Hiranya's Pets

Some time ago, my best friend, Hiranya, moved into a new house. She was miserable about leaving her old friends behind. As soon as they finished unloading their furniture, Hiranya sat on the doorstep and began to think about her old friends. Suddenly, a flash of orange caught her eye. She looked around and saw an orange cat watching her intently from its place on the doorstep.

Hiranya loves animals, and she moved closer to the cat. The cat didn’t seem afraid. It stared at Hiranya through unblinking green eyes.

“Hello, Mr.Cat,” said Hiranya. “I’m Hiranya. Do you have a name? No? Then I’ll name you Garfield.”

She thought for a moment and said again,

“Yep. Garfield it is. Garfie for short.”

Hiranya studied the cat for a few moments. It seemed old and miserable. Hiranya wondered whether they had any milk. She ran into the house.

“Mother, look what I found,” she said, dragging Poornima Aunt out of the house. “Can I give it some milk?”

Poornima Aunt liked animals, too. So she shrugged and said:

“Okay. You’ll find some milk in the fridge. Looks like the previous owner of the house didn't want this cat and left it behind.”

“Poor kitty,” said Hiranya, running toward the house.

A few days passed. Hiranya treated Garfie well, but he still seemed miserable.

“If only he had a friend,” thought Hiranya.

While she was thinking about the poor kitty- well, CAT -an idea struck her. She bought a packet of Marie biscuits and left a trail of them along the lane that led to her house (Hiranya believes that Marie biscuits have a magical substance that helps to make animal friends.) Her plan worked. In the afternoon, Hiranya came out and found a beautiful female cat sitting on the doorstep. Hiranya took one look at her and named her ‘Tiky.’

“Mother, look!” Hiranya called.

Poornima Aunt came out and raised an eyebrow.

“I do like animals, Hiranya, but this is going too far.”

“Please, mother.”

“Oh, alright. But you must treat her well.”

A few weeks passed. The cats were treated well. Unfortunately, Garfie was old, and he became sick. He didn't eat anything and slept all the time. Hiranya was terrified. But before they could show him to a vet, Garfie died. Hiranya was extremely miserable. She insisted on burying Garfie in her garden. She planted a tree over the spot and called it ‘Garfie’s Grave.’

After a few days, Tiky fell ill with the same symptoms as Garfie. Hiranya called me at once. We both searched through a whole lot of books and found out that Tiky had ‘Feline Fever.’ I instructed her to show Tiky to a vet at once.

Tiky was sick for a few days, but, thanks to the vet’s medicine and Hiranya’s good caring, she recovered quickly. Of course, this quick recovery made us very happy.

And then there came the puppy.

One day Hiranya was studying in her room when she saw her grandmother chasing someone out of the house. Hiranya knew it wasn’t Tiky. So she went to take a look for herself. She was searching in the back garden when she saw a streak of fur. She turned around just in time to see an albino puppy. It was painfully thin and miserable. Hiranya gave it some Marie biscuits (Again!) and made friends with it.

I most certainly do not like dogs and I wasn’t pleased with this discovery. Neither was Poornima Aunt. Also, Tiky was terrified of this dog. She would be alert every time she went near the door, and she didn't dare go outside. I feel very sorry for Tiky.

Yesterday, I went to visit Hiranya. She showed me the dog. It was cowardly and ran away from us every time we got near. As I mentioned before, I didn't like this dog. I asked her what they were going to do about it. Poornima Aunt told me that they were going to give it to a shop which looked after them.

I wish my life was as exiting as Hiranya's. I won't be surprised if she got an elephant for a pet next.