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

After breakfast the next morning, Yusuf said he was going for a walk to explore the neighborhood and hurried off to pay Puss a visit. There were many blocks of flats, and he hoped he wouldn’t lose his way. It wasn’t so far to his grandmother’s old house.

When he arrived, Puss was meowing and scratching at the door. As soon as he entered, Puss sprang on him and began to lick him to show how pleased she was. He let her out, and they went for a short walk together, boy and cat. Then, because Puss was starting toward their old home, Yusuf picked her up and carried her back to the storeroom, where he gave her a saucer of milk and some sardines. Puss ate greedily and then, as always, cleaned herself carefully. Yusuf turned the straw and tidied her bed. When all was done, he looked in the box that held the provisions. He counted the cans to make sure there would be enough to last till he was back in school, when his father would give him extra pocket money and he could buy more provisions.

So it went on during school vacation. Yusuf visited Puss often and fed her well. The one thing that made him unhappy was his father’s daily trip to their old home to see if Puss had returned there.

At breakfast the morning before school reopened, Father said that Puss would be having her babies soon. He hoped that she had found a good place and perhaps someone to care for her, since she would be needing extra milk.

Yusuf hadn’t thought about the extra milk. Perhaps now was the time to tell father where the cat was. He almost did, but was afraid his parents would be angry with him.

One day, soon after the new school term began, Mother had to take Tina to the dentist after school. Yusuf hurried to see Puss. When he opened the door of the storeroom, he had a great surprise.

Puss was lying in her corner licking her kittens one at a time. There were three of them-while, thin, and not at all beautiful. They were unsteady and kept falling about as Yusuf watched them. He was disappointed in their appearance, but Puss purred happily. She lapped up every drop of the extra milk he gave her. The milk powder was almost finished, and Yusuf wondered what he would do if he couldn’t save enough money for another can.

In school the next day Yusuf got into trouble several times with his teacher. He couldn’t pay attention. How glad he was when the dismissal bell rang! He was ready to rush out of class when he heard the teacher calling him. “Yusuf, will you stay behind, please?”

When all the other children had gone, she said: “Come here, Yusuf. Now, tell me what is wrong. You didn’t seem to be paying attention at all today. Do you miss your old home? Don’t you like living in a flat?”