Sanctuary. David Greagg

sick. After a little while she looked around to find the human was sitting down next to her. She walked up to her and rubbed her face against the human's paw. More scratching happened and she wondered about human paws. They were divided up much more than cats' paws and were really useful for stroking cats. After a little more of this she looked around the corner. There was another box with white rocks in it. She sniffed. Maybe that was for bodily functions. If she were going to be kept shut in then she would need something for that. She looked up at the human and settled down in the nest. It was warm, dry and comfortable. The human caressed the top of her head and moved away.

      A big white wall opened. She'd seen walls which opened before and Mother said it was called a door, and you had to be careful not to get shut in by them. The human walked through it, and the door shut again. As far as she could tell, this was good. She got up again and sniffed her way all around.

      Hmmm. There was a definite smell of cat here. Recent cat. She sniffed again. Two other cats, both female. Perhaps in a human place it was all right for cats to live together. Since the humans would be providing food then there'd presumably be enough for everybody. She got back into her box and fell fast asleep.

      Not long afterwards, the door opened and another human came in. She lifted her head and gave the human a long look. This one smelled male. She thought he was the one from earlier on. He had lots of fur on his head and face. He said something and knelt down in front of the box, talking gently and softly. He put out a paw face upward. She leaned forward and gave him a good sniff. He smelt good. The paw started to caress her head, and she closed her eyes and began to purr. So this human also knew how to stroke cats in a loving way. All the while he was talking to her. She noticed he kept saying the same word over and over. Gamine. She wondered what that meant. Perhaps it was a human word for cat? He stroked her some more, this time all over her body, and she curled up and closed her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep again she heard the human go out and close the door behind him.

      She spent the rest of the day and all night in her box, rising occasionally for refreshment and comfort breaks. It was amazing to think she was safe with food, water and comfort stops in easy reach. The door stayed shut except when the humans came in to say hello, which they did from time to time. Every time they did, they would say 'Gamine!' in a soothing voice and she would arch her back and purr. They brought in wet food and she ate it all up, and grazed a little on the dry pellets.

      The wet food was like the crumbly gravy thing she had scavenged in her old life, only better. She thought it might go off, but she realised that the pellets would not, so they could be kept for later. The really strange thing was that even after it got dark, when the humans came in it would suddenly become shiny again. She knew about lights. There had been lights that had stayed on all night back at the huge buildings. It was a cold light and felt uncomfortable. These lights were much closer and seemed to give off warmth. But after the humans left the lights went off again and it was dark and cozy once more. Humans must be very clever, she decided.

      She realised that she was living in a place where the humans did their bodily functions. This might have been offensive, except there would be a big flood of water afterwards which washed it all away. The first time it happened, she shrank back against the inside of her box and looked for a safer place to hide. But after the second time she stopped worrying about it. There was hardly any human smell left over afterwards and what there was of it was comforting in a way.

      It was a strange and wonderful feeling, knowing she was safe and being looked after. She purred at the humans because it was like having Mother back looking after her again. But the best thing of all was not having to sleep lightly, always with one ear out for danger. She slept deeply and dreamed of Mother washing her. In one dream, Mother licked her thoroughly and said to her Gamine! That's your name now! It means that your humans promise to look after you for always. Remember!

      She awoke to the sound of birds singing outside. It was full light again coming through a hole in the wall, though there was glass over it. She'd met glass before and didn't approve. She could tell it would be another hot day, but the ground inside was cool. She stretched out and began to wash carefully all over. There was no wet food left, but a little milk. She licked it up and ate a few of the pellets. They made her thirsty, but there was still water in the water bowl. There were no humans about yet. She wondered what would happen next, and had a long think about it.

      Only now that she felt safe did she realise how uncomfortable her old life was. It had been so hard to keep her fur clean. When it rained, she got wet and cold and sneezed for days. She looked upwards again at the sky. It probably didn't ever rain inside here, so that was good. And food was given to her by the humans. There would be no hunting again as long as this kept happening. She wouldn't miss her old life. She would hunt if she had to, but this didn't seem likely. And if her dream was to be relied on, she had a name all to herself. In the dream Mother had told her this was a promise that she would be looked after. Since it had been Mother who had formerly told her humans were not to be trusted, she was more inclined to believe this.

      So my name is Gamine, she thought, and this is where I live now. Very well then. Will I get bored sitting here all by myself? Not if the humans keep dropping by to say hello. Not for a while. The strangest thing of all was the thought that yes, here she was in a cage - the thing all animals fear more than anything - and she ought to be scared, but she wasn't. Why? Because it was an exceptionally large and comfortable cage, and if she really wanted to escape then she could run for the gap in the door as soon as it opened. She had seen humans running and they were slow compared with cats. She looked carefully at the door and thought about it. No problem there. If she felt the time had come to leave, she could lie in wait just next to the big white bowl thing and as soon as the gap became big enough for her, she could be out and away. Did she want to? Not for a long while yet, she decided. Food, sleep, comfort and human caresses were all she wanted out of life for now. Adventure? You could keep it.