**A Mother’s Heart**
“Mum, whos Mrs. Finch? Is she our owner? Then why doesnt she feed us properly?” Tiny, curious eyes stared up at Daisy, waiting for an answer. “No, love, shes not our owner. Just an old, sick woman. Doesnt know what shes doing…” “Mum, will the big cats eat me too, like they did with my sister?” whispered Ginger, trembling with fear. Daisy sighed heavily. “No, darling, they wont! I promise!” She began licking her beloved, now only child, and slowly, Ginger calmed down and drifted into a soft, sleepy purr.
Daisy had been born in the basement of a high-rise block. There had been four kittens in her litter. Her mother had been very youngit was her first litterand the moment a new tomcat appeared, she forgot all about her kittens and ran off. Still, Daisy remembered her with gratitude. Despite her flightiness, her mother had given them tendernessfed them, taught them to eat on their own. After she vanished, the kittens had to leave the basement for the streets. At first, they stuck together in the courtyard, where kind people sometimes fed them.
Time passed. Grey, her brother, was hit by a car. Tigger was torn apart by dogs. Daisy mourned them, her tears falling on their lifeless little bodies. She sat with them until the caretaker chased her off, watching as he scooped their tiny forms onto his shovel and tossed them into the bin. Her sisters fate remained unknown.
Growing up, Daisy learned the rules of street life. She kept to herself, stayed unseen.
Then, she entered hell. Mrs. Finch.
She met her by the bins, where the old woman rummaged, stuffing things into her enormous bag. Mrs. Finch fixed Daisy with a wild stare and croaked, “Puss, puss, come here!” No one had taught Daisy to fear toothless old women, so she approached, hoping for food. Suddenly, Mrs. Finch grabbed her under one arm, snatched up her bag, and shuffled toward the flats.
Inside, Daisy was dropped onto the floor. “Daisy, you are now,” Mrs. Finch muttered, then forgot her entirely. Dozens of hungry eyes turned toward Daisy. “Puss, puss, puss!” came the call from the kitchen, where Mrs. Finch unpacked her “treasures,” and the catslosing interest in Daisyscrambled toward the sound.
Daisy looked around in horror. She hadnt known humans could live like this. Piles of filthy, stinking clothes, mountains of unwashed dishes, animal waste everywhere, swarms of flies and cockroaches. And catsso many cats. Most were scrawny, sick, cowering. A few, though, were strong, aggressive, Mrs. Finchs favourites. Why she kept the others, even she didnt know.
Daisys nightmare began. Starvation, constant fear, watching others sicken and die, grown cats devouring newborn kittens before Mrs. Finch could drown them.
Slowly, Daisy adapted. She found a hidden corner and kept to it.
A month later, she realised with dreadshe was going to be a mother. Thered been a tomcat on the streets, charming but fleeting, and now her kittens would be born into this hell.
She gave birth quietlya black girl, like her father, and a ginger boy, just like Daisy. Pebbles and Ginger.
She guarded them fiercely. But hunger drove the other cats closer, and soon the kittens, eyes now open, kept trying to escape their hiding spot.
The memory of that terrible day haunted Daisy. Shed kept watch day and night but dozed for just a momentthen heard Pebbles tiny squeak, followed by the crunch of bones. Her innocent little girl had strayed too far. Daisy snarled, fur bristling, ready to attackuntil she heard Gingers voice. “Mum did they eat Pebbles?” She turned and saw his huge, terrified eyes.
What would happen to him if she died now? She hesitated, shielded him, and whispered through her grief, “Well escape. Ill save you.” And she waited for her chance.
“Open up, police!” A loud knock at the door. Mrs. Finch startled, flitting about the flat. “We have complaints from your neighbours!” They werent leaving. Grumbling, she finally opened the doorjust as a ginger cat shot out between her feet, a kitten clutched in her jaws, racing down the stairs.
Tom stared into Daisys pain-clouded eyes, tears on his cheeks. He understood. “Dont worry, Ill take care of him. Hell be safe.” Beside him, Ginger purred quietly, licking his mothers face. Daisy was dying. Her heart had given out after losing Pebbles. In her dreams, Pebbles called her to the rainbow. Daisy let go.
Rain fell the day she died. Tom buried her in a birch grove, then stood with Ginger by her grave. He remembered how theyd come into his lifehis parents had just died in a crash, but duty called. That mad old woman, the stinking flat and the ginger cat at the door, pleading with her eyes. Hed helped them escape.
“Runaway, eh? I dont blame you. Come live with me. I could use the company.” He opened his car door, and Daisy followed.
Tom called her “my beauty.” Ginger kept his name. Toms wounded heart embraced them. He bought them the finest food, a towering cat tree, everything to make them forget their past. When Daisy fell ill, he begged her to staybut her eyes had already drifted away.
Daisy ran across the rainbow now, Pebbles at her side. “Mum, what about Ginger? Hes all alone!” Daisy smiled. “Hes not alone. Look…”
The rain stopped. A rainbow arched over the birch grove. Tom sighed, lifted Ginger into his arms, and kissed his damp nose. “Well be alright, little one.”
And they walked to the cartwo wounded hearts, no longer alone. A strong young man and a tiny kitten. Ginger.
