Once my shock of discovering that I could converse with cats wore off, I asked the black cat what his name was. I saw his eyes moisten as he silently looked at the ground.
Hearing nothing, I asked again, “Surely, you must have a name? Every cat has a name!”
“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.”
Putting aside my curiosity about the mention of wisdom and power, I took my phone from my pocket and said, “Well, in that case, let’s search the internet for a new name that will suit you better.”
After some scrolling, I thought I found the ideal name, “How about Leo? It means ‘lion’, and isn’t that powerful enough?”
“Nah, I don’t want to be associated with silly lions!
Cats like me do not need to show off their power, like how lions do. We cats specialise in being powerful while not appearing powerful. We like to keep our power secret.”
“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?”
“My name is Prasanna, but you can call me ‘Pras’. It supposedly means ‘happiness’.”
“That’s a great name as well.”
“Thank you.”
And so began my journey of discovering the secret power of cats.