Scurrying under a parked car, I watched the car door swing open. It had skidded to a stop, narrowly missing me. Assuming the woman's voice I heard was attached to the boots walking towards me, I raced into a nearby wooded area. Starving and thirsty, I had been licking stones. After being tossed out of a car in the parking lot months earlier, I was wary of people, particularly the parking attendant who always watched me.

It had been a long, hot, dry summer. I knew I wasn't going to live much longer, but the instinct to survive stays with us until the end. Hearing the snapping of dry twigs nearby, I ventured deeper into the shrubbery, confident she wouldn't continue in her pursuit. Extremely weak, I rested safely within a clump of tall grass. Unexpectedly, I caught a whiff of tuna in the breeze. Being a young cat, desperate for nourishment, I fervently hunted for the source. Discovering fish inside a long metal mesh box, I tried to reach inside. Frustrated, I circled the contraption three times, hesitating each time to study an opening. Frantic for food, I moved steadily inwards, devouring bits of fish along the way.

The next day, I was gently placed into another box and taken home by the lady with the boots. She was quite nice, petting and cooing to me along the way. Ravenous, as I apparently didn't have an ounce of fat on my body, I sampled the impressive choice of food supplied. I finally relaxed, stretching my aching body. The day after I woke up nauseated with severe internal pain. I vomited canary yellow fluid and had diarrhea. I didn't care about my newfound food and shelter. Hanging my head over my water bowl, I simply wanted to die. Soon, I was back in the car with the other woman that trapped me. She called me Ivory and told me that I couldn't die because I was special and rare, like ivory. I'm pure white except for the large cut on my nose where someone hit me. I liked this woman's soothing voice. It helped a bit.

I don't remember much of recovering from distemper at the animal hospital. At one point I was force-fed. Constant love and attention pulled me through. Soon I wanted to eat. The lady with the boots took me home. I was put into a cage for three months. She was very kind, picking me up, petting and talking to me, but I couldn't leave the cage as I could shed the disease for up to one year. Lonely, I became depressed. Finally, another lovely lady came to visit and gave me my forever home. Spoiled and much loved, I lounge about, steal my lady's eyeglasses, and am the centre of attention. I now know that I am special and rare, like ivory.