The Killer Cat

Disclaimer All incidents in this story are true and so are the “characters” (including the human & surroundings) 

The hero - Nandu 

The heroine – Susuma 

The villain – Black cat 

The kittens - Paachu, Stripu, Kunjukuttan(kunju), Akasoto. 

The Grey cat and the dialogues are imaginary. 

 

The story is narrated by Kunju to Chindu (the pet dog) - original photo

The sun was on its way out, heralding the coming of the night. In the growing darkness, the half-domesticated and half-wild cat stood staring somewhere far away. Unusual growling noise assailed the greying skies. Nandu was a bulky cat with a yellow and white body, light green eyes, and an extremely cruel look.

At his paws lay the dead body of a soft yellow and white kitten, the exact tiny replica of the female cat that has been his mate for the past year and a half. He had no idea from where she came, but somewhere in the near past, she became a steady mate and inmate of his house. He had no idea how he was going to answer this death. Already he was termed wild and not allowed inside what he believed was his home. He will think of it later but for now, he could not afford to remove his eyes from the dark form.

Akasoto & Kunjukuttan (Kunju) as kittens – Images like real 2 kittens – Note: Image courtesy: Scotsman 

‘Don’t come anywhere closer, black cat.’ warned Nandu.

‘You cannot stop me, you tame house cat’ hissed the dark form with yellow eyes.

Image exactly like the real Black Cat. Note - Image Courtesy: New4Jax 

Between the exchanges, the young human lady came out hesitantly. She gave one look at the scene and deducted the obvious conclusion. Nandu had killed the beautiful kitten. Enraged, the lady brandished a stick and started to brutally strike Nandu.

‘Get out, you heartless beast..’ she screamed. ‘How can you kill your own son?’ she asked unreasonably.

The dark form blinked its yellow eyes hard in the shadows and slinked away grinning at the obvious outcome. Nandu was getting blamed.

Nandu ran away and hid out of sight of the young lady but kept vigilant eyes on his other kitten that had survived. ‘A gritty little one’, he thought. A copy of him, the little kitten could barely walk but had somehow hidden between the banana trees growling just as fiercely as him.

The lady went closer to his dead little son and touched him, confirming that the kitten was dead. Then she went inside and came out after a few minutes. All the while, Nandu stayed hidden in the shadows. His mate Susuma was not yet back from her hunt. He knew what will happen next. He was well aware of this young lady’s next moves. He watched her walk closer to the banana trees and hunched down. She started coaxing the other kitten to come out. Scared out of his life after witnessing the death of his dear brother, the little brown copy of him refused to entertain the human lady. Nandu heard the familiar begging tone that he had himself heard innumerable times in the days of his playful kitty days. Later when she was sure that the brown kitten was not going to come near her or allow her near him, she lightly used force and caught him gently behind his neck just the way Susuma would have carried him. As Nandu watched the human lady take his surviving kitten into his favorite house, he felt the presence of Grey Cat near him.

‘She is taking him into the house?’ Greycat asked.

‘Yes’ replied Nandu

‘What about you?’

‘She will ban me from entering the house anywhere in the future. In her eyes, I have committed the most unforgivable. Killing my own son. She will hate me till the end of time. Replied Nandu

‘but you did not kill your little one. This is your son. We only kill our stepsons, not our own sons’ insisted Greycat.

‘Yes. I know. Do you know? Even she knows it. All the more reason why she will keep trying to figure out why I killed my son said Nandu

‘You can talk to humans. I have seen you communicate with this particular female. Can’t you tell her you did not kill him?’ asked Greycat.

‘No. I know her. She looks tough to us but is really soft inside. She is not tough. She will cry her heart out over my son. I know the little one she has taken will be doubly safe now. But unless I prove to her that there is a killer out on the prowl, she will continue to believe what she saw. My own kitten dead at my feet’ explained Nandu. ‘Until such time, she will never believe me and until such time, I will be banned from home’

‘Tough luck Nandu’ Greycat sympathized. ‘Look, this is a new creature. Did you get a good look at him?’ he asked.

‘No. We better tell our friends else our kittens are all in trouble’ replied Nandu

‘What about your other two sons. I believe your human lady has named them also, exactly the way she named you?’

‘Yes. Stripu and Paachu’ replied Nandu with a grim smile. ‘They are growing and she is coddling them within the house. They need to move out and start marking their own territories else they will be easily killed. They will not get mates too. They will become useless” replied Nandu.

‘I am going to check and see if you are correct” said Greycat

“What?”

“You said she will cry her heart out for your son. I did like to see that – a human crying over an animal – something that I am yet to see Nandu”

Nandu with Paachu & Stripu (original photo) 

“As you have never been anyone’s pet, I will let that one go. I did advise you not to fall into her sight. As of now, all strange cats – me included – are suspects in her eyes. You will land yourself in huge trouble”

“Listen, friend, I am not you. I always stay clear of human sight. Most of them don’t even know that I am here. I only hunt birds and animals and forage for food left over by humans. I prowl only at night and sleep the day away and stay out of the eyesight of humans. But this once I might make an exception. This is a sight for sore eyes as far as I am concerned”

“Be careful then. I will hide until my mate comes back. Oh! By the way, her name is not a human female. I call her ‘chechi’. Well, I will stay clear of my chichi way until her rage subsides or I bring the criminal to book”

“Chechi? What is that supposed to mean?” asked Greycat

“No idea. But that’s what I am supposed to call her” replied Nandu

Greycat quietly crept over to the side of the house and looked up. He saw three windows with space to sit. Windows were open. He silently leaped onto the short wall next to the window and then jumped on the window. Through the open window sill, he watched the scene inside.

A lady sitting on a high perch. The human female – Chechi – he corrected himself – was sitting on the floor with the little brown kitten near her foot.

“Well, well, well. Here’s something that I won’t forget in a long long time to come” thought Greycat as he slinked down from his perch on the window.

“Well?” asked Nandu

“Ok, I never thought I will come around to admitting it but your understanding of your chechi is much more accurate than I gave you credit for. She is indeed sobbing over your dead kitten”

“Glad you realize the truth” replied Nandu sarcastically.

“Hey look, I did not mean it any worse. But have you ever seen anyone being nice to cats here?” asked Greycat. “That’s the reason I don’t mix with humans. Seems like I was wrong on many counts. Look, can I help you track your kitten’s killer?”

Nandu stared back at his friend. “Greycat, you are my friend so I understand why you want to help me. But what’s in this for you? In case we manage to corner the killer, I will definitely take him out and if you join, chances are you will be either hurt or killed - depending on the killer’s skill.”

“Oh nothing comes free of cost, my friend. I want you to talk to me about this human family that you have been living with. I want to understand them better” replied Greycat.

“Why now?” asked Nandu curiously. “You are beyond the age of anyone adopting you as a pet. So why do you want to know about the humans?”

“They say we cats have nine lives – I have no idea what is the count right now – but before I go and meet the Great Light, I want to correct any wrong thoughts that I have about humans – the superior race in our surroundings. So will you tell me about them?” he asked

“I can tell you about my life, this house, its surrounding. It can help us in the hunt and it is nice to know that I won’t be alone in this fight. It has been a while since I talked to anyone in our Kingdom. I am only glad if this helps you in any way”

“Shall we start?” asked Greycat.

“Nope. Just one more task. I will need to face my mate before I leave for the hunt. At least I want her to know that I did not kill our kitten.”

“Now is your chance. Here she comes. Looks like she already knows what the problem is” said Greycat as he looked over the female cat

A white and yellow combination, she was a slim sleek cat. Big eyes, she already looked like she has had 3 sets of litter. “Seems like she is a copy of the dead kitten,” thought Greycat

“Nandu !! Where are my sons !!! They are missing !!! Did you kill them?” asked Susuma

“I did not kill our son. Where were you?” Nandu asked angrily

“I went to hunt” replied Susuma

“And who asked you to go? I told you I will bring you something to eat. Leave that aside. Have you ever seen a black cat with yellow eyes around here in recent days?” he asked

“Yes. Once I saw such a cat watching me and the kittens” replied Susuma.

“Look below the banana tree. He has killed one son”

“Oh no !! my son !! but what happened to the little brown one ?” she looked anxiously.

“my chechi has taken him inside. Don’t worry. She has taken over the protection of the little one. She will help you. Just wait and watch. Go inside and take care. I will start hunting for the black cat. This is my friend Greycat. He is going to help me”

“Ok I am going to my son”

“Let’s go Greycat,” said Nandu. Both the yellow and grey cats disappeared into the night as the female cat entered the house.

Kunju with Stripu (original photo)