Five years ago my neighbor buried her veteran husband and was left completely alone.
It had been five years since MadameRenée lost her spouse, a former combatant, and found herself utterly solitary. They never had children, and the old woman could not stop thinking about her beloved Marcel.
They had wed just before the war. Marcel went off to fight while faithful Renée waited patiently. He returned alive but without his left hand. He loved his wife deeply and cared for her immensely, promising to shield her from any misfortune. He could not keep that promise; he died, leaving her entirely on her own.
On the anniversary of his death a large black cat appeared at her doorstep. In the dead of night it showed up out of nowhere, meowing plaintively. A snowstorm howled outside, the wind screeched, yet MadameRenée somehow heard the cry. She opened the door and found the unknown feline. Moved by compassion, she let it in and offered a bit of milk.
The cat refused the milk, strutted proudly through the rooms, and after surveying the house settled on Renées pillow, began to purr, and fell asleep at once.
Renée could not bring herself to shoo the cat away and fell asleep beside it. In the morning she examined the creature more closely. It was clean, wellfed, nothing like a stray. Black as ebony, with huge green eyes and a very confident bearing. One detail caught her eye: the cats left front paw was missing its toes, as if they had been torn off.
My dear Marcel! she sobbed. The cat, meanwhile, gently hopped onto her lap and started purring.
I have to give you a name perhaps Felix? she whispered while stroking its ear. The cat flinched, then stared at her with such intensity that Renée was taken aback.
ITS EYES WERE HUMAN! NOT like human eyes, BUT TRULY HUMAN!
I see, Felix doesnt suit you. How about Theo? Thats a nice name, she hurriedly suggested. The cat meowed displeasedly, leapt from her lap and began clawing at the sofa.
Fine, fine. I wont name you. Youll just be The Cat. But please leave the sofa alone, she said politely. The Cat muttered something unintelligible, obeyed, and retreated dignily to the bedroom.
Thus began their shared life: MadameRenée and The Cat. I often visited the elderly lady, and she recounted astonishing tales of her feline companion.
First, The Cat tended to her. After her husbands death Renée suffered a heart attack and often felt chest pain. Whenever she lay down, The Cat would curl onto her chest, purr, and fall asleep. The pain vanished as if it had never existed.
One truly bizarre incident occurred. Renée had lain down to rest while The Cat, at her side, purred softly and slept. A knock came at the door. She rose to answer, The Cat following. It was Robert, the local drunk and troublemaker. He got his foot stuck in the doorway, cursed profusely, and demanded money for a drink. Renée tried to refuse, but he grew increasingly insistent and vulgar, eventually insulting her and tarnishing the memory of her deceased husband.
Suddenly The Cat let out a growl and lunged at the man. Robert pushed it away, but The Cat charged again, nearly snapping at his throat. Cursing, Robert lost his footing and fled. The Cat fixed Renée with its HUMAN EYES, lifted its tail proudly, and withdrew, duty fulfilled, back into the room.
Another day Renée prepared to go to the town hall for firewood and asked me to accompany her. We would need to take the bus to the prefecture. I agreed, freed myself from work, and arrived at her house early in the morning.
The old woman sat on her bed in her nightclothes, looking bewildered and uneasy.
MadameRenée, why arent you ready? We might catch a ride if we hurry, I urged.
My dear, I wont go, she said softly.
Why?
I dont know how to explain dont laugh The Cat forbade me to leave.
What? Ive taken the day off and youre talking about your cat! Come on! I protested.
Listen, dear. I had everything ready the night before and fell asleep. I dreamed that The Cat spoke to me, just as you do now It looked at me and said:
Stay home, Renée. Dont go tomorrow.
My tongue was tied! It wasnt just the cat talkingit called me Renée! Thats exactly how my late Marcel called me! And the cats voice was Marcels voice! Then it sang a song Marcel loved:
In the hinterland fields,
Where they search for gold in the mountains
Do you remember, my little Renée, I sang this when I went to the front?
Despite my shock I managed to ask:
Marcel, is that you?!
Methodically, yes! I see how hard it is for you alone, so I returned
Tell Lucie not to go through the operation. She wouldnt survive
And I woke up
Saying I was stunned would be an understatement. I sat silent for a long time, trying to catch my breath like a fish out of water.
Then a thought occurred: MadameRenée, do you feel all right? Perhaps we should call emergency services; your blood pressure must be high.
I feel better than ever, dear! I just spoke with my beloved Marcel! she replied, smiling through tears.
I still measured her blood pressure. Strangely, it was normal.
From that moment Renée began calling her cat Marcel. Oddly enough, the animal responded instantly to that name.
Her predictions (or the Cats) came true. The bus we were to board nearly had an accident that day. Icy roads caused the driver to lose control. No one died, but many were injured. Coincidence? Perhaps. A week later Renée received her firewood
She asked me to call Lucie, Marcels niece, and tell her to abandon her surgery. Lucie ignored the warning and died on the operating table
Another coincidence? I dont think so.
Thus they lived together: MadameRenée and her cat Marcel. He continued to heal and protect her, staying by her side until her last days.
Renée reached ninetyfour. She passed away last year. Until the final moment she remained stalwart, always worrying about her Marcel. She made me promise to look after him if she ever disappeared.
She slipped away silently, painfree, in her sleep
I recall how Renées cat mourned her. He was no longer young, and his sleek black coat had turned white.
For three days after his owners body lay at home, Marcel never left the coffin. I SAW TEARS FALL FROM HIS EYES! People tried to shoo the cat away, but inexplicably he kept returning to the casket, sitting and sobbing.
Marcel accompanied the deceased to her grave, and when she was buried he stayed there. I tried to catch the poor animal to take him home, but he fled.
The cat remained at the cemetery on the joint tomb of MadameRenée and her husband. He would not come to my house, so I visited daily to feed him.
I worried about how the cat would survive the winter there and tried to force him back home. Once I succeeded, but he escaped the same day, and I found Marcel again at the graveyard.
Winter was harsh, yet the cat survived. He died early spring. When I came to feed him as usual, I found him curled up beside Renées cross, appearing to keep watch over her rest
I cannot say whether Marcel was an ordinary cat or the spirit of the late grandfather Marcel truly inhabiting it.
Today many speak of reincarnation, the idea that a soul may return in any form, even a cat.
I dont know if its possible, but for some reason I like to believe that Grandfather Marcels spirit lived inside that feline. He returned to his dear Renée to guard and save her
And he stayed with her until the end, just as he had promised.
