Timboli

We walked under the stars on a full moonlit night. On a silent road with no one around, my friend and I walked. The sound of insects that filled the night, dogs barking in the distance and the blinking of hundreds of fireflies were our nighttime companions. Within my friends arms was a special bundle. Wrapped in a towel and making soft crying noises, the sick little kitten laid. We’re not sure how much longer the little guy would last but we wanted to take him with us on this walk. If he survived the night then he would have a chance at life. We walked in quiet peace with his little cries.

Looking up at the stars I said, “Let’s give him a constellation.” We stopped and I scanned the stars shining overhead. I found one star with four dim stars underneath. The stars underneath were two on each side angled away from the center. The bright star made the forehead of the little kitten, and the four underneath made up its whiskers. Find the Big Dipper, draw a line between the two stars of the cup that attach to the handle. Extend this line above the dipper about four and a half hand widths. Just below this line is the star that is the kittens forehead.

“We should name the constellation after the little kitten. What name should we give the kitten?” I asked my friend.

“No name,” she replied. “We’ll just call him kitty.”

We walked a few more paces in silence then she stopped and said, “No wait, he should have a name. We should call him…” she paused for a moment in thought then continued, “Tim. That’s his name, Little Tiny Tim. Nicknamed Timboli.”

Standing there we shined the flashlight into her arms and onto the kitten. “Welcome to the world little Tim. Do you see the constellation above? It’s yours, it’s called the Tim constellation.”

A few days ago her sister found Tim abandoned in a trash can. Alone, shivering, and frightened the little kitten cried out. She took him home to her parent’s house and tried to nurse him back to health. He made many attempts to get around and be a kitten. But he was frail and weakened, and got easily exhausted.

My friend and I arrived on a Thursday for a weekend visit. She found the kitten resting silently in a little cage. He was wrapped in a towel that was dirty and smelly from his diarrhea. She took him outside wrapped in a towel and sat on a chair under the trees. While petting him and talking to him he opened his eyes and began purring. He was so frail yet he tried hard to get around. Her father came out and began telling us how the kitten came to the house. We wondered how someone could be so cruel to abandon a little kitten in a trashcan.

They had given him medicine to remove the worms but it helped only a little. They tried to keep the kitten clean with baths but because of his diarrhea his fur was constantly messy. They tried to keep him hydrated by force feeding him a liquid meal but he couldn’t keep the meal down and would spit some of it back out. The night before my friend and I arrived, they left him outside cause his health was getting worse and they didn’t think he had much time left. But he lived through another night and was fighting for another day though his health was getting worse. The decision was made and my friends’ father said he was to be taken to the veterinarian tomorrow to be put to sleep. It was cruel to let him suffer any longer. It was sad to think that this little guy, who was fighting hard for his life, would only have a few more hours to live. She petted him and he purred.

Later that evening she gave him a bath. If this were to be his last day it was to be as a pretty kitten, one anyone would love. He cleaned up nicely and he seemed so happy to be cared for. The last few days he has come to experience much love and care, probably more than he has previously known. He purred and he tried to get around. He struggled hard to stay close to someone. But he became exhausted and we laid him on the couch to rest. Her father came downstairs after a discussion with her mother.

“How much do you think it would take for the vet to bring him back to health?” he asked.

“I don’t know, I guess it depends on what all is wrong with him. It could be something simple or it could be a lot. I’m just not sure,” she answered.

“Well, all we have to afford is twenty-five dollars. Anything more than that and he’ll have to be put to sleep.” There was a shimmer of hope that if he could survive another night and we could get him into the veterinarian in the morning, he just might get better. If not, well at least we tried.

He woke up crying later that evening and my friend made a meal for him. They fed him and he took it well. He swallowed every drop, but the effort was hard. We let him lay there, someone close by stroking his fur. His purrs no longer came and every breath seemed to be rushed. He was trying hard to live another day.

Around midnight, long after everyone else went to sleep, my friend and I decided to take a walk and bring the little kitten with us. Wrapped in a towel we walked out onto the dirt road.

On a full moonlit night, we walked under the stars with our precious little bundle. The sound of insects that filled the night, dogs barking in the distance and the blinking of hundreds of fireflies were our nighttime companions. Softly crying, the little kitten laid in my friend’s arms.

“Let’s give him a constellation,” I said as I looked up at the nighttime sky. We found a star overhead with four dim stars underneath. The star overhead formed the little kitten’s forehead. The stars underneath made up his whiskers.

“We should name the constellation after the little kitten. What name should we give the kitten?” I asked my friend.

“No name,” she replied. “We’ll just call him kitty.”

We walked a few more paces in silence then she stopped and said, “No wait, he should have a name. We should call him…” she paused for a moment in thought then continued, “Tim.”

She looked down at him and said softly, “That’s his name, Little Tiny Tim. Nicknamed Timboli.”

Standing there we shined the flashlight into her arms and onto the kitten. “Welcome to the world little Tim. Do you see the constellation above? It’s yours, it’s called the Tim constellation.”

He looked up and blinked a couple times. Then silently, ever so softly, his spirit floated away into the nighttime sky.

All images & contents copyright © G.A. Trammel 1992 - 2003