it’s not as bad as it sounds, promise.
the other night i was driving home from my parents’ place, and i noticed a cat (maybe young enough to still be considered a kitten) running across the road. it stopped in the middle of the street in the turning lane, it’s black coat and white chest visible in the side illumination of my headlights. i was relieved to see it stop and lick it’s left paw, as if it knew to stay in the face of oncoming traffic from the other lane. i didn’t trust it, though, as i had seen many a squirrel stupidly run back the other way directly under a tire.
so i kept an eye on my rearview mirror, and the next thing i saw was the cat try to scurry back across the road, right under a Ford F-series’ huge tires. i couldn’t tell which part of the cat was hit, but i knew it wasn’t happy. that bothered me. i was reminded of an ex’s story about how a kitten was hit on an off-ramp years ago, and she stopped to make sure it was okay. in her case, the kitten was just injured, and she picked it up and took it to a vet to try and save it.
i tried to keep driving and forget about what i had just witnessed, but my compassion and caretaker impulses wouldn’t allow it. i turned around, first driving by it and seeing it completely still on the road, then parking nearby to get a closer look.
i walked into the middle of the road in the dark night, wary of oncoming traffic. when i approached the deathly still animal, i looked into it’s blood red eyes and could tell it was beyond help. just to make sure, i nudged the deceased being with my foot, and i can honestly describe it as nothing more than like kicking a sealed plastic bag full of water.
so i’m supposed to be a Marine, right? praying for war and inviting death. but i can’t stomach the fact that a cat is laying dead in the road and i kicked it as it lay there.
later that night i had some pretty disturbing dreams; ones i would probably describe as a morbid mixture of my experiences that night ………
Jenn
I really wish I didn’t just read that.
I’m going to cry now.
insensitive
lol, stoopid cat. I got to kill a lot of cats on the farm. They were endangering human lives. So I had to kill them, I guess i did not have to take such enjoyment in it.
Cheryl
That says alot of who you are to go back and see if the kitten was still alive or needing help. I would have done that too. Awe……..just another one of life’s little tests. IF you wouldn’t have bothered to go back, you would be a cold hearted person who could turn your back on someone or something in need. At least you know you have feelings and like you put it, “caretaker impulses”. This is a terrible thing, but at least you went back and faced it straight on! You care and that’s what counts. Cheryl