The Rainbow Bridge

We all die. So, this part shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. It still was to my girl. I think she knew the end could come at some point. We were going to be separated by death. Yet, she didn’t act like she had prepared herself. She just noticed that I was limping. She asked me what was wrong. I honestly didn’t know at the time.

Then she took me to the vet. She stuffed me into a carrier and took me for a walk. Eventually, we got on a bus and went to the vet that way. She told the vet what she had noticed and she voiced her concerns. The vet asked me to walk around the room. As soon as I was free of the cage and everyone, I jumped down to the floor and walked around the room.

I was still limping and not sure what they were going to do to me. Blood was drawn. I don’t remember how much or what for now. But the next morning, I knew it was over for me. I tried to tell my girl. Thankfully, both Spot and Isis left me alone. They had for quite some time now. But my girl was distracted. She got a phone call and tried to talk to me about what I wanted.

She offered to take care of me more than what she had been doing. She was already giving me wet food on demand because I didn’t have enough teeth to eat crunchies anymore. But what she would have to do was beyond that. Yet, I knew it was already too late.

I told her to forget about taking care of me and begged her to kill me. She never really could understand me well when I talked to her. I don’t know why. I could understand her just fine. But this was important. I had to get through to her. I kept repeating my message. Finally she understood and cried.

She realized that I couldn’t move the back half of my body anymore. I had no bladder control. That was embarrassing. She just had to understand that I couldn’t move on my own anymore. It was over for me. I was ready to die, but she didn’t seem to do much at first about my last request.

I know how much she loved me and still does. She was a wreck, but she made some phone calls and before I knew it, she scooped me up in a blanket and carried me out of the apartment. She held on to me while the next door neighbor drove us back to the vet. He dropped us off and she carried me inside.

I was still repeating my request. I didn’t know how much longer it would take. Then we were ushered into an exam room. She set me down on the table. Finally, everyone understood what I wanted. My last request was about to be fulfilled.

The vet rolled me over and shaved my leg. I had become quiet because I knew it was the end for me. Everyone understood what I wanted. My girl held my forepaw. I let her. Normally, I didn’t like so much affection from her, but this was a special time. We were being separated. Really, dying wasn’t so bad except for the fact that my girl was so upset about the whole thing. I knew it was my time to go.

The vet injected the poison into my shaved leg. In a few minutes, my body was dead. Everyone left the room to leave my girl alone with my body. She said nothing to his condolences. I saw her carefully move the blanket out from under my body. She no longer wanted my body. She knew I wasn’t inside it anymore. My eyes had become glassy. My body was lifeless.

She sighed. She held the blanket close to herself and walked out of the examination room. She sat down in the lobby and called the neighbor to come get her. Everyone was kind to her. I was a spirit and I didn’t want to leave my girl. I sat down next to her. She knew I was there, but said nothing to me. No one else saw me or knew my spirit was nearby.

Soon the neighbor came and took her back to the apartment. She stepped inside and locked herself in with Spot and Isis. They didn’t know where I was. I didn’t come back in the physical form with my girl. I was free of my physical body and I was still with my girl. I’m not sure they could see me. Isis was quiet. Too quiet as far as I knew. But my girl knew I was there.

Spot, was a different story. My girl sat down on the bed and set the blanket down on the floor. He came over and yelled. He was mad that I was gone. He ate what little hair of mine was left on the blanket. But my girl was silent. She couldn’t respond to Spot at that time.

I stayed with them. I watched my girl. I loved her so much and I still do. I saw her watch “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” over and over again. Towards the end, when Dumbledore tells Harry he’s not well, my girl cried and cried and cried. It was awful to watch. I couldn’t believe how much in shock and how painful it was for her to have me die when I did.

Eventually, she stopped crying. She told me she’d be fine and that I should just go ahead and move on. I deserved to have another life. So, I crossed the rainbow bridge hoping that I would meet my girl again in my next life.

My girl notes that I died three days after her birthday in 2010. She wasn’t happy about it, but she coped. She still had Spot and Isis living with her. I could see the three of them without me. Spot learned to accept that I wasn’t coming back as the cat who had raised him. Isis and I didn’t know each other very well. She had been living with us for just one year.

My girl used to tease them and complain that it was too quiet without me. Spot didn’t say anything. He wasn’t much of a talker. Isis tried to make up for my lack, but she wasn’t loud enough as my girl told her. Besides, Isis was much too happy to be me. She laughed and was just as silly as my girl was.

As I crossed the rainbow bridge, I could see in spite of my girl’s pain and sadness at our separation, she would be fine. She was not alone. I took a deep breath and finished crossing the bridge.

As I was crossing the bridge, I soon discovered I wasn’t alone. The fairies soon appeared all around me. They were happy to see me. I was glad to see them too. They complimented me on helping the witch stick to her better self. She had become very selfless as she needed to. The fairies flitted and danced around me. I was sad that I had to leave my family, but glad I wasn’t alone either.

It was time for another adventure. This time I would have more choices to make. My girl was right. She knew it was my choice and she didn’t want me to worry about her. It wasn’t her time to cross the bridge yet. I just hoped we would meet again someday.

I got to the other side and was soon joined by Isis. I was shocked to see her. She was just as shocked as I was. She told me our girl had told her to go on and get another life. It wasn’t fair what had happened to her.

Isis had become sick after I had died. She told me, she was shocked by what had happened to me. That shock must have triggered the dormant illness inside of her. She died about a month after me from feline leukemia. The same vet who had killed me killed her too. Isis said she wasn’t ready, but our girl petted her and calmed her down. Without our girl, Isis said she would not have been able to cross the rainbow bridge.

Isis wasn’t sure what was happening with our girl and Spot. We both worried. I told Isis, we had to move on without them for now. I stressed there was a chance that we would meet them again someday. I didn’t know if they would be in the same or in different bodies. But when we did meet them, we would recognize them and know they are still our friends.

We’ve been inseparable ever since. I don’t regret my life or my adventures. I just wish Isis had a much longer life as I was blessed to have. I don’t think it’s fair.

Isis was much too young to die. She wasn’t a middle aged cat. I thought it was an outrage. But I didn’t leave her. I told her I’d look out for her in this spirit realm. She accepted my help. She was glad she wasn’t alone. I was also glad to have a friend in this new world besides the fairies.
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If you’re wondering how I could write my memoirs and have a Twitter account, the answer is simple. My girl and I were never completely separated. We could still sense each other and talk to each other because of the strong, long lasting bond between us. Yes, I have moved on. But I still love my girl very much. I always will. I know she will always love me just as much too.