3002. A sad burial

It was a tragedy. Judith’s cat was in his sixteenth year. He was hit by a car on the road. He was beyond recognition. The car must have been traveling at a reasonable speed; there was fur and a dislocated leg. Judith gathered the pieces gently into an old shoe box.

That cat had been her friend and companion day and night for well-nigh sixteen years. He was not a replaceable commodity. Benjie had his own distinct personality.

Sometimes, in fact quite often, Benjie had spent the day sleeping on the steps to the garden shed. Judith would dig a hole near the steps and bury Benjie there. She wasn’t very good at digging, but after an hour or so she had dug a hole large and deep enough to lay the shoe box. Judith covered the shoe box with soil and filled the hole.

What to plant on it? Judith would plant some sunflower seeds. Three or four happy sunflowers growing over Benjie’s grave was a fitting memorial. Judith went to the local garden shop and returned with a packet of sunflower seeds.

She was greeted at the door by Benjie. She had buried some other cat.