The Last Memory

"There she is. She remembered. SHE REMEMBERED. How is this possible? Who told her? What's going on?", he shouted at the top of his voice, minus the volume, in his mind. For that moment, he was mindful of one thing that is often referred to, and observed in various contexts but hardly realized by the lot. A Mystery. An Enigma. A weak force personified with a hint of surface level character display, "Love".

The tears of joy covered his eyes. He couldn't understand why he was crying at the sight of her. He thought, maybe, this is what absence of happiness brings to life when happiness presents itself from the shadows, only waiting to be realized. He hugged her and thanked her for being there when no one else was around. She spent some time with him and left, and that was the last he saw her. Did she appear because of love? or the spiritual connection or to make a point? or horrifying, someone from the past?

It was summer time, the nature was warm. With the coming of the peak season of warmth and joy, a loner by nature, welcomed a cat to his abode, rented of course. He had to pay the rent to stay in a place which had no remembrance of the past that mattered to him and held no future, he could alter. He didn't mind letting the cat stay for free. He said, "Remember, you will never irritate me, ask for attention or sit on my keyboard when I work. You can stay if you agree to these conditions". He realized, even though doubtful, that she knew him better than he knew himself. That was a bond. A spiritual one.

He smoked cigarettes during the break from his work, and sometimes just to past time. She realized the moment he walks out of his workspace to be a time to play, spend time together and share the spiritual connection they both knew existed, well at least in her mind. However, he failed to see the signs, he was very much occupied with his own thoughts that seemed endless.

She started to bite his toes when he sat down to smoke in the backyard. He shouted, "What's wrong with you? You bite the man who feeds you?". She walked away in disappointment. He did not realize that she was wary of him smoking cigarettes. This continued for a while. One day, she came home with 3 adorable, playful, pure kittens. Nature had just unwrapped them to present them to the world for the first time. She lay the kittens in front of him to see his reaction. He acknowledged the presence and entry of the new members to the family and welcomed with all his heart. She had sensed his loneliness.

Couple of weeks passed with the cat family. This was a picture of abundance. Abundance of joy and happiness.

One night he saw the kittens' demise in his dream. It was a nightmare. He woke up, realized it was a dream and went back to sleep. The next day, the cat was alone. Quietly sitting in a corner in the backyard. He noticed tears in her eyes. The communication was over and they never spoke of it again. He could not forgive himself for the lack of instincts and failing to act upon it even though it was a dream. He wanted to kill all the stray dogs on the streets and make her watch so she could get satisfaction for murdering her kittens. He looked her in the eye and said, "You should go. To a safe place. I am sorry! I failed to protect you and your kittens."

The next morning she was gone. He searched everywhere thinking the stray dogs might have harmed her. He shouted for her. No response. His loneliness continued.

Six months passed by, none of which was not spent not thinking of her. He thought about her and her well being everyday. He prayed for her, even though he did not believe in the concept of gods. He prayed to the one, the creator of all creations and the creation within. The singularity. The Ultimate consciousness.

It was summer again. It was his birthday. The clock hour, minute and second pointed to north overlapping on top of each other giving a sense of oneness for the moment. No missed calls, no text messages, no emails. His phone was empty reflecting his lifestyle. He walked to the terrace to smoke a cigarette. He leaned on the terrace grill and heard, "Meow..."