The Real Gray Cat

The real gray cat.  SPOILER – Her name is Meeko. She has a small bend in her tail from an old break, long healed. She is still around. As this is written, she is asleep on the bed behind me.

When Nala was alive, the two of them were frenemies — the specific kind of arrangement that neither party would acknowledge and both parties maintained with great consistency. Anyone who has read these books will recognise the dynamic.

The fictional character is not the real cat. But she would not exist without her — the bent tail, the quality of attention, the sense of someone present in the room who was there before you noticed.

Some things do not require explanation. The real Meeko has never offered one.

Built on loyalty.