It wasnt long after I opened my eyes that Master took me home. One minute， I was snuggled up with my brothers and sisters， and the next I was roughly pulled from our enclosure and held up in the air.

It took a while to accept my Master. This strange place was unfamiliar， with giant monuments of wood and leather， and a giant toilet that I quickly learned was not meant for my kind. The Master and her family walked across their giant toilet， played games on it， even napped on it. I had a small box of my own， and every day my deposits mysteriously disappeared， no matter how deep I buried them.

The Master and her family had strange voices， too. I only learned a few words of their tongue；“Whiskers” （which was me）， “no，” “cat，” “come here，” and a handful of other phrases that I knew to be crucial for my interaction with them.

Every morning， I engaged in a helpful ritual to wake up Master. She never got up when the horrible box on her nightstand started screeching， so to try to get her to turn the damn thing off， Id slip into her bedroom and nuzzle her face. Sometimes， this would annoy her， but most times she would pull me in for a snuggle and rub my ears.

Masters husband loved me， too. He loved to help me hunt the elusive red dot and would even crawl on the floor with me when the menace would be on the carpet， the wall， or even my paws.

The third one， the only name I knew other than my own， was Kara. Kara was the Master and her husbands only kitten. While I respected and adored my Master， Kara was my favorite.

I was certain Kara knew me on a different level. I would test my theory. For instance， I would present myself while she was engaged in various tasks， and see how she reacted. She was never cruel， and often recognized that I was in dire need of some treats， attention， or love. The only time she displayed anger at me was when I had killed the white snake. I thought I had done her a favor， but apparently， that was wrong. The terrible sounds that came from her mouth， I never understood， but I did know to never do anything of the sort again.

As Kara grew taller and more magnificent， she seemed to be boundless with energy. Her time from home grew longer， too.

As I grew older， I marveled at Karas ability to be so spry. She and her kind were so flawless and never aged. With me， I felt like Id never be a kitten again. The first time I neglected to deposit my waste in the box， I was yelled at severely. But I couldnt help it. I just couldnt move fast enough.

Then， one day， Kara left. I waited patiently that night， but never saw her return.

Days went by. Perhaps months. I dont even know. I napped often in Karas room， hoping when I would wake up， she would be there…

One day， Master came to me as I laid on Karas bed. In Masters hand was the small box that everyone seemed to have permanently in their grip. She spoke into the box：“Kara！” My ears perked up. Master held the box to me.

“Whiskers！”

“Kara！” I gasped. I could hear her voice， but I didnt see her. Where was she？ I was so excited that I didnt realize I released my bladder until Master clucked her tongue unhappily and picked me up to clean me off.

The next morning， something was different. Master didnt make me my normal breakfast. I hadnt been eating much anyway. But she did bring me a piece of delicious fish from her own plate， and it was very good. I wanted to get onto my viewing post， but my joints hurt so bad. Master must have sensed this， and she picked me up to place me on the highest spot.

I napped there for a few hours， then woke up and found that we were in the White Mans place. Master was bringing me here more as I got older. How strange it was that none of them ever changed； nothing around me ever did， and only I had become different.

Master carried me to the back， and laid me down on the table.

“Whats wrong？” I asked， reaching a paw out to her.

Water leaked from her eyes and she reached out， taking my paw between her fingers. “Good cat， Whiskers，” I heard her say.

The White Man came in， with a pointy thing in his hands. He scratched my ears and my chin. Ahh， my favorite spots. He knew. They all knew. They all know so much about me. I only wish I had more time to learn more about them.

The White Man brought the point to my arm. Usually， it would hurt， but not today. As he squeezed the pointy thing， I suddenly felt very warm and—

“Where is he？”

Kara？

“Where is Whiskers？ Am I too late？ The traffic from the university was horrible and I didnt think Id make it in time and please， oh god， I hope I made it in time—”

It was Kara. Kara was here！

The door of the room burst open， and Kara stood there with a red face that matched her hair. “Is he gone？” she blurted out.

The White Man shook his head. “I just gave him a calming sedative.”

“Kara…” I whispered weakly.

“Oh， Whiskers，” she cried. She ran over to me and placed her head on my side.

I lifted my head. It was so hard， I was so weak. All I could muster was a soft meow， and laid my paw on her hand. For some reason， this made her cry even more. I dont know why she was so sad. I lived a happy life. My only regret is that I would not live as long as her.

I felt another gentle poking on my arm. My vision started getting fuzzy， but I wasnt scared. I had Kara there with me.

My eyelids were so heavy， but I struggled to watch her. Soon， it was hard to keep them open at all.

“I love you， Whiskers，” Kara said.

“I love you， too，” I whispered back， and I closed my eyes.

我睜開眼睛后不久主人就把我?guī)Щ亓思?。前一刻，我還和我的兄弟姐妹彼此依偎著，下一刻，就有人隨手把我從我們的圍欄里拉了出來，舉在空中。

我花了一段時間才接受我的主人。這個地方很新奇，周圍聳立著用木頭和皮革造成的巨大碑牌，還有一個巨大的廁所，我很快就認識到這不是為我們貓而設的。主人和她的家人會走到他們的大廁所里，他們會坐在上面玩游戲，甚至打瞌睡。我有一個專屬的小盒子，每天我的排泄物都會神奇地消失掉，無論我把它們埋得有多深。

主人和她家人的聲音也很奇怪。我只能聽懂他們說的一些詞語?！懊保ㄟ@是我），“不行”，“貓”，“到這兒來”，還有一些對我們之間的交流至關重要的詞語。

每天早上，我都會照例幫忙叫醒主人。就算她床頭幾上那個恐怖的盒子開始尖叫，她也從不會馬上起床，所以為了讓她把那個該死的東西關掉，我會溜進她的臥室，用鼻子輕輕撫弄她的臉。有時候，這個舉動會惹毛她，但她多半會把我抱入懷中，輕揉我的耳朵。

主人的丈夫也很愛我。他很樂于幫我捕捉那個神出鬼沒的紅點，當這個討厭的紅點在出現(xiàn)在地毯上、墻上、乃至于我的爪子上的時候，他甚至還會和我一起匍匐在地上。

這個家里的第三個人是卡拉，卡拉是我除了自己的名字外唯一知道的名字?？ɡ侵魅撕退煞蛭ㄒ坏摹坝揍獭?。雖然我很敬愛我的主人，但是卡拉才是我的最愛。

我肯定卡拉非常了解我。我會驗證自己的想法。比如說，我會在她分身乏術的時候在她面前晃來晃去，然后看看她會有什么反應。她從來不會因此對我大發(fā)脾氣，還明白那刻我非常需要她的陪伴、關注以及愛。她唯一一次對我生氣是在我弄死那條白蛇的時候。我認為我是在幫她，但顯然，我錯了。我聽不懂那些從她嘴里冒出來的可怕聲音，但我知道我以后再也不會做這種事情。

卡拉變得越來越高挑，越來越漂亮，她似乎擁有無窮無盡的精力。她不在家的時間也越來越長。

我變得越來越老，我對卡拉總能這么精力充沛感到驚嘆不已。她和她的同類總是那么完美無瑕，從不會變老。而我，我覺得自己已經(jīng)不再年輕了。當我第一次不小心把我的排泄物排在盒子外時，我受到了嚴厲的斥責。但我身不由己。我真的走不快了。

然后，有一天，卡拉出門了。那天晚上我很耐心地等她回來，但我等不回她。

日子一天天地過去。也許有幾個月了。我甚至都不知道有多久了。我經(jīng)常在卡拉的房間小睡，希望一醒來就能看到她在那里……

有一天，當我躺在卡拉床上的時候，主人過來找我。主人手上拿著一個小盒子，似乎所有人的手上每時每刻都拿著這么個小東西。她對那個小盒子說話：“卡拉！”我的耳朵豎了起來。主人把盒子放到我旁邊。

“毛毛！”

“卡拉！”我倒抽一口氣。我可以聽到她的聲音，但看不到她的人。她在哪里呢？我非常興奮，都沒注意到我放松了膀胱，直到主人不高興地發(fā)出嘖嘖聲我才知道，然后她把我抱起來，幫我清理干凈身體。

第二天早上，有些事情變了。主人沒有給我弄平常的早餐，但我也不怎么吃東西了。不過她從盤子里拿了一條好吃的魚給我，很不錯。我想要爬到我的觀望桿上去，但是我的關節(jié)痛得厲害。主人一定是覺察到了這點，所以她把我抱到了最高的地方。

我在那里睡了幾個小時，醒來發(fā)現(xiàn)我們到了“白大褂”那兒。我年紀越大，主人帶我來這里的次數(shù)就越多。多奇怪啊，他們的樣子從來沒有改變，我周圍的一切都沒有變，只有我變了。

主人把我?guī)У搅撕竺嫒ィ盐曳旁谧雷由稀?/p>

“怎么了？”我問道，把爪子伸向她。

水從她的眼里流出，她用手握住了我的爪子?！昂煤⒆樱?，”我聽她如此說道。

“白大褂”進來了，手上拿著一根尖尖的東西。他撓了撓我的耳朵和下巴。哈，這是我最喜歡讓人碰的地方。他知道，他們都知道。他們都那么地了解我。我只希望我能有更多時間去多了解他們。

“白大褂”把那根尖尖的東西扎到了我的手臂上。一般而言，這會弄痛我，但今天沒有。當他推著那根尖尖的東西的時候，我突然覺得全身很溫暖，以及——

“它在哪兒？”

卡拉？

“毛毛在哪兒？我太遲了嗎？從大學到這兒的交通狀況太糟糕了，我覺得我趕不上，拜托，噢，天，我希望我能趕上——”

這是卡拉?？ɡ谶@兒！

房門突然打開了，卡拉站在了那兒，她雙頰通紅，與她的發(fā)色很相稱?！八吡藛?？”她沖口而出。

“白大褂”搖搖頭?！拔抑皇墙o它打了一支鎮(zhèn)靜劑?！?/p>

“卡拉……”我虛弱地說道。

“噢，毛毛，”她大叫道。她向我走了過來，把頭靠在我的身邊。

我抬起頭。這很困難，我太虛弱了。用盡全身力氣只能發(fā)出一聲輕輕的喵喵聲和把我的爪子放在她的手上。不知為何，這讓她哭得更厲害了。我不明白為什么她那么傷心。我的一生都過得很快樂。我唯一的遺憾就是不能活得和她一樣久。

我感覺我的手臂又被輕輕地戳了一下。我的視線開始模糊，但我一點也不害怕，因為卡拉在我身邊。

我感到眼皮很重，但我還是努力盯著卡拉看。但是，我的眼睛快要睜不開了。

“我愛你，毛毛?！笨ɡf。

“我也愛你。”我低聲回答道，然后閉上了我的雙眼。