He simply left

by Qanit
(India)

Lal was perhaps the most docile of all felines, never bothering to harm mice. Lazy, but understanding. Quiet, but fun.
He knew what we felt, when Mum wasn't in her best of moods and he knew exactly how to cheer one up. He knew standing near the refrigerator would earn him a plate of milk, and standing on a red button would turn on the AC.
Smart.
But he started salivating suddenly, and for a while we thought something was stuck. I stuck my hand in his mouth, but found nothing. A week later we called the vet. Lal has cancer. A shock, it was to us. He had, by then, found a quiet place under the dining table to lie. He lay, unable to eat, and despite all our medication, things wouldn't improve.
One night, he did get up, and was cheerful. He played. He ate his favourite fish fry. And he drunk water, something which he perhaps had never done in his entire life.
Next morning, he was gone. And we looked for him, he wasn't to be found.
I went to school on 17th March, 2003, and when I returned, we found him lying under a tree in our garden. Unable to move, breathing ever so slightly. As tears started to fill my eyes, Lal made an effort to move away. But, the illness had made him too weak. Then the breathing stopped.
We buried him under the tree.
I think, in retrospect, that perhaps he didn't want us to know of its death. Perhaps, he wanted to run away. His mother had done the same. Just disappeared. Whoever claims that cats are not friends of humans, is woefully mistaken. They're friends, not slaves. They recognise us as equals, and not their masters. Heaven must be filled with cats.