The Travelling Cat Chronicles

by Hiro Arikawa

A sense of pride suddenly swelled up in me. Pride in myself as a cat who still hadn’t lost his identity as a hunter. And

If it is their instinct that makes them that way, then I’m glad I’m a cat and have the instinct to put up a fight. I’m happy to be a high-spirited, adventurous cat that will never be intimidated by other animals, even if they’re bigger than me. I’ve made my point, but just to reconfirm this: meeting those horses meant a lot to me.

When an animal’s life is over, it rests where it falls, and it often seems to me that humans are such worriers, to think of preparing a place for people to sleep when they are dead. If you have to consider what’s going to happen after you die, life becomes doubly troublesome.

I don’t think I’m being conceited if I say that I was the one who brought that warm red glow to his face, but what do you all think?

Good point. But as you focus on your anger and on tidying up the floor, don’t all your sad feelings begin to lift a bit?

My story will be over soon. But it’s not something to be sad about. As we count up the memories from one journey, we head off on another. Remembering those who went ahead. Remembering those who will follow after. And someday, we will meet all those people again, out beyond the horizon.