A brown tabby and a white cat walked side by side by the beach, the salty water lapping on their feet. Putih heard splashes of water as small humans, with their pants rolled up to their knees, laughing endlessly as they ran in the deeper waves.
Durian looked miserable as he watched them play, the sun shining onto their body, and reflecting in their big and clear eyes. He stopped in his tracks, and stared at them for a long time, his tail still and expression longing.
Putih could not understand his sadness for his humans. Only sympathy and compassion for her friend made her help the brown tabby get his humans back.
With a large sploosh, one of the small humans fell down, water droplets spraying everywhere, the waves coming up to his chin. Putih shuddered, thinking about what it must feel like, trapped under the sea, gurgling and gasping for breath as salty water entered your mouth.
But the child did not flail. He rose up, bits of sand stuck on his legs and clothes, and sprayed a handful of water at the other kid. The other, covered his face to protect it from the blow, but droplets of water fell into his eyes.
With a bellow of pain, it wailed back onto the beach, sand sticking onto its paws. Larger humans, seeming as his parents, ran over to him with a gasp of worry. They brushed off the sand and dried the water on his face.
Soon, the child started coughing wildly, and Putih was mildly startled. She wondered if the water had made the child feel sick.
Putih held up one paw, and gently jabbed the water with it. The water was warm. The water around her island was always warm.
She glanced up again at the small child. Suddenly, the mother pulled out some kind of paper with straps attached to the ends of it. She murmured worriedly, pulling it over his face.
Putih winced as the child let out a screech of protest. The other human, the one who had splashed water on his face, had climbed up on the sand, approaching the angry child cautiously.
The white cat turned her back away, following Durian, slipping her paws into his pawprints. But the disturbing muffled wails of the child rang in her ears. Scowling, she flattened her ears, but still turning around once or twice to see the humans comfort the livid child.
Putih let out a hiss when she bumped into the brown tabby's back, her head pulsing with pain. Durian had stopped in his tracks. "Watch it!" Putih scowled, lashing her tail back and forth. "Sorry..." Durian whimpered, curling his tail over his paws and sitting down by the beach.
The waves lapped at the sand, and with it green leaves drifted through the wind, along with branches swaying in sturdy trees. The white cat gently closed her eyes. "This is where the boat is, huh?" She whispered.
She felt Durian flick his tail back and forth, sending tiny grains of sand flying. "Yeah..." His expression turned grim as the sun slowly set behind the ocean, as thought the deep waters were swallowing the hot flames of the sun.
"I instinctively just... ran to the dock after I fled from my house." He took a deep breath. "I actually was feeling... quite homesick since I had my new humans. They aren't bad, but... I missed the gentle waves, lying on the warm sand in the late afternoon, feeling the breeze ruffle my fur, the rattling of the horses' bells and the chatter of the birds in the morning..." Durian's whiskers fluttered in the wind as he mewed longingly, as if he was back in the middle of the tall buildings.
Putih could not help smiling inside. She had hoped that Durian would had changed his mind ever since he had left for Jakarta. Outside, she remained calm, still closing her eyes.
"And I just curled up in a corner of the boat, and I woke up here... I felt so relieved, and I felt so free again, but now, I'm not sure if I made the right choice... what if my humans miss me? But if I ride the boat again to Jakarta, I'll miss here again, and I-" The brown tabby took enormous gasps of breath.
As the very last piece of the sun plunged into the water and the sky turned a vivid blue, he continued: "I don't know what to do... what if I made the wrong choice, being a house cat? What if I'm not cut out for it at all?"
Putih slowly opened her green eyes, gazing at the countless stars stretched across the night sky. "I'll go with you," she whispered. Durian opened his eyes wide, his yellow eyes filled with surprise.
"Since you are so indecisive," The white cat mewed with a flick of her tail, a glint of playfulness shining in her eyes. "I'll go to the city with you, and help you make up with your humans... or find new ones." Durian's eyes filled up with hopefulness, and he smiled brightly.
Putih grinned back at him, though her plan was not to help him adjust to the city, but for him to see how awful it was, and make him go back to his home island. Feeling guilty inside but determined to make Durian realize how horrible the tall buildings and gray smoke is, she asked: "When do we leave?"
YOU ARE READING
Stray Cats
Adventure"Beyond those waters, there's freedom. Nothing can hold you back. So why stay here?" The only land Putih had known was the island. The only land Hitam had known was the city. Stepping out of the familiar grounds was heartbreaking, but they had done...
