Heart Touching Story of A Boy and His Cat: A Cat to Remember

Yusuf slept through the alarm that woke the finally. His sister, Tina, shook him till he got up. He was still drowsy, and she said: “Hurry, it’s nearly half past six. You’ll make us late for the bus.” Tina kept on complaining that they would be late, but Yusuf was finally ready to minutes before the bus arrived.

It was a long and noisy trip to school. Yusuf sat quietly in the back of the bus, unaware of the noises around him. He was thinking that he’d have to work fast. It was the last week of school, and he had to find out before the holidays began if anyone would take his pet.

Soon it was the last day of school. No one would take Puss, not even for a short while. Yusuf could not blame his classmates. Their problem was much the same as his. Many of them were moving into flats too and looking for homes for their own pets. The others had been warned not to bring home strays, as they might have to move shortly. The talk at school was mainly about pets and what to do with them when the move to a housing estate began.

So it had to be his grandmother’s old house, and Yusuf put his plan into action. He went several times to the vacant house. It was a small wooden building fallen into disrepair. Boards were missing from it here and there. Attached to the house was a low lean-to with a dirt floor. His grandmother had stored firewood here. It had a single door, opening onto the garden, and one small window to let in light.

Yusuf thought the lean-to would be a good place for Puss. He cleaned it out and then rummaged around in the old house for anything he could find to mark Puss comfortable. He got a box to hold the food he planned to store there, and in one corner he made a bed of straw and rags.

When he first started his preparations, Yusuf felt a little guilty, especially as the family had begun to notice his absences.

“Where do you go, Yusuf?” his sister asked one day. And his mother, who was nearby, spoke up too: “Yes where do you go? You’re always out of the house when I want you to do something.”

After that, Yusuf was a little more careful. It was beginning to be fun preparing a home for his cat, and he made sure there was nothing for him to do around the house before he slipped away.

By now, taking a few spoonfuls at a time, he had collected more than half a can of powdered milk. He had not thought of it as stealing. He also made up his mind to use his own pocket money. If he could do without the sweets he was so fond of, he would save enough to buy two small cans of sardines a week. And he began thinking of ways of getting more powdered milk. He counted the money in his coin box. There was just enough to buy one large can. How long would that last? He wondered.