100 Rays Of Son 23

The Weird Cats and Weirder Child of Mine 

One day I saw something like a black snake hanging down the wall of the common area in our home in Byndoor. It was really scary thing to look at. I made sure that it is not something like a rope or cloth by touching it with the stick. Immediately the black thing was pulled back into the attic. It looked like a tail of some animal. Immediately I recalled that my Mom would mention something called Kada Bekku (meaning Jungle Cat) which were dangerous blood suckers. She said they drank only blood of people and animals and did not eat the flesh.

Normally I panicked since they were atop our attic. My concern was for my hens more than for my humans, because somehow the humans looked in a much safer place than the hens. We had nearly six hens at that time who due to Rayyan’s freedom movement were living on top of trees and roof of out bathroom rather than in the coop which was safe for them.

When Rayyan came, I narrated to him what I had seen and to somehow place the hens in the coop. Now that was not possible because they were not in our reach anymore but the cats could get them right? The only option for us was the either kill the jungle cats or scare them away so that they never come back again. The person I choose for the task was Rayyan because he loved his hens and would accomplish the task for their sake, to save their lives. I also told Rayyan to take someone along to help him so that they wouldn’t jump at his neck and suck his blood out. So, with a big stick and a torch Rayyan went up the attic first to check out whether they were there or not. I stood down with another stick in case he needed me to be up there to save him. I was scared to face those jungle cats but I was brave enough to defend my son. There was no sound, but a little later I could hear Rayyan talking to someone on the attic. I had seen only him go up there alone and no one else was there beside him; so, who was he talking to in whispers. The conversation I could hear dimly was like, ‘Hi guys, how are you? What are you doing here? Do you want to eat something?’ Now I was sure that some stupid children must have got up there to play prank and scare us and they were Rayyan’s friends. Angrily I shouted from below, ‘Who is it Rayyan? Who are you talking to?’ Rayyan answers, “I don’t know their names Maa but they look very cute and peaceful”. “People or animals?” I ask doubtfully because somehow now I feel Rayyan is talking to the animals whose tail I had seen earlier. “Living beings Maa” he replies.

He asks me for the camera to take pictures and I oblige. Rayyan starts talking and I hear scampering of feet in the attic. In sometime he shows me pictures of some scary animals. I fiercely demand that he chase them away or I will get someone to do the job. He flatly refuses to scare them because he cannot bring himself to do it, no matter how hard he tries. He said that he could not actually find them anywhere in the attic because they were well hidden, but when he started talking they slowly came out of their hiding and started looking at him curiously. I am sure they were actually thinking where his jugular vein was but Rayyan assures me they were friendly.

All the argument led to nothing but Rayyan was banned from going to the attic anymore. I had nightmares of 10s of those creatures climbing down the attic following Rayyan as their leader. I hired someone to chase those animals away, but no one could find them. They said they must have gone away.

But few days later I found 5 dead hens and rooster in my backyard. Their heads had been severed and they looked pale. It was the way my mom described what the jungle cats would do. I was very angry with Rayyan and shouted at him for killing my pets with his stupidity. He listened to me calmly and replied, “That is their natural behaviour maa and they had their food. What is the big deal when we eat so many hens every day even though we have better options? I am sad my friends are dead but I don’t blame those cats because that is the nature works. Even if I could see the future, I could not bring myself to hit or scare those animals”. I will not say that I agreed to what he said nor have I forgiven him yet for not chasing away those wild creatures. But, I realized that Rayyan thinks completely in a different way. His mind has different circuits than what most people have.

People who have seen the pictures of these animals have told me that these creatures hunt in dark and are very quick to hide. They have never come in front of people, leave alone when the light is shone on them and to allow someone to take their picture. Rayyan has some special bond with all types of animals which is not something that he has learned from me.