Eeyore

 “Mom, what did the vet say about Eeyore?” I nagged my mom the minute she came in the door.

     “He said that he looked like he was doing fine, especially for a kitten that was abandoned the day he was born.” Relief and pride surged through my body. But little did I know healthy kittens don’t always stay on the right track.

     “Hi, Mom,” I mumbled as she walked in the door. Not bothering to even look up from the computer to see the excited look on her face.  

     “Come see what Robin found!” she squealed. Her face had a look she only wore when she was extra excited. I had only seen that look a few times in my life, it made me wonder what had happened. 

     “But I just took a shower and I didn’t brush my hair!” But she just rolled her eyes and I followed her outside. I saw Robin standing on our lawn, holding his shirt in a clump with a head the size of a golf ball. It was a kitten. My neighbor Jess came outside with her friend Erin. The shirt with the kitten was brought into my house where Robin cut the umbilical cord. Jess, Erin, and I started blurting out names for a kitten.  The names we said went from silly, to serious; to the weirdest names you could have heard in your life. We just couldn’t think of a good name for the kitten.

     “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Screamed the kitten. So we decided to give it an E name.

     “Eeyore!” We all said excitedly at once. And that became its name. After my mom and Robin called the vet and went on the internet to find out what to do, I got an old carry-on bag with stiff sides, out in a heating pad, a small blanket, and a small pillow my friend sewed. Then we took some pictures of Eeyore, one in particular was my favorite, with him in my hands, wrapped in his cheetah print hand sewn blanket, with his golf ball head sticking out. My mom got a special kitten milk powder and bottle, and started to feed Eeyore. Later that night we took Eeyore home and feed him every four hours. A few days went by and we had to take Eeyore everywhere. Picnics, baseball games, my mom even had to take it to work. It was a kitten, said the vet a few days later that Eeyore was doing surprisingly well for a kitten abandoned when it was only about a day old. But on Sunday I was going to leave for sleep away camp. I was worried about Eeyore, but my mom told me just to have fun and that she’ll send me updates.

     The day my parents were going to pick me up from sleep away camp, thoughts ran through my head. I couldn’t wait to see my family and friends again. Especially Eeyore. But when my family finally came, I could tell something was wrong. My mom’s face was red like she had been crying, and her eyes were covered with her sunglasses. My brother’s eyes and face were red. As for my dad, his face was blank of expression. My parents came to grab my stuff, and my brother said to me,” You know the kitten?”

     “Yeah.” I replied, sensing what had happened.

    “He died this morning.” I wanted not to cry in front of the counselors and my friends I’ve made, that I’ve made, that I had been fooling around with all week. I held the tears in my eyes. Eeyore never opened his eyes, never got to see the real world. Never got to see me, my mom, Jess, Tommy, Erin, not even the person that saved him, Robin. But we tried our best, and sacrificed time, friends, and sleep. When we got home, I looked at the pictures of his first day, especially my favorite one, highlighting his golf ball head.