rest in peace, carpio

1 month ago
me and my brother were in a furious race, a few laps more and he'd win for the second straight time. i noticed in the corner of my eye something black and gray come round the corner of the TV cabinet. i paused the game. "hey look, he caught another one." i said to my brother. a small, black mouse was dangling from Carpio's mouth, its feet squirming desperately in the air. we watched as he tossed the mouse across the floor for a while, snatched it up again in his jaws and went outside. "that'll be the fourth one he 's caught," i said. the next day, we found the mouse just outside the bathroom, decapitated.

3 weeks ago
i was still feeling sleepy when i sat down at the table, staring plainly at my breakfast, when a sudden brush of fur at my feet startled me. i looked up in time to see the tabby kitten jump on the table, and started to sniff at my sausages. "that's mine," i said, pulling the plate away from him and finishing my meal in the kitchen instead.

1 week ago
i was in front of the computer, waiting for the loading bar to finish on a video i was watching on YouTube. something with claws grabbed my foot and i let an expletive loose. i picked the culprit up and looked straight into those large, blue eyes. "what was that for!?" i wasn't really angry, just annoyed. in response, he grabbed my nose with his front paws.

2 days ago
my friend was telling me some funny story when i noticed Carpio lying on the couch, asleep. we pulled his feet, scratched his belly but he wouldn't wake up. probably tired from hunting all night, he snoozed on like he was on a hammock on the beach. i never, ever thought, even for a second, that it was the last time i'd see him like that.

later that evening, we were watching Apocalypto when my brother-in-law called me from downstairs. he asked me if i i saw Carpio anywhere. i told him i hadn't seen him since that afternoon. he said there was a small cat lying out on the street. i ran out of the house and saw it for myself. Carpio was sprawled on the street, dead. his guts and intestines were spilled on the asphalt. he was ran over by an elf truck. i couldn't look at him for more than five seconds. i went back into the house that seemed emptier than the street outside. he was buried the next day.

today
i'm typing away on the keyboard, and i keep expecting a familiar brush of fur on my leg, but there's nothing.

we've had Carpio with us for only four months, but it felt longer than that. i wished it would have been.