Wolf

I was at a party once when I heard someone scream out loud. I was intrigued and scared at the same time. I went into the room to find a few kids watching a horror show on the television.

As a kid I was scared of ghosts. I was scared of darkness and being all alone. I would always imagine things like I was not alone. Someone was lurking somewhere in the shadows. Once I grew up to the age of about 13-14, it was hard to admit that I was scared.

I sat down and started watching the show with others. There was a man who turned into a werewolf when he saw blood. It looked so real to my 13 year old brain that I got scared. Somewhere in my brain, it had left a deep imprint which was not to go away easily.

I wasn't able to sleep for weeks. All I could do was think of the werewolf. Being a kid, I was surrounded by colors; red in particular was not scanty and that was not helping. I couldn't shut my eyes at night to look for something which might come upon me. I would lie there in bed and listen hard, trying to listen to the footsteps. Often I heard things but I didn't know what they were.

One day I came back from school and mom was just leaving for the market. Dad had not come back from his office yet. I was to be all alone in the whole house. I could feel my heart pounding; even listen to it. My pupils were completely dilated and peripheral vision started playing tricks. A simple shadow of a vase would scare the wits out of me.

I heard this eerie noise coming from my bedroom. I could feel my hair stand as the noise grew louder. I didn't know what it was, but it was not good. I felt the need to see for myself where the noise was coming from. I was scared beyond comprehension and sweating, but I made my way to my bedroom. It seemed like the noise was coming from the dressing table. My heart was pounding harder now as if it were trying to make it's way out. I went and stood in front of the mirror and there he was, standing in front of me; the wolf.

Felix

This happened to me a few years ago. I was still in grade school back then.

I came back from school one day and I could hear noises in my backyard. It was as if a small baby was crying. I went to the backyard to find an injured cat. In the distance I could see a bigger cat running for the bushes. I knew what had happened. The injured cat was in bad shape. I went inside and brought a first aid kit. As soon as I finished bandaging the cat, she stepped away from me. I was surprised that she was scared of me.

The next day mom was making kheer. The cat was already at the backyard door when I came from school. I went out and gave her some milk to drink. She was delighted and finished it in the blink of an eye. I decided that I was going to call her Felix.

After that her visits to the house became more and more frequent. I started spending more and more time with her. She would sit at the door waiting for me everyday and I would come back from school and feed her. It became our little ritual. I had never had a cat before in my life, so I didn't know how to play with her. I just sat down beside her and tried to understand what she said to me.

The day I saw her "other side" was the day mom cooked fish. Felix was completely out of control. She was clawing at the door with all her strength. Mom gave me some of the fish to give to her. I remember she had almost eaten my hand in which I held the fish to give to her.

She was a shy cat. I remember once while mewing outside the backyard door, she had stepped on my foot unknowingly. She withdrew immediately after realizing. Once I gave her a dead honeybee to play with. It was fun to see her go mad at it.

A few weeks passed, Felix and I were closer than ever. Then one day I came back from school and she was not there at the door. I asked my mom about it and she said that she hadn't seen Felix either. I ran into the backyard calling her but she was nowhere to be seen. I was dejected.

A couple days later I heard the neighbor talking about a few cats trampled by a truck.