I first saw him on the steps leading to the park last week, when Cate and I first hit the park for exercise. It was love at first sight. I bent down and said, “Aww he’s such a cutie!” It’s raining cats in Ang Mo Kio, but he was the first cat I saw with that beautiful light yellow fur the shade of a brazo de mercedes.
The next day, at around the same time, Cate and I were back. To my surprise, the same cat was there again. “Hey isn’t this the same cat we saw here yesterday? I wonder why he’s always on the steps?” I wondered out loud. I took out my camera to take a picture of him, but he had moved away warily, so I couldn’t snap a decent photo. “I’ll name him Brazo de Mercedes,” I declared.
On the third day we came back at a much later time. The sun had completely sunk from the sky by then, so I wasn’t expecting to see my cat on the stairs. From afar, Cate spotted his eyes glowing in the dark. When we got near, I tried to take a picture, but he ran away from us. While briskwalking 2 kilometers around the park, I kept wondering out loud why he was always there on those steps. Who was he waiting for? Was he a cat prince?
We weren’t able to hit the park during the weekend, so I didn’t see my cat then. Then tonight, while Cate was in the gym with Tatsie, I decided to hit the park alone. I was looking forward to seeing the cat on the stairs, but to my utter disappointment, he wasn’t there.
As I brisk-walked my first round, I wondered where he had gone, why he wasn’t there on the steps. Then halfway through my second round, I saw the street lamp cast a glow on a familiar figure. The light yellow fur, the kink on his tail – this was definitely my cat.
So I crouched on the ground and called him to me and pretty soon, the cat who used to run away from me was curling up on the ground, begging to be petted and brushing against my legs. He was so close that I got to take a good shot of him.
It was hard to resist the urge to cradle him and bring him home, but I had to because I know Cate is scared of cats and I don’t know if Singapore allows cats in apartments in the first place.
But I don’t worry about it. I’ll be back in the park and I know that I will always find my cat there. Or he will find me.
wow… how cute.. We once had a pet cat but unfortunately got crippled and did not survive after it fell from our 4th floor apartment. Our neighbors found Ming Dow (name), lying on the ground in the morning and was brought to the vet. However, did not survive. huhuhuhu! I was so stupid to leave the window open that summer.<br />Nice cat! hehehe… 😉
yikes. i thought cats always land on their feet?<br /><br />we once had a cat but my 3 year old brother, sinakyan sya at ginawang "motorcycle" ayun, namatay kasi ang bigat nya. 🙁