Where in the name of darkness is Shadow?

“Where in the name of darkness is Shadow?”- Cluny the Scourge, Redwall.

This was ultimate inspiration for my kitten. My black kitty, whom I named Shadow. Now, just imagine:

You wake one morning, and lay in bed writing a short story on your Kindle for three hours. Then you go downstairs, notice everything is unusually quiet, and go check on the kittens in your mud room. You are shocked to find them nowhere, and their mom(Sumatra) meowing and pacing, along with your cat Walter, and Walter’s sister, who hasn’t been named yet. You turn, shut the door and dash into the parlor, where your family is. “Where are the kittens?” you ask.

Your sister stands. “They’re in here.”

“Why aren’t they with Sumatra, Walter, and Whatshername(which is what you call the unnamed girl cat)?” You demand.

Your sister exchanges glances with your other two sisters and brother. “Bleep*” she says, “one of the kittens died last night.”

“What?” You shriek. “Which one?”

Your sister looks suddenly sad. “Shadow.”

You burst out crying.

And that’s why I’m writing this post. My little Shadow, sweet kitten, who adored crying, has passed away. He died on Thursday, May 2, 2013, the National Day of Prayer, five days after my birthday, and six days after he arrived in our household. It is not the same without my little piece of heaven, and I am still trying to deal with the loss. I have done as I have with every other animal that has died, I cried extensively and, um… wailed. Yes, I guess that is how it worked out. I claim it to be crying, but I must say, it is wailing. I dedicate this blog post to my dear Shadow, and hope he arrives in heaven. I have been told that animals do not go to heaven, and that it is futile to believe so. I pray those who tell me this are wrong, and that little Shadow goes to Heaven. I have been told that if animals went to heaven, it would be in the Bible, and I think that it’s got to be in there somewhere. Anyways, today we buried her under a tree, and I spent two minutes hitting the tree with a shovel before my mom told me to stop. At the moment, Shadow has a gravestone of bark, but I hope to make her a real one, maybe out of a log, cut thinly. Now we have three kittens remaining, and three cats. Shadow…

Blessings, all.

-Ryebrynn

P.S. Pictures come later.

*Bleep- My real name edited out.