Daikichi the Lost Cat (Short Story)

As I was walking, a cat meowed.

It had white fur with black and brown patches. One of its eyes was surrounded by black. It wore a red collar, and every time it moved, a bell jingled.

I tried meowing back. The cat curled its body into a ball, sat down, stared at me, then stood up gracefully and slowly approached me while its bell jingled.

Whose cat could this be?

I always play around my neighborhood, but I've never seen it before. I often see cats in this intricate town full of detached houses. The black one glares at me and runs away immediately. The brown one is always curled up like a dumpling on the roof.

But this cat was different. It rubbed against my legs and looked up at my face.
Its eyes were perfectly round, its face was round, its ears were perked up, and its fur was fluffy.
It kept meowing in a small voice, meow, meow, without moving.

I wonder if it's hungry.

Wait here.

I ran back home, grabbed a few dried sardines from the fridge, and returned to the road where I had been.

The cat was still there. When I rolled a sardine toward it, the cat ran over quickly, ate it with a crunching sound, and then looked at my face again while meowing.

It twitched its small ears and tried to approach me again as if to say something. As I stroked the cat's head, I said, "I'll bring more," and ran back home.

At the front door, my mother came home and gave me a stern look, saying, "You shouldn't feed it." When I went back, the cat was gone.

The sun sank behind the buildings, and the color of the sky gradually darkened.
My mood felt a bit down, so I opened the window and looked toward the road where the cat had been.

Sho-kun. It's okay. It's a pet cat.

My mother's voice was much gentler than before. As I came out of the bath and drank some coffee milk, I thought that while the outside is nice, home is best after all, and my heart felt lighter as I thought about the cat.

The next day, on my way home from school, I found a flyer on a utility pole.

--Looking for a lost cat. His name is Daikichi. White and black, wearing a collar with a bell. He will come to you if you call him Dai-chan. Please contact...--

Daikichi!

My head felt hot, and I started running.

What's wrong?

My friends chased after me from behind. My school bag hit my shoulders, and it became so hard to breathe that I stopped for a moment, then immediately started running again.

Dai-chan! Dai-chan!

I shouted until my throat hurt. My friends, having heard the situation, shouted too.

I immediately went home, grabbed some dried sardines, scattered them along the roadside, and called his name over and over. I walked around the neighborhood, but Daikichi was nowhere to be found.

By evening, Mom called the owner, and the older sister came over right away.

"I can't believe he came all the way out here."

The sister sat down where Daikichi had been and let out a sigh. Then, the two of us walked around the area. We checked the roof tiles, the outer walls, the trees, and the gutters. But there was no sign of him at all.

The next day, and the day after that, Daikichi still wasn't found. The sister grew more and more despondent.

How could a cat get lost? I asked my older sister about it.

"I usually keep him inside, but lately, he's been slipping out right away."
"Why?"
"Maybe he finds it more fun outside. But..."

As the sister walked away, her back was hunched, and her shoulders didn't move.

I searched on my way home from school again today. There was no sign of Daikichi.

When I got home, my room was quiet and dark. The cold air brushed against my skin, and I couldn't bring myself to turn on the lights. I couldn't get Daikichi, whom I had only seen once, out of my head.

Ding-dong.

A sudden chime. It was 6:00 PM. Mom and Dad weren't home yet. I checked the monitor to see who was at the door and saw the sister's face.

I ran to open the door, and the sister was holding something that looked like a box of sweets, with a happy look on her face.

"He came back!"
"Really!"
"I called your mom this morning, but this is a thank you."

The sister squeezed my hand tightly, said "thank you" over and over, handed me the box, and left looking very happy.

The room's lights were dazzling. I squeezed both my hands together tightly.

Mom and Dad were both late today. Time wouldn't pass, so I turned on the TV and waited for them while watching the clock.

I was told to go ahead and eat dinner, but I decided to wait instead. I really wanted to eat with them.

After 9:00 PM, the three of us were finally together, and we toasted. Mom and Dad had beer. I had juice.

"Maybe he was just out for a walk?"
Dad laughed.
"He came back because Sho-kun looked for him every day."
"That's right. Cats don't just go for walks for days on end."
"I guess his feelings reached the cat."

I am supposed to go see Daikichi on Sunday. I can't wait for it.

The next day, I somehow found myself going to that roadside.

"Huh?"

I found something.

Two large dried sardines, and one small one.

Did you disappear again?
Or was this for me?
Suddenly, I remember a cat picture book I read a long time ago.

I put the three dried sardines in my pocket for a moment, then immediately put them back.
I'll make sure not to tell anyone. Not even my big sister.

The End