“Hush babies! Mommy’s coming,” she called softly down the stairs to her cat, “Mommy will be down to feed you in just a minute.” Her bones shook dangerously as she stood next to her bed and reached for her can. Walking past a mirror she caught a glimpse of her reflection. Her once strawberry blond hair was now a pure white, while the flawless complexion of her youth had now diminished and in it’s place was a wrinkled and creased face that she could barely recognize.
    Going down he stairs proved to be very hazardous on this bright and beautiful Saturday. Twice she almost dropped her cane, and if not for the railing she surely would have fallen. However, she took no notice, and once she made it to the first floor, her precious cats came to her and began a mixture of purring and meowing as they rubbed themselves on her veined legs that would not cease their shaking.
    “Are you hungry my darlings? Don’t worry, Mommy is here and Mommy always takes care of her babies. Isn’t that right children?” she asked of the ten plus cats that were now following her slow , unsteady steps to the kitchen.
    Picking up as many cat food dishes as she could carry all piled up in one hand, she waded through the many furry bodies of cats, fearful of stepping on one. She opened the door to the pantry and filled up the food dishes and carried them out in three loads. She then made sure all the water dishes, which were most of the bowls in the house, were filled with the help of a small watering can.
    After the morning feeding and watering was done, she went into her living room and opened the front door so she could unlock the screen door behind it. She then went and rested on the couch while she waited for the little boy from crossed the street to come over and clean the litter boxes.
    She enjoyed the time she spent talking to him and she paid him thirty dollars a week to clean the litter boxes twice a day, and to do small chores around the house like fixing stuck drawers.
    It was when her was helping her with her small flower garden in the front yard that they really got to know each other. She had told him of her husband who had died many years before in a car accident, back when she had been a young forty-two, leaving her childless and alone. Neither she, nor her husband had any family left, so she had adopted a few cats to keep her company as she aged.
    It was also on one of those nights in her garden that she learned that the boy’s father was a drunk and prone to coming him late and dragging his mother and himself out of bed and beating them until he passed out.
    She had told him that if he or his mother ever needed somewhere to go they were welcome to come over anytime. She also mentioned that if he needed anything he could always ask her. She even went so far as to send him to make an extra copy of her house key, so he could come in right away if need be.
    After the boy left, she always felt as if a void had opened within her heart. She knew that he was her only human friend and some days it felt as if she should be doing more to help him, but there was very little an old women could do to help a boy and his mother. Still she would try to think of more ways to help.
    Once she finished eating her lunch and washed the few dishes in the small sink, she would hobble to the couch and lay down for a nap. Awaking form her nap, she found that her joints were hurting, so she pulled herself off the couch and made her way to the bathroom for some aspirin.
    “Well hello Maxi. Have you come to help Mommy take some medicine?” she asked the large black ct that had jumped onto the edge of the sink.
    “Meow,” was the answer she received.
    “That’s very kind of you to say Maxi, but Mommy knows she doesn’t look as good as when she was younger. But thank you dear,” she replied opening the medicine cabinet and taking out the bottle of painkillers.
    “Oh yes, Mommy will show you some pictures of when she and Daddy were married,” she shook the bottle gently and caught the two pills that fell out in her and, “Mommy just needs to take one of these first, okay pumpkin?”
    Turning on the faucet, she watched for a moment as the cat batted the stream of water playfully, she then picked up a plastic cup that was by the sink and filled it half-way, and taking a drink she quickly put a pill in her mouth and swallowed. After repeating the process with the other pill, she sat down her cup, turned off the water, picked up her beloved cat and left the bathroom.
    “Now, where ever did I put the photo album?” she asked herself once she entered the living room and put Maxi down, “Ah! Here it is. Now gather around children, and Mommy will tell you stories about Daddy.”
    She made a place for herself on one end of the couch next to the arm, and opened the album to the first page which contained a wedding picture.
    “Look darlings, there is your father. Now wasn’t he just a fine looking fellow? Oh the things he used to say! He was the smartest person I’ve ever met,” as she spoke her voice got quieter and soon her eyes were becoming heavy, “I’m sorry darlings, but Mommy is getting very tired. We can finish looking at the pictures later. Right now I nee to take another nap, okay?” and with that she fell into a peaceful sleep.

    “Well, I was the one who called it in after she didn’t come outside in the evening like she always does. And when the police went inside, they found her body sitting gone the couch with an old photo album laying in her lap,” Mrs. Johnson gossiped to her neighbor Mrs. Jones.
    “What about those cats? I know she used to have little Tommy Smith come over and help her clean after them, but what had she been doing ever since he and his mother were killed by his father?” Mrs. Jones asked as she sipped her tea.
    “Well you know she never stopped leaving money in their mail box for him, even though that was years ago now, but I heard from one of the officers that there wasn’t any food in the house to speak of, cat or human, and most of the cats left the house through an open window. However, apparently there were piles of their mess everywhere. Why, I heard the paramedics couldn’t hardly take a step without stepping in a pile,”
    “How terrible. That poor women dead a full day before any one even noticed! Why if you hadn’t seen that she didn’t come out last evening, no one would have ever noticed!”
    “Yes well, one must always keep an eye on their neighbors.”