Henry

Eleanor was still lying in bed when Chauncey came in and said, “I think we lost Henry.” Henry is a grey tabby with matching black stripes on his cheekbones and black rings on his tail. Everyone who sees him says he is a handsome cat. Chauncey explained that he was awoken in the night by a cat screeching. Believing Henry to be inside, Chauncey went back to sleep. When Henry didn’t come for breakfast in the morning, Chauncey looked outside and discovered the screen from the upstairs bathroom window lying on the ground. Henry had gotten out. Chauncey assumed the screeches had been Henry’s when caught by a coyote.

Is there a God?

Henry came to Eleanor and Chauncey by way of Lila’s first boyfriend, Charlie. Charlie’s uncle was threatening to take a recent litter of kittens to the pound. Lila’s pleas to rescue one of the kittens were persistent and loud.  Eleanor and Chauncey gave in to Lila even though they knew Henry would be left behind within a year when Lila went off to college.

Henry was instantly loved by all. He was feisty and clawed the furniture unless someone entertained him with play. When he was only 3 months old, he got blood poisoning from who knows where. Eleanor and Chauncey spent an agonizing weekend worrying and waiting for the vet to call with news of Henry’s fate. When they learned that Henry would survive, they were shocked by the relief they felt.

The birds won't mind if I take a little sip.

Soon after Lila left for college, Henry did not get up one morning for breakfast. Eleanor went to inspect him and discovered he had a gash on his hind leg. Four hours later, he was home resting, dosed with antibiotics and painkillers, the wound having been cleaned and bandaged by the vet. A run-in with a opossum was the vet’s best guess.

One afternoon when Eleanor was working in her garage studio, she heard a woman scream. A few minutes later, Lila came home sobbing that she had just seen Henry get hit by a car as she was driving up a nearby street. She said she stopped and looked for him but couldn’t find him. Henry showed up shortly thereafter with lacerations on both hind legs and looking pretty shaken up. Eleanor and Lila rushed him to the vet. The vet said he would be ok but that he had just used up one of his nine lives.

Hey, you can sit on the chair.

Eleanor was thinking about the possibility that Henry had really been taken from them when she heard Chauncey open the back door and say, “Oh, there you are, brother, returning home from the night shift and ready to sleep the day away. How about a little something to eat first?” Eleanor thanked the gods, once again, for keeping Henry safe.