**A Mothers Heart**
«Mum, whos Agnes? Is she our owner? Why does she feed us so poorly?» Tiny, curious eyes stared up at Sima, waiting for an answer. «No, sweetheart, shes not our owner. Just an old, ill woman. Doesnt know what shes doing…» «Mum, will the big cats eat me too, like they did with my sister?» whispered Ginger, trembling. Sima sighed deeply. «No, my love, they wont! I promise.» She began licking her precious, now only child, and slowly, he calmed and drifted into a soft sleep.
Sima was born in the basement of a London high-rise. There were four kittens in her litter. Her mother was youngit was her first brood. The moment a new tomcat appeared, she forgot her kittens entirely, chasing after him. Yet, Sima still remembered her with gratitude. Despite her flightiness, her mother had given them tendernessfed them, taught them to eat on their own. After she vanished, the kittens left the basement for the streets. At first, they stayed together in the estate courtyard, where kind souls sometimes fed them. Time passed… Grey Brother was hit by a car; Tigress was torn apart by dogs. Sima mourned them, her tears falling on their cold little bodies. She stayed till the caretaker shooed her away, watching as he scooped them onto his shovel and tossed them into the bin. Her sisters fate remained unknown.
Growing up, Sima learned the harsh rules of street lifekeeping quiet, staying unseen. Then came hell… Agnes. She found her rummaging through bins near the estate, stuffing treasures into her ragged bag. Agnes fixed her with a wild stare and crooned, «Puss-puss, come here!» No one had taught Sima to fear toothless old women, so she approached, hoping for food. Suddenly, Agnes snatched her up, tucked her under an arm, and shuffled toward the flats.
Inside, Agnes dropped Sima on the floor. «Youre Sima now.» Then she forgot her entirely. Dozens of hungry eyes turned toward her. «Puss-puss!» Agnes called from the kitchen, where she sorted her finds, and the catsstarved, diseased, their fur mattedscrambled toward her. Sima took in the horror: piles of filth, mountains of unwashed dishes, animal waste, swarms of flies and roaches. And catsso many cats. Some cowed, skeletal; others, Agness favourites, hale and vicious. Why she kept the rest, even she didnt know.
Simas nightmare beganliving in constant fear, scrounging for scraps, watching kittens born only to be drowned or eaten by starving toms. She found a hidden corner and clung to it. Then, a month in, terror struckshe was pregnant. A tom had courted her briefly on the streets, and now her kittens would be born into this hell.
She birthed them silentlya black girl, like her father, and a ginger boy, her mirror image. Beady and Ginger. She guarded them fiercely, but hunger drove the toms closer. The kittens, eyes now open, kept sneaking from their nook.
The memory still burned. Exhausted, Sima dozed for a momentthen woke to Beadys shrill cry, the crunch of tiny bones. Her baby had wandered out… Sima snarled, fur bristling, ready to leap at the toms throatuntil Gingers voice froze her: «Mum… did they eat Beady?» She turned to his wide, terrified eyes. If she died now, what would become of him? She scooped him close, whispering through tears, «Well escape. Ill save you.» And she waited.
«Police! Open up!» A sharp rap at the door sent Agnes scrambling. Sima didnt hesitateshe seized Ginger and bolted as the door swung open, darting past the officers and down the stairs.
Barry looked into her pain-clouded eyes, tears streaming. He understood. «Dont worry… Ill care for him.» Beside him, Gingeruncharacteristically quietlicked his mothers face. Sima was dying. Her heart, shattered by loss, gave out.
Rain fell the day she passed. Barry buried her in an oak grove, then stood with Ginger at her grave. He remembered finding themhis own grief fresh after losing his parents in a crash. Duty had dragged him to that foul flat, to the madwoman neighbours complained about. Thena flash of ginger fur, a kitten clutched in her teeth, her pleading eyes as she struggled with the door. Hed crouched beside her. «Ran away? I would too. Come home with me.» Hed opened his car door, and shed leapt in.
He called her «my beauty.» Ginger kept his name. Barry filled his house with toys, the finest food, desperate to erase their past. When she fell ill, he begged her to staybut her eyes, distant, seemed to whisper, *Let me go.*
Now, Sima raced across a rainbow, Beadys tiny paws pattering beside her. «Mum, what about Ginger? Hes all alone!» Sima smiled. «Hes not. Look…»
The rain stopped. A rainbow arched over the oaks. Barry lifted Ginger, meeting his honey-coloured, tear-filled eyes, and kissed his damp nose. «Well be alright, mate.» They walked to the cartwo wounded hearts, no longer alone. A strong, grieving man and a little ginger cat.
