My Long Lost Mate

Waking up in the ray of warm sunlight, I jumped out of bed with my tiny little steps, excited to find Toby, my new cat that I'd just found the week before. I'd found him on our front porch, crying with a bloodied leg. It seemed that he was separated from his family and had been hit by a passing carriage on the road, leaving him weak and bloodied by the time I found him. 

I'd pleaded with my mother to let me raise him, promising that I'd look after him with the utmost sincerity and affection. When she saw Toby's condition, she hesitated a little, knowing that he wouldn't have much longer to live. However, after some persuasion, she agreed to let me raise him in the hopes of saving his life.

Since then, I'd spent most of my time caring for Toby, playing with the cat whose condition seemed to be getting better every day. He'd even started jumping and running around the house yesterday! 

With a smile on my face, I crouched down to find Toby, who loved to sleep under my bed. I'd planned to take him to our backyard, wanting to show him the numerous colorful flowers that grew behind our house. I'm sure he'd be overjoyed and start running across the flowerbeds! 

"Toby!" I called, but Toby wasn't there. His small bed was left empty with no sign of his grey fur. "Toby?" I stood up, glancing around the room to find the grey cat. I hovered around the room, searching for every nook and cranny where he could be hiding, but he was nowhere to be seen. Where could he be? 

Ah! He must have woken up earlier than me to play hide and seek! We started playing hide and seek two days ago, and it has become his favorite game ever since. I'm sure he is hiding somewhere right now, waiting for me to find him. 

A burst of giggles escaped my mouth as I went out of my room, meeting the few servants that were cleaning the hallway. I greeted them with a good morning and walked past them, still on my quest to find Toby. I checked every corner, every potted plant, every place where the cat might be hiding, but I still couldn't find him.

Toby must have gotten better at hiding after two days of playing hide and seek, I thought. 

I continued to search for him, even asking the servants for some hints, but they had no clue about where the little cat might be. I began to feel my stomach growling while searching for Toby, so I decided to make a quick stop at the kitchen to ease my angry stomach. 

When I opened the kitchen door, I grabbed a chair to help me get to the kitchen table, where there were a few loaves of bread. I noticed the table was a little strewn about, as though someone had made a sloppy mess of it.

I gave it no care and continued to eat my loaf of bread, finally feeling the anger in my stomach die down a little. My tiny legs swayed back and forth in my seat, my gaze wandering aimlessly around the kitchen. Everything appeared normal until I came across something familiar just beside the cabinet, something long and grey.

Toby's tail!! 

I quickly jumped out of my seat, tipped-toeing my way to Toby. I covered my mouth with my hands, wanting to surprise him with my sudden appearance. Getting closer, I shouted. 

"Toby! I found you!" 

Indeed, Toby was there, but he wasn't surprised by my sudden appearance. Instead, he stayed still, giving me no response. His body was curled up, his blue eyes kept closed. I must have kept him waiting too long for him to fall asleep while waiting for me to find him. 

"Toby, wake up. I'm here," I whispered, giggling at the sleeping cat. Even with my calls, the cat kept on sleeping, so I lightly tapped on his body, shaking him a little. The little force I gave him made his body roll to the side listlessly. 

"Toby?" I called again, starting to feel that something was not right. Usually, Toby would usually wake up at the slightest sound, but this time, he wouldn't wake up even after I shook his body. I placed my finger in front of Toby's nose, hoping to feel his breath—but there was none.

...

"Mama! Mama!" I frantically ran across the manor, searching for my mom while holding Toby in my tiny hands. A few servants gasped when they saw me running in such a state, tears streaming down my cheeks. 

I found my mom in the backyard, attending to the flowers there with her gloves on. Her eyes widened when she saw me crying, holding Toby in my embrace.

"Violet, what happened?" She hurriedly ran over to me, taking her gloves off and getting down on her knees to level with me.

"Mama..." I sobbed, slowly showing Toby in my hands. "T-Toby... Toby is not waking up. We were just playing hide and seek, but when I found him, he was already like this. He won't wake up no matter how many times I call for him."

She carefully took Toby from my hands, placing Toby on the ground. She put her hands on Toby's ċhėst, then glanced over at me when she felt no movement coming from him. She bit her lips as she saw my eyes desperately moving from between Toby and her, hoping that she could do something to wake Toby up.

"Violet, honey... Toby's gone." 

"What do you mean he's gone?" I frowned. "Toby is right here!" 

"Well... his body is here, but his soul is no longer here." She placed her palm on my cheek, wiping the tears that were ceaselessly falling from my eyes. 

"Then... then where is Toby's soul?" 

"It's in a place called heaven," she forced a smile, her eyes gleaming with tears when seeing me. "It's a place where angels live, so it's only natural for Toby to be there as well." 

"B-but we haven't finished playing," I held Toby's paw, ċȧrėssing it gently. "Isn't there anything that Mama can do to get Toby to come back and play with me again? Mama always takes my pain away when I'm sick, so can't you bring Toby back to life too?"

"I'm afraid that'll be hard, honey," she said, drawing her brows together. "But Mama will try what I can do, okay?" 

Despite the fact that she knew there was nothing she could do to help Toby, she still tried to help him at my request. She placed her hand on Toby's ċhėst once more, and a glowing light appeared beneath her hand.

When I was sick, the same glowing light would appear every time she tried to make my pain go away. All of my pain would vanish as soon as the light touched me, and I would no longer be sick. I was a healthy child because my mom would always take my pain away whenever it came. 

After a few seconds, the glowing light disappeared, and she shook her head. Seeing there was no change even after what my mom did, my tears fell harsher. I couldn't believe I wouldn't be able to play with Toby anymore, who had become my best friend in the past week.

"I-is it because I was bad to him, and that's why he would rather play with the angels instead?" I cried harder, poking Toby's lifeless body. 

"No, Violet," she shook her head, pulling me in for a hug. "As a cat, Toby couldn't do much to protect you, who had been so kind to him, so he decided to go to heaven where he would have more power to do so. Now, Toby is no longer only a cat, but an angel. He'd even asked his angel friends to protect you from up there." 

"H-how can you know?" 

"Because Mama has magic, remember?" She smiled, wiping my tears away. "Toby told Mama that he was thankful that you played with him, and he was happy that you became his friend. He wished to repay your kindness, so he decided to become an angel to watch over you forever."

"So it's his wish to go to heaven?" My tears started to cease after hearing that Toby didn't go to heaven because he was unwell or because he hated me. If that's what Toby wanted, then I have to let him go, right? 

My mom nodded her head, smiling and standing up. She carefully took Toby in her hands, then offered her free hand to hold my hand. 

"Come, we should rest Toby's body." 

We walked deeper into the backyard, finding an empty plot of land to dig a hole where Toby's body would rest. Finished digging the hole and putting Toby inside, my mom touched the soil, once again making the glowing light appear. As soon as she touched the soil, the previously empty soil bloomed into numerous five-petaled flowers, ranging from blue, pink, and white in colors.

"These flowers are called Forget-Me-Not," she remarked, a smile on her face as she stared at the flowers, pleased with her creations. "Just like the name suggests, these flowers mean that you'll never forget. This way, Toby will know that we will never forget him and will always keep him in our hearts."

"Will he be happy?"

"I'm sure so."