A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND HER CHERISHED CAT

All we could hear was the crashing of the waves as they hit the shore, but suddenly, the faint sound of a woman frantically calling, “Skittles…Skittles…Skittles!” that grew louder as she quickly paced back and forth on the sidewalk outside our condo building.  A dense growth of native bushes separated the narrow walkway from the beach.  I could imagine the animal either exploring the bushy area or being trapped and unable to emerge from the thick undergrowth. 

When the thin, bronze-tanned, older woman passed in front of us, she was becoming more desperate by the moment while calling for her pet.  At last, a well-nourished, beautiful tabby cat with shimmering fur from the sunlight came running toward her.  The woman’s face was filled with ecstasy and relief simultaneously.  The next half-hour was spent cuddling her cat, then grooming him with a special glove that eliminates loose hair.  He seemed content to be in her loving arms and what must have felt like being petted rather than groomed.

 

You could tell that the still-beautiful woman must have been a knockout at one time.  She lived alone in a ground-level condo with a lush carpet of green grass at her patio door, extending into the common area and overlooking the blue sea.

 

One could imagine she might have been someone’s arm candy decades ago and received the apartment adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico as part of a divorce settlement.  Now, her days are full of doting on Skittles, strolling on the beach’s soft sand, and basking in the cool sea breezes while watching seagulls flying overhead, looking for their next food source. 

 

She might be alone as far as another human living with her, but she treasures the love of an animal that fills her days and nights, so loneliness isn’t her companion. And it's evident that feeding the cat rather than herself is of utmost importance, but isn’t that what love is all about…making someone or something else a priority?  The power of love is a many splendored thing!