It was around dinnertime a couple of weeks ago when Jake pulled up into his usual parking space right outside my room. His engine revved up one last time then sputtered off into silence. A car door opened and thudded shut, then footsteps echoed as Jake leisurely walked down the cemented driveway to the front door.Attracted by the noise, the two resident dogs Imang and Mickey came to investigate with their usual boundless energy. They gave a short burst of playful barks then got busy sniffing the now silent Nissan Sentra. Nothing out of the ordinary was taking place that night; this was pretty much S.O.P. for these two K9 wannabees. Then Mickey suddenly gave a loud yelp of surprise.
A small furry head with one eye had appeared from the depths of Jake's car and was now floating above the right rear tire. Two tiny paws frantically clawed their way out as the dogs began to jump up and down barking with excitement at the new "toy" they had found. As I rushed out of my room to see what was causing the commotion, I heard a high-pitched petrified voice ring out in the night. "Meooow!"
It was a sick and very scared kitten lost in a strange new place. It jumped off the tire, sat under the trunk and called out to its mommy one more time. I bent down and called back. It lifted itself off the ground and sniffed in my direction. Then its meowing became quicker and more urgent as it took a couple of steps forward. I could now see that it was very young, and its left eye was swollen shut with yellow green gunk smearing down its cheek. But it fearlessly ambled towards me and butted its head in greeting against my outstretched hand.
That was how I found my new baby, BamBam.
In the days that followed, BamBam would go through a couple more experiences that would make it either the luckiest cat alive or God's most favorite cat. But those two stories deserve a blog of their own.
