Le Chat!

You know that feeling you get when you are just about to fall asleep but even with your eyes closed you can sense something moving around or see a shadow? Does that ever happen to you, or am I just crazy? Well… last night just as I was about to drift to sleep, I thought I could sense something above me, coming from my sun roof window. As I slowly opened my eyes in the reflection of the window, I could see a figure of something small, but couldn’t tell what it was. Startled, I quickly jolted up, turned around, looked up and found- a cat!

First Sighting

I was so excited about my new little friend, I kept saying, “hi cat! Hi cat do you want to come in? Come in cat? Come be my friend!” The cat continued to sit there and looking around and scooping things out. I then slowly turned around to turn on my light, I didn’t want to startle him and have him run away. Next thing I knew I was standing on my bed petting the cat with him purring. I loved this cat and I wanted him to be all mine.



Before I even moved to France, I had been debating whether or not I would get a dog or cat while I was here to keep me company. In the end I always decide it’s not really fair to the animal because I am often away, and would then need someone or something to keep the animal company. So I have left my final decision on, I would not seek out getting an animal but if one found me, it would be wrong not to care and love for it. And this cat found me, so technically speaking, I could keep him! In my mind I was re-planning my entire next day. I would wake up in the morning go to Carrefour buy a litter box, cat food and fun toys for my new friend. This cat and I would be friends for life.



However, I did have one new stipulation- this cat most likely did belong to someone else. Thus I could not grab the cat out of the window, he would need to jump off of the window and into my room for him to be for keeps. While watching him contemplate his decision to jump or not to jump, I did encourage him to do so many times.



As I was talking to my new cat, I realized he wasn’t responding like a typical cat. I remembered that my friend Israel told me that French cats don’t respond to the same sounds as American cats. I was hating myself for not remembering what proper sound I needed to make, to get this cat to come on in. I began speaking French to the cat, and that made progress in getting the cat to respond. He really liked the name, “Mon Amie” So my cats name is Mon Amie, meaning my friend. Mon Amie speaks French.



After an hour of trying to tempt the cat to come inside, I decided it was 3:00 am and I needed to turn off the lights and go to bed- if Mon Amie wanted to come in, he would jump. I knew he wasn’t afraid of heights because he obviously found his way to the top of my apartment building, a three feet drop to my bed, would be nothing to four floors he was going to have to find a way down from. As I laid back in bed, I kept watching Mon Amie continue to be curious. He began to meow missing my company and wanting to still play. I kept hoping that I would wake up to find Mon Amie curled up next to me.



As I continued to watch and hope for Mon Amie to come into my room I could see the reflection of the street down below. One of the last things I remember seeing before falling asleep was Mon Amie down on the street looking up and then scampering off into the night. He made is way down from the apartment building and was off to find greater adventures. I thought about where he would go, and what else he would find, and left my window open in case he decided to return. As I closed my eyes, I let out a series of sneezes and remembered after all of that… I am allergic.