Our neighbour, Rohini aunty has six pet cats and she was blaming my elder brother Ajay and me for their sudden disappearance. Ajay and I disliked her cats. Many times, her cats have sneaked into our house and devoured our food. Last week, Mother baked a cake for Dad’s birthday and her cats ate half of it. “You boys must have taken my cats and left them somewhere,” yelled Rohini aunty.
“Ajay and Atul will never do such a thing like that. Please send me the pictures of your cats. We will help you find them,” said my father.
“Someone who has great love for cats must have kidnapped them,” I said.
“Like Sandhya. She adores those cats,” said Ajay.
Sandhya lives opposite our house. Sandhya laughed when we told her we wanted to search her house for the missing cats. “My parents are allergic to cats,” she said.
When we came back home, “Thud!” came a sound from the kitchen. Two of Rohini aunty’s cats had toppled the milk vessel in our kitchen and were greedily licking the milk. I quickly closed the kitchen door and Ajay closed all the windows. I ran out to call Rohini aunty. Sandhya was also with her.
“Two of your cats are in our kitchen,” I said.
Ajay opened the kitchen door. “My babies,” cried Rohini aunty. But surprisingly the two cats cringed in fear when they saw Rohini aunty. They rushed towards Sandhya who gently picked up the two cats. When Rohini aunty tried to touch them they shrieked in terror and tried to run.
“Why are they scared of you, Rohini aunty?” asked Sandhya.
Mystery solved
“I can answer that,” said my father as he walked in. Rohini aunty had sent photos of her cats to Dad’s mobile phone. Without realising, she had also sent a video. Dad showed us the video. Two of her cats sat in front of the piano. We could hear the loud voice of Rohini aunty in the background. “Come on, you nitwit! Play ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’. How many times should I teach you?”
“I want my cats to become famous on the Internet. That’s why I am teaching them to play the piano,” said Rohini aunty.
“Your wish to make your cats an Internet sensation has made them dislike and fear you,” said my father.
“No wonder, they ran away from you,” said Sandhya.
The two cats, Snowbell and Snowflake led us to a narrow street, where we found the other cats near a garbage bin. We took them to an animal shelter.
After a month, “Thud!” we heard a sound. It was Snowflake standing on our dining table. She must have escaped from the animal shelter. I tried to catch her but she ran out to Rohini aunty’s house. I was greatly surprised when I saw Rohini aunty talking in the garden with my father. All the cats were with her.
Rohini aunty smiled at me. “Yesterday, your father brought my darlings back from the animal shelter. I realised my mistake. I was so lonely without them that I would go and visit them every day at the shelter. It pained me when they were scared to come near me. Gradually, I was able to win back their love and affection,” she said.
“The staff at the animal shelter said the cats were missing her. So I decided to bring them back to her,” said my father.
“Well, food kept at our dining table is never going to be safe again,” I said.
