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"It is really cold tonight," I thought to myself as I pulled on the pieces of plastic and cardboard which I was going to use as bed covers for the night. Still I shivered, and I shook for hours and hours, as I laid inside that large green, rusty garbage dumpster, out behind one of the restaurants located at the Southgate Plaza Shopping Center in Jacksonville, Florida. I was a big boy now. I had just turned twelve years old.

I dug a hole further down through the garbage and began to cover myself with the food and hundreds of cartons which had been thrown away during the day. All of a sudden I heard something scratching inside the dumpster. "I hope that's not another big rat," I thought to myself. I had been bitten several weeks earlier, by a large rat, over on Riverside Road when I'd slept in a dumpster behind the large red brick church.

I took out my package of matches and struck one and held it forward. Sitting directly in front of me was a large black cat with big green, shiny eyes. He flipped his tail several times and just sat there looking at me. "MEOW," he said. "Are you hungry?" I asked him. "Meow," he said again. I reached over and found the container which held four, half eaten tacos which I had found when I first arrived at the dumpster. I carefully unwrapped the tacos and began removing the bits of hamburger. I laid the meat out onto a cardboard box next to me and the cat slowly moved over and began to eat the meat. I finished off the lettuce, tomato and cheese. I reached up and closed the dumpster lid and I laid down trying to keep myself warm. The cat moved over and curled up by my neck. I began to pet his back and he started making this sound like he had a little motor inside him. "Do you like me?" I asked him. "Meow," he said. "I like you too," I said, as I hugged him real hard.

"WHO'S IN THERE?" hollered someone standing outside the dumpster. The lid slowly opened and I saw a big man was standing there with a gun in his hand. "What you doin' in there?" he asked me, shaking the gun around. "I was just sleeping, Sir," I said. "Where you live?" he asked. "I live in the orphanage over on Spring Park Road, by San Diego," I told him. "Why ain't you there then? You a runaway?" he asked. I lowered my head and remained totally silent. He raised his flashlight up from the ground and shined it onto the dumpster. "How long you been coming outs here anyway?" he said. "You all alone in there?" he questioned. "No sir. There's a black cat in here with me," I told him. "He's my friend," I said.

"You leave that cat in there and youse get out here real slow like." I reached over and picked up the only friend that I had in the world and I held him in my arms and began to climb out of the large garbage can. "You don'ts listen very good do you boy?" he said. I continued climbing out of the dumpster with the large black cat in my arms. "I gotta keep my cat. He's my friend," I told him. "Put him in the truck" he ordered, with a strange smile on his face. About a half an hour later we drove up to this old house located somewhere in Jacksonville. When we walked into the house, he took me by the arm and led me into the bathroom and told me to get into the tub and take a bath. I sat the cat down on the floor and the woman came in with the towel and laid it down on the toilet. I took a hot bath and washed real good with real soap. When I was all done, I dressed and picked up my cat and walked back into the front room.

"Have him take his shirt off, Bill," said the woman. "Take off your shirt," said the man. I sat the cat down on the couch, stood up and began to remove my dirty shirt. "Turns around," said the woman, spinning her finger at me. I turned slowly around and stood with my back toward them. "You right. Someone done got this boy," said the man. "Who done got you?" I just stood there with my head down, looking at the black cat, who had laid down in one of the large holes in the couch. I knew very well what they were talking about. Two weeks before, I had been caught eating a box of raisins. Mrs. Winters, the head matron, had beaten me on the breezeway porch with a stalk of bamboo because I would not tell her who had taken the raisins out of the locked pantry.

"You hungry boy?" the man asked me. "No, Sir. I had some tacos earlier tonight," I told him. "You gonna eat anyway," he stated. We walked into the small kitchen and we sat down at the table. I don't exactly know what it was that I ate, but it was hot, and it was good. I stayed the night with the man and his wife. I slept on that couch with the big old holes in it and it felt warm and safe.

The next day the man drove me, and the cat, back to the dumpster at Southgate Plaza. He handed me four whole dollars and a bag full of cornbread. "This kind of life better than the orphanage?" he asked me. I opened the truck door, picked up my black cat, and I said not a word. I closed the door behind me and I turned around to face the man. I just stood there kissing my cat on the back of its neck. The man shook his head and he drove away. Having to live in garbage dumpsters was not the issue. Having an old black cat to love me was worth it all.

©Roger Dean Kiser

Graphic and story reprinted from Inspiration Line

There's only 9 more days until Christmas (and only 5 until Yule)!
Finish your last-minute holiday shopping,
but avoid the crowded malls, picked-over junk and parking hassles by ordering online
from our list of things that are 'the cat's meow' for catlovers and cats!

Her people had put her outside the door. She was so excited! There were so many things to see, smell and do she didn't know where to start! She was aware that there was a lot of activity around her home, with all the people coming in and out, but she had too many things to explore to take much notice. She had stood at the window many times looking out and now she was here!

She chased a few squirrels, played in the leaves and even tried climbing a tree for the first time. Just when she was beginning to think she didn't ever want to go inside again, she heard a loud growl and turned around. There was a large brown thing coming at her! She hissed and took off running with the brown thing right behind her. It was almost on top of her when she came to a tree and used her new found tree climbing skills to escape. Whew! That was close!

The big brown growler stood at the bottom of the tree for a long time, but it finally got tired and left. She stayed in the tree until she was sure it wasn't coming back and then climbed down to the ground. Just when she got to the ground, she heard another loud noise. This one was louder and coming faster than the last. It was huge and spewed smelly fumes.

It narrowly missed her as she ran across the street. She was scared and wanted to go home. Outside wasn't fun after all. There were too many bad things outside. She went to the door where her people lived but everything was quiet and still. She cried pitifully but no one came to the door to let her in.

It was getting dark and still no one came. She could see lights coming from all the other windows but there were no lights in her own home. She was hungry and cold and wanted her nice warm blanket! She hid under the stairs and shivered until morning.

For the next few weeks, each day was a frightening struggle to survive. There were some kind people who would leave food out but she was too small to fight the big cats, who took all the food. Then there were the big growlers who chased her up trees. One almost caught her and left a cut on her little paw. She hid under the stairs and licked her wound wondering why her people had left her. Had she been bad?

One day the weather turned especially cold. She decided to go to all the doors in the building and cry as loudly as she could -- no one came.

Finally, at the top of the stairs, a door opened. It was a woman who bent over to pet her. She stood on her back paws and rubbed her little head against the woman's face. The woman went inside and came back with a bowl of food and a warm blanket. She was so grateful! While she ate the food, the woman stroked her little head. When she was finished eating, she snuggled in the blanket until she was warm and went to sleep.

Everyday, for the next week, she came to the woman's door and waited for her food. Everyday the woman came outside and brought her a bowl and petted her while she ate. Finally, one day the woman picked her up and brought her inside. She was so happy. It was warm and cozy and she rubbed the woman's ankles purring. If only the woman would let her stay she would never go outside again!

She began to explore this new place. In one room she found a tree. It wasn't like the trees outside -- this one was smaller with low branches and shining things all over it. It had shining boxes all around it too. She walked around the tree sniffing. The woman wasn't in the room and she wondered if she would get in trouble if she climbed this tree. Her curiosity got the better of her and she started up the trunk. She went out on an upper branch and sat there feeling very pleased with herself.

The woman came back in the room and started calling her. Would the woman get mad at her for climbing the tree and make her leave? She got scared. Just then, one of the shiny balls fell off the branch she was on and hit the floor with a crash. The woman looked up and was face to face with her in the tree. She just sat there and purred to let the woman know she was sorry. She was so afraid of being put outside. She let out one tiny little meow and the woman, who had been staring at her with her mouth open, started to laugh! The woman reached out and took her off the limb. She snuggled in the woman's arms as the woman stroked her smooth little head.

"Merry Christmas little one!" the woman said. She blinked her big yellow eyes and purred.

©Ann Hudson

You can see the current delicacies to tempt your favorite feline here.

If you've enjoyed the Key Lessons we've reprinted,
you won't want to miss Guy Finley's special holiday books.