Life Imitates Art

But Life Had to Level Up

Oct 09, 2025

I decided to enter a writing contest with Uncharted Magazine. The contest asked for stories about humans and our strange, lovely and interesting relationships with animals. It required 1001-5000 word count. Since I already had a 500 word flash fiction story about a black cat and her relationship with her human, adding another 4,500 words should be easy. Right? Right?

Writers are often ~~delusional~~ optimistic so I pumped up my creative juices and got to writing. And I have to admit it was fun. The kitty was sassy, magical with a lot of cat-titude. I hope I wrote the human characters just as richly.

Aside from my friends in A Writing Room, I do not share what I write with people in my life. Some do not care, others just do not understand. So it was the work of the notorious Cat Distribution System that Tammy showed me a video of her son saving a tiny black kitty from the guard rail of a freeway off ramp. After she picked me up from a rough therapy session.

After further salting my phò with tears and I could speak again, my first words were “I need that kitty in my life.”

Unfortunately, Jeremy’s (the young rescuer) boss also wanted the cat. In the battle of boss vs. lifelong neighbor, the boss usually wins. I visited Freeway Cat at Tammy’s house (she was fostering). Freeway Cat was so afraid and spent most of the time hiding behind boxed tubes of Christmas wrap under the bed. Who wouldn’t be? The poor innocent thing was dumped on the street and somehow managed to safely climb that guardrail on a very busy off ramp. Freeway Cat refused to come out, even when I tried to coax her with a treat. Poor FC was so skittish, we could not even determine the gender.

I sent Jeremy a text. “Since your boss is a first time cat owner, please let her know this won’t be a soft kitty situation”

A few minutes later, I received a response “The kitten is yours Berna! My boss says she’s moving in a month and can’t really have another thing to worry about. Congrats!”

So I am now proud cat mom to Arabella, who upon arrival, was quickly hissed at by queen cat of our house, Jessie. So off to my room we go. Where she (It has now been medically confirmed) immediately hid behind tottering shoe boxes in the closet. Makes sense.

It took awhile and a few Churu treats before I earned her trust. I sat quietly on the floor, listening to true crime podcasts, waited for her to approach me. It was like a lottery win when she finally allowed me to pet her. And my heart overflowed when she laid down to nap next to me. She still would not get close to anyone else.

But life has a way of testing those bounds of trust. And it likes to do those things on Monday mornings. I discovered that she ate one of my anti-depressant capsules. I leave my meds on top of the dresser so I do not forget to take them in the morning. The other kitties have never bothered with the pills. I thought she was too small to get up there. But there was my pill cup, upturned. Two of the white tablets were there, but the blue and white Cymbalta capsules were missing. A quick internet search showed that human anti-depressants are very toxic to cats, especially when they are small. Things I was thankful for: both my sons were home. One would be able to drive me to the emergency vets and the other could help me grab the kitten. I also found the other pill on the floor.

What I did not want to hear, “the sewer is backed up again!”

Well, the baby did not even want to get near Scotty. So I kicked him out of the room. Only then did Arabella come out of hiding and crawled up my lap. And of course, I had to stuff her in the crate. Her look of betrayal was heartbreaking.

Per recommendation of the AASPCA poison control department, she had to stay in the vet hospital overnight. The rabbit hole of the internet also told me that some cats are attracted to the scent of anti-depressants. Honestly, from where this little kitten was found, this did not surprise me at all. So what would be the cost of a rent payment later, Arabella has been treated and is now back home. She is rambunctious, sassy and still shy. The flea bath she was given did not give her much confidence.