There was a kitten that was always hanging around in the vegetable stall we buy food from. She was small and had this sense of pride that drew me to her. She would always rub herself on my feet, and she seemed to have no problem dealing with people. I am guessing that maybe the people around this area were kind enough to give her food from time to time and out of luck, she is spared from a kicking.

I am sometimes amazed at how stray cats manage to trust humans. There are too many cruel stories about animals being neglected and abused, so I am honestly delighted that this kitten was not scared of me. Because I was impressed by this little kitten, every time we go to the vegetable stall I would bring with me whatever food I can give.

When I have extra money, I would buy tuna as a special treat for her. I guess you can say she grew on me and my husband.

Our new cat.. Taken by Isobelle.

I asked around where the kitten came from and the store owner said that someone dumped a box of kittens in the abandoned lot close to the store and left them there. I am guessing more kittens were roaming around the area, but I did not see the others except the kitten’s sister.

One time, I saw the kitten’s sister hanging with her. The sister had a bad eye, with mucus dripping from it. I wanted to take care of it and bring it to the veterinarian, but as I am not rich I couldn’t do so right away (I was still waiting for my paycheck). I was still thinking of a way to help the kitten when just after a few days I did not see the sister anymore.

And so only one remained, the kitten that was always leaning on my feet. One day, at our usual vegetable store, we found her again. She was playing with a pebble, juggling it on her two cute paws. It is funny to see a kitten play with a simple stone. As I have never owned a cat before, I find myself observing and discovering funny antics cats do.

In any case, we said hello to her like usual, and not noticing that the person owning the store was staring at us, I continued my usual petting.

“Why don’t you guys just adopt the kitten. You know she hangs around here when we do a barbecue every night. She is a nice cat, would be a pity to see her get run over,” spoke the store owner to my husband and me.

We looked at each other and felt that it made sense. We have been feeding her constantly, and it is almost like she was our pet. So we decided to take her, but before we can we had to buy a special cat crate to transport her.

I went to the animal store and bought a special cat bag. Then, my husband and I came back to the veggie store and looked for her. To our horror, she was nowhere to be found!

We looked everywhere, including the empty lots she might be sleeping around. The people living around the area gladly helped us. We didn’t know that they all grew fond of the kitten and that they too liked to feed her. They were happy to know that we were going to adopt her.

So what turned out to be two people searching for a small kitten became five. Yet, we still couldn’t find her! I was getting worried that she got hurt or injured. On top of that, the rain started to pour and all of us had to take shelter.

My husband and I waited the whole day for her. Our clothes were damp, and we thought of canceling the adoption for another day, but something inside of us was already fully committed and ready for her. So, we kept on waiting.

At around 5:30 in the afternoon, she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A kind person saw her and upon hearing the news that a young couple wants to adopt her, the person quickly took her and gave her to us.

And so, the kitten that was the talk of the area finally united with us. We took her to the veterinarian, who was also waiting for her all this time. The veterinarian was nice enough to extend her working hours to treat our cat.

The stray cat was named Ripple because she has fur that has a pattern of a wave or a ripple and also because I believe this tiny ripple has caused a loving colossal effect on everyone around her.

To this day, Ripple shares a warm bed with us; she occasionally punches our Doberman dog for being annoying, haha! She loves exploring the trees on our natural farm and has a knack for catching birds. Thankfully, she is too occupied in sitting on top of me and has only caught one bird. [We stopped her from killing it and released the bird]

I never knew that being with a cat is satisfying. My husband had a lot of cats growing up and so he knew how to play with Ripple. On the other hand, being a newbie I had to learn how to interact with her. I made sure I binge-watch Jackson Galaxy’s “My Cat From Hell” show whenever we can download Youtube videos. I even made a staircase for her with my poor carpentry skills so that she has different access to higher ground.

I am constantly entertained by what my cat does. Like when she plays with shadows and runs around like crazy at night, trying to do soccer with a tiny cotton. Although I feel bad that I was not able to help Ripple’s sister. Yet, I think I am still grateful I can give a loving environment for Ripple. I hope Ripple lives a long life.

That’s the funny story of our cat and how she found a home in us.