The Cat Who Searched for Her Friends

A cat with a fluffy tail was looking for friends, but they were nowhere to be found. She searched for them for a long, long time, and then she began to cry and call out loudly:

– Where are you, my friends, where are you?! I feel so bad without you. I have no one to meow with, no one strokes me or brushes my fur. A little longer, and I will die of loneliness. Have mercy on me, find me!

Pencil sketch of a cat from a parable about self-acceptance by Nelly Verkhovska, PhD.

The cat called out long and loud, but no one heard her. Then she decided to go into the forest and look for friends there. With hope, she set off into the thicket. But there she met only wolves, jackals, and snakes. They all wanted to bite the Cat and tear out a piece of her fur. And they all succeeded.

Then she decided: "Let a beast eat me; I am of no use to anyone anyway." She came to a river. She sat there, looking around, still searching for someone – an enemy might forget her, but a friend might remember.

But all around was empty. Or perhaps she had cried so much that her eyes began to ache, and she could no longer see anything but her own loneliness?

The cat sat on the bank and thought: "I’ve walked so much, climbed so many trees – I’m covered in dust. I need to wash." She leaned over the water and immediately recoiled. In the river sat a dirty, sick, tired, and weeping old woman.

The Cat was frightened. Such suffering and grief were written on the old woman's face that seeing her was terrifying – what if her grief was contagious? The cat walked along the bank for a bit; she felt sorry for the sufferer. She was sitting in the water; she must be cold. "I must help her with something," the cat decided and leaned over the water again.

– Can I help you? Silence in response… "Strange," thought the Cat, "what is wrong with her?". She looked closer and suddenly gasped: "But that’s me!!!" And indeed, it was her. She had wandered through such thickets, fallen into such deep swamps, passed by such thorny trees, and met such evil monsters that almost no fur was left on her. And the fur that survived became dirty and ugly.

Her fluffy tail had turned thin and weak, her paws became trembling and worn out. And her face was full of suffering.

And she looked old – everyone who does not warm themselves by the gentle fire of love grows old.

The Cat looked at herself and said: – I have forgotten how to meow, I have become ugly and very tired. People avoid me. I will not find friends. The only one who doesn't wait for me for gifts and doesn't want my fur is my reflection in the river. It wants to see only me, belongs only to me, and loves me. I will go to it, for it is my only friend.

The cat was always afraid of water and cold; the darkness frightened her. But there, in the cold, wet darkness, was her reflection, and she decided to do what she had long dreamed of – to embrace the friend she had found.

With her last words, the Cat threw herself into the water. She thought: "Better to die embracing than to live alone."

When she was underwater, she saw how much fish was there: "I can eat it!" And the Cat began to hunt for fish and caught many, and at the same time, she learned to swim. She jumped onto the bank, looked at her reflection, and meowed with pleasure. Diving into the river, she became clean. Chasing the fish, she remembered how wonderful it is to jump and fly.

Everyone knows how to fly; many just forget about it. And everyone is happy only in their own world; the main thing is to see or invent it. And then, out of thousands of parallel worlds, you will fall exactly into yours and be happy.

And the Cat, having found herself – everyone who searches for anything or anyone is only searching for themselves – lived happily ever after. Which we wish for everyone.

I created the illustration myself. It was a long time ago, but I still love it just as much as this parable of mine. An editor at one of the publications where I worked used to call such pieces 'evergreens'.

Illustration by the author, April 20, 2012