Note
Last edited on Feb 12, 2025.
July 26th, Sunday.
It was a scorcher day. The sun hung directly overhead, casting its relentless heat upon the bustling streets. Cars and bicycles whizzed past, creating a symphony of motion in the midday rush.
He found himself near the ice cream shop, on a mission to buy a sweet treat for his sister. He walked towards the zebra crossing; waiting for the little light to glow. Glancing around, his eyes fell upon a sight that stirred something within him — a homeless kitten, meandering aimlessly amidst the throngs of people, seemingly invisible to all. It bore the scars of its struggles, a silent testament to the harsh realities it had endured. It was evident the kitten was hungry; he could sense its desperation. A surge of sympathy washed over him, prompting him to voice his disbelief aloud,
“How can anyone treat something so adorable as if it’s nothing?”
With a growing urgency to help, he felt compelled to feed it something, anything to alleviate its hunger. However, fate had other plans; the kitten, oblivious to the danger, was crossing the road despite the red signal warning of impending traffic. In the distance, the piercing wail of an approaching ambulance filled the air, its siren heralding its rapid approach. Without a moment’s hesitation, he rushed to rescue, abandoning everything he held in his hands. Darting towards the kitten, his sole focus on saving it from the oncoming danger, he pushed the kitten back just in time. A deafening screech tore through the air, followed by a sickening thud. The world seemed so slow in his eyes, the stripes on the road bleeding into a horrifying red. The windshield of the ambulance shattered. The paramedic hurried out of the ambulance, moving swiftly past the kitten and kicking it aside as if it were an inconsequential obstacle. As his eyes slowly closed, a single thought lingered,
“Why?”
In the rush, urgent calls filled the air,
“Quick, quick! Get him in the ambulance!“.
Meanwhile, among the onlookers, whispers of speculation abounded. Some hinted at suicide, others at madness. Yet, in the midst of the event, no one paused to consider an different possibility,
“What if he was trying to save something?”
Moments passed and he succumbed to unconsciousness, leaving his unanswered question hanging in the air.
She witnessed it all. The vase she had just bought slipped from her grasp, shattering into pieces on the ground; she didn’t care. She sprinted toward him, her cries of his name piercing the air.
“Open your eyes, open your eyes…”
she pleaded desperately.
“Miss, do you know this boy?”
the paramedic inquired, as if oblivious to the situation.
Rage consumed her as she responded,
“I saw everything! You were responsible… You did this!”
Grabbing his collar, she demanded answers.
“What have you done? What if anything happens to him?”
All eyes were on her. Someone interjected,
“Calm down, Miss! We’ll do everything we can to save him!”
She shoved the paramedic away as they loaded him into the broken down ambulance. Unable to meet her gaze, the paramedic silently acknowledged his wrongdoing. He had exceeded the speed limit without a patient on board, disregarding protocol. Saving one life at the expense of another made no sense.
She rented a taxi and rushed to the hospital when there was no room left in the ambulance. After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally wheeled into the operating unit. Hours stretched into agonizing anticipation until the report was finally placed into her trembling hands. Her parents stood beside her, their worry etched into every line of their faces. The report confirmed their worst fears: he was badly injured, having lost his ability to walk as both of his legs were severed. Yet, despite the severity of his condition, he remained unconscious.
Moments passed, and eventually, he slowly opened his eyes and murmured,
“The kitten…”
while raising his hands upwards.
Stirred from her slumber, she rubbed her eyes and exclaimed,
“Kai? Wait, Kai!”
She shouted for her parents,
“Mom! Dad! Kai is conscious, Kai is conscious!”
They hurried to his side. Her mother clasped his hands and asked urgently,
“Kai! Do you hear me?” “Mom, Dad, Sister…where is the kitten?”
he replied.
“Kitten?”
she queried.
He winced, exclaiming,
“Man! My leg hurts!”
She held him close, tears streaming down her cheeks,
“Don’t move! Don’t…you can’t walk anymore, you can’t…”
It was the first time he had seen her cry. Glancing at his sister, he asked,
“Nika, why is Mom saying that?”
Then, as he looked down at his lower half, realization dawned,
“Oh…I see”
maintaining his composure. His sister embraced him tightly, sobbing,
“Why do you have to be so reckless? What if I wasn’t there? Why…”
He hugged her back tightly and explained,
“I was trying to save a kitten.”
She paused, taken aback.
“A kitten?”
she repeated.
“So, were you able to save it?”
she asked with her red eyes and a fainting smile. He nodded with a smile,
“Yes!. It was a homeless kitten; hungry and abandoned. Everyone ignored it as if it had no existence. But life is precious, and everyone should understand that,”
he continued, his voice tinged with empathy.
“It reminded me of the time when my parents passed away; long before I was adopted into this family. I had nowhere to go. Our house was demolished for a construction project, and I couldn’t defend it. “You are just a kid. Don’t interfere in our work,” they said. They took everything away from me, even the last memento of my parents. I ran away and spent scorching days and chilly nights laying beside the road; nobody cared. Sometimes they kicked me, saying I was in the way. Been through all, I felt its pain. I knew how it feels to be treated so poorly. But my life changed when you all accepted me with whole hearts,”
he continued with his voice filled with gratitude.
“I wanted the kitten to find someone who could love it. But today, if I didn’t do what I did, it may have never seen the good things life has to offer.”
Silence enveloped them as his words sank in. His father broke the silence, patting his son’s shoulder and saying,
“You did the right thing, son. I am proud of you. Sometimes, we feel that we have no purpose in life. But this is not the truth; everyone has a purpose. We go through many difficult situations. Sometimes they break us so badly, we think we can’t recover. But then we find hope. How we find it may vary, but a little fragment of hope can change our lives forever. Today, you saved a life, which may look like nothing more than a homeless kitten to others, but you didn’t abandon it. So, what do you think? Should we add a new member to the family?”
He erupted in happiness. Covered in tears of joy he replied,
“Really?? Lets go!!“. “I don’t understand you at all. When did you become so mature?”
asked his sister, her voice trembling with emotion, yet slowly steadying as she fought back tears, a faint smile appearing on her face.
“What do you mean by that? Do you think I am still a small kid?”
said he, pouting slightly.
“That’s what you have always been!”
said his sister with a smile on her face. They all hugged each other warmly, a sense of unity and love filling the room.
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Footnotes
- LLM Contribution: Grammatical corrections (Grammerly). Why BRAINMADE.ORG?.