ever was. He was also the smartest cat that ever lived. He knew when everyone's birthday was and when Christmas was. On my birhtday he would catch me a bird or frog. It wasn't a very pleasant present but as they say, It's the thought that counts. He could open doors that were closed and even locked. I taught him to jump up on a table and turn the lock. He also knew all these secret holes to the outdoors. He was a very strong cat. When we finally moved when I was 6 years old he adjusted to the whole house in a few minutes. We had moved in with my grandparentds, they had a cat named Bootsy. Well she and Fluffy got along very well. A few years later Bootsy had to be put down because she was getting very old. When Fluffy noticed that Bootsy wasn't around anymore he brought down a toy that I had made out of a sock for him and dragged it to where Bootsy normally slept. It was very sad. For more years he lived very healthily until he got this nose problem, where he always had a runny nose. We brought him to the vet for the vet to diagnose him with his problem. The vet said he had cancer. He was almost a skeleton by then. We took him home and he hardly walked or ate. He made it right past my birthday on August 6th. He died on September 29th. On September 28th it was raining and my dad said that he had somehow walked all the way outside to wait for me to come off the bus in the pouring rain. My dad quickly brought him back in and was sure that he would die in a matter of minutes. But he didn't. When I cam home I wrapped him up in a blanket and gave him a warm water bottle. The next day when I came home from school he was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me again. He was unconscious and I had to carry him back upstairs. I put him in his warm cat carrier and tried to feed him some food. It didn't work. At 6:30pm I was talking to Fluffy when all of a sudden he let out a wail and fell halfway out of his carrier. I pulled him out and put him on his favorite blanket. My dad and I sat next to him. He was only taking in a breath of air every minute. We knew the end was near for Fluffy. I was hopind he would catch his breath, but he never did. We put him in a box and had hid cremated in the morning. It was strange though because right before he died I was feeling really horrible. Sort of like E.T. and his friend. Also we had been watching the star wars series and the night he died we watched the last Star Wars where all the ghosts had come together. Every night I pray to Fluffy. Also the night after his death at 6:40p.m. we heard him meowing for about a minute. Maybe he'll meow for us again next year.

Comments would be appreciated by the author, Kelly Lindheime