Toughie: A Short Story

Toughie

I used to have a husband, but now, I have a pain in my right thigh. As I rub in a deep-heating cream, I remember when I had a husband and our children were small. My husband brought home a tiny white kitten that was injured at a house party. His paw was crushed by a person sitting on a chair. I took the kitten reluctantly and nursed him back to good health.
The kitten grew into a cat named Toughie, who loved us, his family, and was protective of us. We did not need a dog as we had a watch cat! The cat would put the run on a drunken man, who bought pure vanilla at the store to drink.
We lived at a grader station, where my husband worked for the government in highway maintenance. Toughie once walked into the grader station where the visiting superintendent and the foreman were having a meeting. He rubbed against their legs. They sat stock still as if the cat were a
We are coming to visit!”
One day, the public health nurse came to the door without warning. She stepped through the doorway and Toughie launched himself onto her beaver fur coat, hanging onto her by his claws. I removed the cat, feigning ignorance after putting the cat in the closet. “I don’t know what got into him! Maybe he was afraid of your coat?”
She also honked and called, “Where is the cat?” after her first encounter.
One day, Toughie disappeared. We searched and called our beloved cat. Three days later, I heard him yowling up a tree during a fierce storm. A young man, who was unaware of the cat’s terrible reputation, climbed up the tree and rescued him. Toughie was so happy to relieve himself, he did not attack; instead, he drained his bladder for several minutes.
Toughie lived with us until he was an older cat. His love was unconditional—deep inside, he was a softie. He watched over the children as if they were his own kittens. Maybe now, he is in heaven, purring and rubbing around my husband’s