One Common "Virus"

• Callista Leong-la, Grade 5, Balwyn North Primary School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

This is a story about my sick cat and the cure to her sickness.
One Friday afternoon after I came home from school, I found Natalie (my younger sister who was five years old at this time) winging about Bella (our cat which she always played with). She said it would not play with her and was just staring at the ground. To me, my sister is never reliable so I thought she was making up stories and I ignored her.
It was only that afternoon that I realised my sister was not joking. Bella was staring at the ground instead of running towards me with excitement. Feeling confused, I put down her bowl on the ground right in front of her eyes but she did not even twitch her tail. Five minutes later, I went back intending to collect an empty bowl but ended up leaving the cold bowl there because it was left untouched.
That night at the dinner table, I mentioned Bella's weird behaviour. My sister rolled her eyes because when she bought up the problem, I did not take it seriously. Mum and dad became really worried about Bella and immediately made an appointment for the vet.
Two days later, I placed Bella on the seat beside me and dad drove us to the vet. In the car, Bella stared gloomily at the floor and just shook when I tried to touch her. As we neared the vet, I had an awful feeling that they could not help Bella but I kept quiet.
The vet told us that Bella was looking a bit lethargic and examined her but he (the vet) was confused. After what seemed like a day or two, the vet told us that he gave up and did not understand how a cat could suddenly look so bored. We walked out of the vet's office, disappointed that the issue was not solved.
For a few nights, I had awful sleeps, thinking about why Bella was not herself. I could not concentrate in class due to this annoying problem until I could not take it anymore and slept for two days (now when I think about it, I can imagine how worried mum and dad probably were). During this time while I slept, I thought about the first day of school (prep) when I felt lonely and had no... FRIENDS!! When I woke up, I knew what Bella needed.
I explained the solution to my mother and we took Bella to the pet shop. I felt a rush of excitement travel through Bella's skinny body after we bought a new friend for her (I suppose she was bored of us humans).
This is not just a problem which occurs with cats, it happens with humans too! A friend is important to everyone, so if someone is walking alone in the yard, it does no harm to go talk to them. Perhaps you could make a new friend! :)