An Friendly Interaction With A Stray.
I had a weird moment with a stray kitten last night and I can’t stop thinking about it.
I was in an alley in Chicago and there were a few small stray cats moving through together. Nothing aggressive, just… cautious, doing their own thing. I crouched down and made a soft pspsps sound while they were walking past.
One of them stopped. Looked a tiny bit more mature but they were still young cats. Some were very small.
She looked at me, hesitated for a second, and let out a couple small meows. Then she didn’t run. She just… watched me. Like she was curious. A bit more than the rest.
So I stayed still. Low posture, no reaching, just letting her decide what to do. After a few seconds she started slowly creeping closer. Like full slow-motion, stopping every couple steps to check me out.
Eventually she just sat near me. They all did. But she sat the closest. She literally like loafed 2 feet away from me.
Eventually after just us sitting..I slowly reached out a closed fist.
She sniffed me. Didn’t flinch, didn’t bolt. Then she bumped my hand with her head. Kinda startled me.
After that it kind of escalated in the calmest way possible. She started rubbing around my legs, circling me like I was part of the space she was checking out. At one point she even sat between my legs like it was just the most normal thing in the world. Then she tried to knead on me.
There was a moment where a car passed and the group scattered. I stayed still and she actually came back after, like she wasn’t done checking me out yet.
I didn’t pick her up or even touch her. I just let her do everything at her pace.
Eventually I stood up to leave, and she just sat there watching me walk away. I gave a slow blink and kept going.
Now I’m just wondering if I’ll ever see her again.