A Family of Three.
We are a family of three. Or perhaps a family of three creatures.
Life with a husband, a wife, and one cat is our daily routine.
The cat in our care, a beautiful traditional tabby, is named Chibita.
It has been almost ten years since Chibita joined our party. We have spent countless ordinary moments together, and he lives with us every day as an irreplaceable member of our family.
Human time is busy. I think I live at my own pace, but even so, various things happen every day.
Beside that human time, his existence—living a simple and stable life of "sleeping, eating, using the litter box, patrolling, and playing"—often saves my heart.
For example, at times like this. In the middle of the night.
I am not good with the middle of the night. Although I used to be able to sleep soundly until morning when I was young, at some point, I started waking up once in the middle of the night.
There are days when I wake up and fall back asleep without incident, and there are days when I am struck by an inexplicable anxiety, feeling a fluttering or tightening in my chest. I feel as if I am being sucked into the dark, silent, empty feeling of the middle of the night.
My husband tells me, "Wake me up when that happens." I am grateful for that, but once, when I told him I couldn't sleep and woke him up, he put me in the car and took me on a drive to Tsunoshima. I can't stand being taken eighty kilometers away from home in the middle of the night just because I can't sleep. It was fun, though.
Ah, I've woken up again today. When I'm anxious, my chest feels tight the moment I wake up.
While I'm like that, I hear the sound of a bell ringing somewhere in the house. Then, the sound of cute little footsteps approaches, and he says "Meow" to me. It feels like he's saying, "Are you awake? Hey, are you awake? I'm bored."
In that moment, I get the feeling of being pulled back from the dark, silent underworld into the daily life where my family is. From a cold place to a place where I can feel warmth.
Still, it is truly a mystery how he knows so quickly that I have woken up. Even though he isn't sleeping nearby. There are days when I don't even fidget, and days when I wake up and stay frozen, unable to move.
Even so, our Chibita notices. He trots over, climbs onto me as if it's the most natural thing in the world, and says, "Here I go." I feel the weight of happiness. He brings me back to a place where I feel safe.
I say, "Come here," and invite him into the futon. While petting his fluffy self, I fall asleep again.
The existence of a husband, a wife, and one more. How significant it is to me that he is here, and that he is living his life at his own pace, being himself.
We will continue to be a family of three forever.
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