Once my shock at discovering I was “conversing” with a cat wore off a little, I asked the black cat his name. It just seemed like a natural question to ask, but to my surprise, I noticed that this made his eyes water, and he looked down at nothing in particular on the ground.
Hearing nothing, I asked rather insensitively, “Surely, you must have a name? Everyone has a name!”
The cat regained his composure and quietly said, “Yes, I sort of have a name. They call me “Kitty” where I live. I suppose that is my name, but I hate it.”
“Why do you hate that name? I am sure lots of cats are called ‘Kitty’?”
The black cat kept looking down, “That exactly highlights my situation. ‘Kitty’ is an ordinary name for a cat like me, who is among the wisest and most powerful in the world. I need a name that reflects my importance. I mean, I am an “eighth level” cat, surely I need something better than just being called ‘Kitty’ ”
Putting aside my curiosity about the mention of wisdom, power, and whatever ‘eighth level’ meant, I offered, “Well, in that case, let’s search the internet for a new name that will suit you better.”
After some scrolling on my phone, I thought I found the ideal name, “How about Leo? It means ‘lion’, and isn’t that majestic enough?
Instead of grateful acceptance, all I heard was, “Nah, I don’t want to be associated with silly lions with their frilly hair!”
He continued, “Cats like me do not need to show off their power the way lions do. We cats specialise in being powerful while not appearing powerful. We like to keep our power secret.”
After scrolling a bit further down on my phone, I offered, “Ok, here is another name I found. How about the name, ‘Theo’?”
The black cat’s eyes opened wide. “What does Theo mean?”
“It seems to mean ‘God-like’.”
“Yes, that would be a perfect name for me! Yes, that reflects me perfectly!”
“Well, Theo, I am delighted that we have connected. I have a deep feeling that we will become good friends.”
Theo looked up at me, smiled (I had never seen a cat smile before, but I think it was a smile), and said, “My cat intuition tells me the same, that we will be friends, and cat intuition is almost always right. By the way, what is your name?”
“People call me ‘Pras’. In some ancient language, it supposedly means ‘happiness’.”
“Well, that’s a great name to have as well”, said Theo.
“Thank you.”
“I need to go now, to attend some important business. I will meet you again soon”, Theo said while walking away. I felt he was keeping his head high, proud of his new name.
