Maling Kaya

Hahaha. I made this this afternoon as my response to Tin's Kaya challenge with the subject "Letting Go." I got so carried away, I forgot it's a sketch challenge. Waaahhh!!! Well, it's still based on a sketch, by Becky Fleck. LOL.

We never expected that we would find it hard to let go of a pet that wasn't really ours in the first place. For months afterwards, we would still mention talk about Mao like he was just around. I think, we've finally accepted that he's gone, but we will never let go of his memories.

Stray Cat


Journaling: (Warning: long read ahead)
We once had a cat named Mao. He was a pusang gala that started coming to our garage in 2006. The KiDS fed him so not surprisingly, the stray cat decided to live there. Every night, without fail, it would come and stay. Always, he would leave in the morning to do what it is that stray cats do.

One day, he just stopped coming. The KiDS started missing him. When Mao finally came home late one night, we were horrified to see him dragging his hind leg at a very awkward angle. His right leg dangled limply and uselessly behind him. We think he must have been in an accident and that he stayed in some ditch to heal before finally finding the way to our house. I was touched that out of the many houses in the village he chose to find haven in ours.

If I couldn't drive him away before, the more I couldn't turn him away then. So we took care of him and fed him. He hardly ever left the house, except to relieve himself. When he heads our van arriving, he would drag himself from the street into
our garage. He didn’t run, he sort of glided across the floor. The KiDS loved him, imperfect though he was.

In February 2008, Mao didn't come home again for a long time. We were worried something had happened to him. When he finally resurfaced,his face was swollen and he was very weak. I took him to the vet and I was told that with his injuries there was only a slim chance of survival even if we insisted on a surgery.He was also very weak and in so much pain already.I cried upon hearing the news. I had to make the difficult decision of putting him to sleep. The doctor said it was painless, but until the last minute, I saw Mao trying to escape from our grasp. He was a survivor to the last moment. I stayed with him the whole time as I didn't want him to feel abandoned as he was in the early stages of his life.

Breaking the news to my KiDS was even more difficult, and soon all of us were crying. We all mourned Mao, even if he didn't have pedigree, or even if he wasn't the type of pet my KiDS could freely cuddle and hug. He was family.

Mao might have been a stray, but he strayed right into our hearts. He was sweet and smart and a really great mouser. I am sure he is now in cat heaven where all cats are free, well-fed, and healthy.

Mao left behind a stray female cat named Barra. Shortly after his death, Barra had kittens, which, had they survived, we would like to believe were Mao’s. (Written 2/11/08)

Materials:
PPS - Autumn Leaves; CS - DCWV; Ricrac, twine - unknown; Ink - Clearsnap; Stamps - Autumn Leaves; Alphabets - Heidi Swapp. American Crafts; Tag - Joann's; Adhesive - Saunders; Foam - Darice

Techniques Used;
While the LO is deceptively simple, it took me a long time to make. Not because of the layout itself, but because of the journaling. I had to figure out how to make three columns and text wrap around a box in Corel Draw.