Chapter Text
The sky was slowly turning pink. The predawn haze covered the roofs of nearby houses with an invisible veil. Jerry stood up and stretched lazily, yawning widely. Then he suddenly raised his ears and listened. Somewhere near him, there was a flapping of wings, and a flock of pigeons landed on the roof. Jerry licked his lips hungrily. It’s breakfast time.
After satisfying his hunger, he washed thoroughly and jumped off the roof. Jerry loved mornings. Especially in the early hours, when the city was just beginning to wake up. Especially if he had something to eat. A single life didn’t involve variety. But he didn’t complain. At least he was free.
An old Jew, to whom he was brought as a kitten, lived alone and gave all his love to Jerry. He let him sharpen his claws on old wooden furniture, gave him milk tea, bought him a rubber mouse that Jerry loved to play with, and most importantly, gave him a name. Jerry. That was the name of his son, who died at a young age, he said. Jerry liked to remember the old man before bedtime.
He didn’t remember his parents. As far as Jerry could tell, he had never had a father. The only memories of his mother were of short black fur with white spots, cold, and how she dragged him and the rest of the kittens into some kind of basement in her teeth. It was dark and scary, and they were all huddling together. Three boys, one of whom was Jerry, and one girl. Mom licked them one by one, and under the gentle touches of her rough tongue, Jerry quickly warmed up and fell asleep. He woke up already in the shelter. No mom, no twins.
Jerry shook his head, pushing away unpleasant memories, and looked around. The night was warm, but the morning turned out to be quite cool. The sun had finally risen, and the air was gradually starting to warm up. The house where he once spent his childhood stood abandoned, but a family of noisy Italians recently moved into another one. A man, a woman, and their only daughter, who loved to pull Jerry’s tail when she was little. Her parents forbade her to do this after he learned to hide from her.
An hour ago, they all got into the car and drove off somewhere. Jerry waited patiently for their return, gnawing on a blade of grass and lying on his back with his paws outstretched. There was nothing to do anyway. First there was the growl of an engine, then the trampling of feet and excited voices. One board was askew in the wooden fence. Jerry peered through the crack.
The girl was carrying a carrier in her hands, which clearly had something in it. Something alive. Something fluffy. Something ginger. Jerry took a closer look. Two round eyes peeked out from inside. A small door opened, and a large, handsome cat came out, treading carefully on the ground and looking around warily. Jerry gasped. He had never seen anything so fluffy in his life. Huge green eyes looked at him curiously.
Jerry blinked.
He was instantly in love.