This is a story about a vegetarian.
This is a guy from where Yunus’s ricebowl comes from who’s a vegetarian who wanted his face blurred out if it should go on the internet. He claimed that he loves birds and always had a supply of food for them. When called upon, they would sit on him and allow themselves to be fed. They are no pets nor are they the same birds that he has ever fed. They are simply, stray birds from nowhere.
There was a time before I even had Garfield, a time when my parents did not think I was matured enough to look after a cat (I did have hamsters, fishes & tortoises though)… Cats would come to my house for shelter or food. I had Barbie&Ken, a couple in between who were around for only a couple of days then there was Pumpkin. They just appeared at the doorstep either meowing loud enough for me to hear or found shivering somewhere inside my 3m-long balcony where only cats could have access into. They could have seeked shelter at my second floor’s neighbours where there were and still are a forest of plants whose warmth & darkness cats would have appreciated.
Today, the only stray cats my house invited are male tomcats who came to challenge the territory which belongs to my cats. I also blame the fact that somehow, my neighbourhood just didn’t have as many stray cats as it used to have. There are barely five strays around here these days.. I do miss them much. As I was growing up, I used to sneak litters of kittens into my room, feed strays by the packs but my saddest memory was watching one of them die in a hit-and-run. He took a while to die.. It was very sad. I didn’t know what to do then, I just mourned along with the other 20-over strays until a more capable adult came and bury it.
Back to the story, it truly is amazing to have such a connection with animals. I may not have the power to connect with strays as well as the man above could (I’m still unable to play with/feed a stray xenophobic cat as much as I would like it) but with my own cats, I could talk to them in a way even my mom would always be amazed.
But this is BIRDS, and BIRDS never come to any man I know not until I hear of this magical one above. Bless his good soul for all the good causes he’s doing.
