I just blogged about a home near the park at which a few kitties live. But I had to post a story I'd written a few years ago about another black kitty at the park because I wanted to tell you an interesting tidbit about that picture. I'll post the story here, give the info about the illustration separately, ok?
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It was past time, but would the cat be there? I hurried to the vending stand. Yes! There was the black ball of fur curled up on the wooden counter.
"So sorry I'm late," I tried to start, but the cat looked away.
"You really don't want to see me," that gesture seemed to say. "It's those pretty flowers over there by the park entrance, right?" It started cleaning its paws. "Or maybe you wanted to take pictures of the shiny Kawasemi bird?" The cat was not interested in interaction if it did not mean that much to the human. It would only get hurt again.
After some time, it lowered its leg and looked at me as if to say,
"You said you'd go home and think of a name for me. Was that just something to say, or did you really get one?"
I think I was elated. "Yes. I did. Pearly."
"Pearly?"
"Pearls are precious and beautiful. I know you're going to say but they're white, and I'm black." But I continued, "but there are such things as black pearls, and they're much more rare--maybe one in a million--so they're much more valuable too."
And I looked straight at the cat. "I want you to be a one-in-a-million cat, not just any-old-cat. So I was wondering if the name "Pearly" would be OK? What do you think?"
The cat seemed to be taking her sweet old time thinking about it. I couldn't be sure, but after a while, it seemed the cat was liking the feel of the sound. From now on, whenever I see this all-black cat, it will respond to the call "Pearly".
It got up from that plywood stand and started going home. She seemed to be thinking, "Black Pearls?! What d'ya know. Learn something new every day."
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