I lay dying on the sidewalk. No one cared. I heard the sound of voices and footsteps of passersby all around me, yet no one stopped. Vehicles zoomed by creating small dust clouds which further crippled my fluid-filled, diseased lungs.

Small bubbles of pus formed at my nostrils with every exhale. I gasped for breath thinking that each would be my last. My left leg was badly broken, so I’d crawled to where I was and could go no further. My right eye was thickly coated with mucous, the eyeball itself badly swollen. Infection had stolen the vision of both eyes, each lay useless in their sockets.

My belly seized with cramps from starvation, it had been weeks since my last meal. Yes, I ached for death, for relief from such torment, let it end soon.

Suddenly, you were there, tenderly lifting my lifeless, limp body. You cradled me in your arms until we’d reached safety and warmth.
You offered me food which I barely chewed, only wanting to fill my ravaged belly.
I gulped offered water until I couldn’t hold anymore. After each kindness I managed to whisper thank you, my voice failing completely.
I basked in the warmth of the cloth you wiped my sore eyes with, again mouthing thank you.

As you turned now to leave me to rest in a soft warm bed, I cried out to you begging “please don’t leave me my friend!” But you smiled warmly and promised that you wouldn’t be far away and that at last I was safe.
“You’ll never go hungry again, little one, no one will ever abandon you, hurt you or leave you for dead. We’ll call you Hobo and you’ll be loved.”
Still weak and in pain I managed a faint meow…“thank you my friend.”