attack of the hope

    Gigi came to my house when he was one month old.  He was really tiny and timid, and he had been having days alone at the corner of my room with dust by the time I gave him kitty’s milk the first time.  He was born in my girlfriend’s house on March 31 when we started entering the lockdown due to COVID-19.  Therefore, his birth became our hope and pleasure in the difficult time. However, our hope was destroyed by “the hope” after “the hope” entered my house. 

    At first, he didn’t stop meowing because he might have been nervous and anxious in the new environment, and he showed me his small fangs.  He was the first cat for me, so I didn’t have any ideas about what I should have done.   That gave me stress, and the stress had piled up on another stress of the lockdown.  I didn’t realize that we needed to build a good relationship, so my girlfriend gave me a few toys, milk and baby food for the kitty for that.  I could build a great relationship with an animal for the first time.  However, he might not have bullied me enough, and he started treating me as his toy. He scratched my arms and legs with his sharp nails, so I got so many scratches that I could feel coldness from the red skin between the scratches with a wave of goose bumps.  That made me feel miserable. 

    I thought that I couldn’t become a good owner, but one event gave me hope again.  After I bought the litter box, Gigi started using the box by himself.  I was really surprised, and then I got the confidence to raise him.  Of course, the reality wasn’t so sweet to me. He littered in the box, but he is a cat, so he doesn’t use toilet paper. After doing the toilet, he started walking around my room with poop hanging on his hip, and he was dropping pieces of the stinky poop everywhere.  That would have been funny if it hadn’t been in my room.  Also, he peed on his feet, so the litter sand became solid and hardened on his feet sometimes. He came to my face with those feet that smelled terrible and made me feel like I was standing on a garbage mountain. Yuck.

    My life was changed by my little monster.  Every five hours, I made warm milk from powder and paid attention to his whereabouts like a human’s dad.  However, the mischievous Gigi hides very well.  Usually, parents shouldn’t lose their kid, but all his fur is black and my room is dark except for the walls.  Hence, I need to call his name and look for his sparkling huge eyes in the black body.  Thus, I have been worn out from that.  

    Until now, I have been telling the stories like I’m despairing.  However, I also have good stories with him.  They might depend on people’s reaction.  His name is Gigi, which isn’t from Gigi Hadid because he’s a boy, I think so at least.  His name is from one of the Ghibli movies. That movie’s name is “Kiki’s Delivery”.  That movie has the story about one witch girl succeeding in a new town alone, and she has a black cat whose name is Gigi. I think that his real name is Gianluig, which is an Italian name.  By the way, Gigi is so cute when he is staring at my eyes without any moving.  When his mysterious eyes chase me in the black, my heart is grabbed by his cuteness and bit of fear.  

    In addition, I don’t want you to inform the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals because I have kicked his face unintentionally.  Of course, it is my fault, but he has made circles around my legs by running. That is like a motor gang circling a cute girl or a bullied child.  I can’t keep standing in one spot, so if I start moving, he keeps making circles around my moving feet.  Therefore, my feet kick his face.  However, he probably deserved that. He has held my head with his front leg and kicked my face with his back legs while I’m sleeping.  As his owner, I’m glad to shorten our distance in any way.  At the moment, I always want to kiss his forehead, but he refuses to let me kiss him, and his kicking is getting hard like a squall.  This is the best story between us. 

    In addition to our stories, he has many good stories with dogs and women.  He may pretend to be a sweet guy to only dogs and women, most of whom are under 30 because he behaves in the same way to old ladies as I do. Sometimes, I’ve gotten jealous of dogs and women because of his sweet meowing.  

    My life has been fulfilled as his owner. In the night, I always carry my fatigued body with some scratches to my bed, and the cool bed sheet heals my body. When I fall asleep, I always feel his cold paws on my cheek. Finally, those paws have become a hot annoying existence for me all night.

    Since Gigi started residing in my room, I’ve almost forgotten what is happening outside of my room.

soya hasegawa // japan

Soya was born on March 17, 1995 in Niigata, Japan, the only one child of his parents.  He is  learning English at Aston International Academy, and he is trying to improve his English.  He is a very curious man, so he might ask some weird questions if you talk with him.